TED TALK: Dr Daniel Pauly, The ocean's shifting baseline

"We transform the world, but we don't remember it. We adjust our baseline to the new level, and we don't recall what was there.” (Daniel Pauly)


From the TED TALK page here

The ocean has degraded within our lifetimes, as shown in the decreasing average size of fish. And yet, as Daniel Pauly shows us onstage at Mission Blue, each time the baseline drops, we call it the new "normal." At what point do we stop readjusting downward?

Daniel Pauly is the principal investigator at the Sea Around Us Project, which studies the impact of the world's fisheries on marine ecosystems. The software he's helped develop is used around the world to model and track the ocean. Full bio 

STUDENTS AND TEACHERS who want to help spread the message about change in your own place should visit AUSMEPA's  Student Leadership for Coastal Conservation pages here. Consider how you might assist in re-setting the shifting baselines through your own efforts:

• Photo survey project here
• Work with local community groups on a conservation project here
• Develop your own communication project to share what you've learned here

www.ausmepa.org.au