It's never too late to start protecting marine ecosystems

Good morning! Friends who live on land and in cities.

In the city where you live, can you hear the sound of the waves? And those of you who live in coastal areas, how long has it been since you last sat by the sea properly, spacing out and watching the waves? Although Taiwan is surrounded by sea on all sides, is there a period in your growing-up memories when you had an experience of being close to the ocean - perhaps in childhood, when your father and mother took you to build sandcastles and collect shells at the beach; perhaps in your teenage years, when you and a few close friends, on a summer afternoon, gnawed on popsicles while tearing along on motorbikes, gathering driftwood on the beach to make a fire, barbecue, sing, and talk all night; perhaps in the season of love, when you met the one you had your eye on at a pier by the sea, walked the long seawall together, and then leaned on each other quietly watching the infinitely good sunset; perhaps in a low point in life, when you were frustrated and dispirited, you walked alone on a beach where surging waves split the shore, letting the sea breeze mess up your hair and letting the ocean absorb your anger and unease, and then generating the energy to challenge the world anew - these moments of life experience, whether in perfect romance or youthful days, the ocean has always been there, faithfully playing every important story scene in your life, never leaving; and you, can your feelings for the sea remain just as unforgotten?

In fact, even if you never head toward the ocean, your life is still closely tied to the sea.

When you hurriedly get up, rush to work without even time to eat breakfast, and on the way, in order to muster your flagging spirits, dash into a convenience store to ask the clerk for a cup of coffee, the plastic coffee lid, stirrer, and creamer container in your hands are thrown away after use. You would never imagine that during the recycling process they may, along with other plastic trash, fall into a ditch after a heavy rain and finally be discharged into the sea; then just by chance an unfortunate sea turtle passes by, and under the refraction of sunlight mistakenly eats these plastic products, and after finally dying from getting tangled in a net and being dissected, these pieces of trash you thought you had gotten rid of return to land again through the death of an animal.

Note: This article was written on invitation for issue 39 of the Kaohsiung City Government Marine Bureau journal <Ocean Kaohsiung>.