Earth Focus - Oceans: Turning the Tide

September 14, 2011 from Earth Focus

Our life depends on the oceans, and they're under threat. A new book "The Atlas of Coasts and Oceans" tells why. One out of three fish sold in the US may be mislabeled; it's called seafood fraud and a new campaign aims to stop it. Then, the film "Bag It" looks at how plastic kills marine life. Plus a look at research into how vegetarian fish may be the future of seafood.

(more) (less)

In This Video

North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

The North Pacific Gyre, located in the northern Pacific Ocean, is one of the five major oceanic gyres. This gyre covers most of the northern Pacific Ocean. It is the largest ecosystem on Earth, located between the equator and 50° N latitude, and comprising 20 million square ki... Explore this topic

Ocean

An ocean is a body of saline water that composes a large part of a planet's hydrosphere. In the context of Earth, it refers to one or all of the major divisions of the planet's World Ocean – they are, in descending order of area, the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Ar... Explore this topic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids that are moldable. Plastics are typically organic polymers of high molecular mass, but they often contain other substances. They are usually synthetic, most commonly derived from petrochemi... Explore this topic

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a gyre of marine debris in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135°W to 155°W and 35°N and 42°N. The patch extends over an indeterminate area, with estimates ranging very widely... Explore this topic

Marine conservation

Marine conservation, also known as marine resources conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas. Marine conservation focuses on limiting human-caused damage to marine ecosystems, and on restoring damaged marine ecosystems. Marine conservat... Explore this topic

Marine biology

Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on t... Explore this topic

Plankton

Plankton are any organisms that live in the water column and are incapable of swimming against a current. They provide a crucial source of food to many large aquatic organisms, such as fish and whales. These organisms include drifting animals, protists, archaea, algae, or bact... Explore this topic

Earth Focus

An environmental news magazine that puts a human face on pressing global issues. This essential series features under-publicized stories on how changes to the earth's resources and climate are affecting everyday people all around the world. Earth Focus is funded by grants from... Explore this topic

Also See

Ocean

Marine conservation

Overfishing

Watch Next

9:20

Oceans in Peril (and Solutions to Save Them)

Earth Focus | Sep 14

Our life depends on the oceans, and they're under threat. A new book "The Atlas of Coasts and Oceans" tells why. One out of three fish sold in the ...