June 8th, 2009: World Oceans Day... Don't Just Go Green. Go Blue!

I have Ted Danson and CNN to thank as we should be celebrating!!! Today, June 8th, 2009 is the first official, "World Oceans Day"! Great article HERE.

Apparently, in April 2009 the U.N. officically designated it so... sixteen years after it was first proposed. The decision came after thousands of supporters of Oceana and other conservation organizations, aquariums, universities, and agencies, signed petitions asking the international body to establish an official day for the oceans.
If you are still eating flesh from the sea, aside from being conscientious that you are helping to deplete the oceans (fact: The U.N. reports that 75 percent of seafood species are maxed out or over exploited and catches of nearly a third of these species are less than 10 percent of what they once were. Ninety percent of the big fish -- sharks, tuna, swordfish -- are already gone, according to a 2003 study in Nature), you are also contributing to the amount of "heavy metal" toxicity in your body. Generally, a dead beached whale is considered a "bio-hazard".
Why? Given their spot at the top of the marine food chain, they do harbor chemical pollution in their fatty tissue and organs. Now I know most are not eating whales, but many- especially with the popularity of sushi, are eating tuna and swordfish, which have the same effect on you that those small fish have on the whales.
It has been found... not only in whales and fish, but also polar bears, sea lions and other marine wildlife have, PCBs, DDT, PBDEs, PFOS and other pollutants in their tissue and blood streams. Those toxic substances weaken immune systems, disrupt and cause reproduction problems, are linked to cancer, and so on.

Just think about it.... what you eat, what's it's eating, etc. We are all connected and it affects each and every one of us.

p.s. Good article in NY Times, "Loving Fish, This Time With the Fish in Mind", about how to eat fish a little more sustainably can be found HERE.