Ocean’s warning: Mysterious marine deaths worldwide

India Today

Whales stranding in Australia, corals bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef, and deep-sea creatures washing up where they don’t belong—is the ocean trying to tell us something?

Transcript

00:00It is our first large mass stranding of these animals in around 50 years.

00:07The ocean seems to be screaming, but are we listening?

00:11What we saw over the summer months was very prolonged elevated temperatures

00:16across most of the Great Barrier Reef.

00:18Whales, giants of the deep, are throwing themselves onto shores,

00:22their pods turning into mass graves.

00:24In mid-February, 157 false killer whales washed up on a remote beach

00:29near Arthur River in Tasmania.

00:31The rescue mission, a failure.

00:33The survivors, euthanized.

00:35Scientists say they may have followed a disoriented leader,

00:38their echolocation scrambled by forces that they don't understand.

00:42But maybe it's not them, maybe it's us.

00:47A few thousand kilometers north, the Great Barrier Reef

00:49is suffering its worst bleaching event yet.

00:5273% of the reef is losing its color, its life.

00:56Coral, once a thriving, once vibrant, is now a skeleton of what it used to be.

01:01Warmer waters, fueled by human-driven climate change,

01:04are pushing the reef to the edge of extinction.

01:07And when the reef dies, it won't go alone.

01:10A quarter of all marine life depends on it.

01:13Closer to home, along India's coastlines,

01:15olive ridley turtles are washing up dead.

01:18Over 600 in Chennai alone.

01:20Here's fishing nets that don't let them escape.

01:22Plastic waste that poisons them.

01:24Industrial runoff that corrupts their nesting grounds.

01:27The ocean, once their sanctuary, is now a graveyard, it looks like.

01:31And then, an omen from the deep.

01:33Off the coast of Tender Reef, an anglerfish,

01:36an alien from 2,000 meters below, was filmed near the surface.

01:40A fish designed for total darkness, for the crushing depths,

01:44suddenly drifting in waters it was never meant to be in.

01:48Hours later, it was dead.

01:50But the anglerfish wasn't the only deep-sea creature to make a rare appearance.

01:54On a beach in California, an oarfish,

01:56often called the harbinger of earthquakes in folklore,

02:00was found washed ashore.

02:02These 30-foot-long fish are rarely seen alive.

02:06Some scientists suspect deep-sea disturbances,

02:08like seismic activity or shifting currents,

02:10are forcing them to the surface.

02:12Events like these serve as a reminder of how little we know

02:16about the deep ocean and how human activity may be affecting

02:20even its most isolated creatures.

02:22Each of these incidents might seem isolated,

02:24but together they paint a troubling picture.

02:27Rising ocean temperatures, overfishing, plastic pollution and habitat destruction

02:32are putting immense pressure on marine life worldwide.

02:35Species that have thrived for billions of years

02:38are now struggling to adapt to the rapid changes caused by human activity.

02:42Scientists warn that if we don't act now,

02:45the damage could become irreversible.

02:47The solutions to these problems do exist,

02:49but they require immediate global action,

02:51like enforcing stricter regulations on industrial fishing,

02:55reducing carbon emissions and investing in marine conservation efforts.

02:59The ocean covers 70% of our planet

03:02and plays a crucial role in maintaining life as we know it.

03:05But as we continue to exploit it, pollute it and push its ecosystems to the brink,

03:09the question remains, are we listening to its warnings?

03:13And more importantly perhaps,

03:15are we doing enough to protect it before it's too late?

03:18Let us know what you think in the comments.

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