SDG No.14: Life below Water
Reina Ohshima, Kanato Zenitani
R: Hello, I’m Reina Ohshima, and
K: Kanato Zenitani from A class.
R: Today, we would like to make a presentation about SGD number 14, “Life below water.”
R: Hey, Kanato!
K: What?
R: Did you know that about 20 thousand to 60 thousand tons of plastic garbage is thrown into
the ocean in our country?
K: Wow, that’s the same weight as 10 thousand African elephants!
R: The ocean is home to many kinds of marine life, such as sea turtles, dolphins, whales, andcoral. It also provides water and food for humans and regulates the world’s weather. If wecannot keep the ocean clean and healthy, we won't be able to do these things.
K: Recently, we especially need to think about the problem of ocean plastic. Look at thesestatistics. These show the amount of plastic in the ocean. You can see that it is increasing
rapidly. Can you imagine if this plastic keeps increasing? Certainly, sea life will die, and wewon’t be able to see many creatures in the sea.
R: There are other reasons why we can’t keep the ocean rich. Overfishing is another problem inJapan. Overfishing means to catch too many fish at once, so that the breeding population
decreases too much to recover. For example, coral reefs in Okinawa prefecture suffer greatdamage due to overfishing. Herbivore fish, such as parrotfish, keep the ecosystem in balanceby eating algae to keep the coral clean and healthy. Consequently, catching too many parrot
fish can weaken the reef and make it more vulnerable to extreme weather and climate change.
K: I had no idea there were so many problems in the ocean that needed to be solved for thefuture.
R: Right. These are not a problem in the distant future, but a problem that will occur in ourgeneration, and our children’s generations. We need to come up with a solution now!
K: So, first, we thought of a solution to the ocean plastic which is getting worse. Do you know
the plastic which humans throw away in the sea breaks down to microplastics? Microplastics
are tiny particles of plastic which are harmful for all creatures, including people. So, if we eat
fish that is polluted by microplastics, our health will get worse. Therefore, Kaneka corporation
developed biodegradable plastic to solve this problem. This plastic is really kind for nature
because it can decompose and disappear by becoming micro-organisms. Based on this, we thinkthat changing the material of items made with plastic to biodegradable eco-plastic is the best
way to solve this problem.
R: Next, we would like to explain our solution to the overfishing problem. One way to solve thisproblem is by promoting policies that protect vulnerable species from getting caught byfishermen. For example, it is estimated that only 2.6% of the original population of bluefin tunaare left in the Pacific Ocean. Also, about 90% of blue sharks are mistakenly caught by fishingboats every year. These predators have an important role in the ecosystem, so we need to protect
them. By promoting policies that can help these species, we can reduce the number of sea lifethat becomes endangered and keep the ecosystem healthy. We may not be able to enforce thepolices on our own, but we can start by raising awareness of this problem. Also, we can write topoliticians and pressure the government, and if more and more people take these actions, wecan eventually change laws and make better policies that helps the sea life.
K: So, today we talked about problems and solutions for SDG number 14 “Life below water.”Through researching this presentation, we think that the best way to solve these problems is
by changing our lifestyle to be more ecological such as by buying more eco-friendly items suchas label-less water bottles, and biological plastic bags or enforce the policy against overfishing.
It might be difficult to solve the problem by the action of one person. However, if we take put
our hands together, and take individual actions to help our oceans, such as picking up trash,
bringing your eco-bag, and recycling plastic, we will be able to keep the ocean rich. Let’s beaware about what we can do to solve these problems.
Thank you for your attention.