03
KATE WILLIS
By the end of this decade , the majority of my generation will have completed many of life ’ s ‘ milestones ’. We will have graduated school , some university , some will have gotten married and maybe some will have had children . But we , like every generation before us , will have created new milestones . Milestones for humanity . We will all have all our lives affected by rising sea levels ; by climate change . Some of us will have to evacuate our homes , never to see them again . Some of us will transform the global perspective on the ocean . Some of us will watch as the number of extinct marine species rises , if the current lack of legislation around the pollutants that are destroying our planet continues . However , perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel . Research projects , such as the Reef Rescuers in the Seychelles , could be the saviours of our coral reefs . A rise in more sustainable agricultural practices could loosen the pressure valve on some of our depleting fish stocks . And with the new American President Joe Biden having re-joined the Paris agreement , there is hope that one of the world ’ s least environmentally sustainable countries could turn over a new leaf . There is also hope for the marine animals that are trapped in captivity across the world , with the world ’ s first Beluga Whale Sanctuary opening in Iceland . With the success of the Icelandic Whale Sanctuary , there is a newfound desire to decrease the number of marine animals that are held in captivity and relocate them into more natural environments where people may be permitted to appreciate the majestic creatures for their true talents , instead of being trained for entertainment and suffer in an endless cycle of captivity . I hope that with the negative experiences of humans that have been placed under lockdowns globally , empathy will spark for the animals that exist in captivity . How can we , as a species , complain about a few months at home whilst these animals , who have incredibly high intelligence levels , are subjected to life-long ‘ lockdown ’? I hope that in the next decade , humanity can open its eyes to the futile suffering that is forced upon these animals in the name of profit . Although I have no doubt that the scientific breakthroughs in the next decade will be astounding , the one thing that the pandemic has shown is that the scientific community ’ s voice is being silenced in favour of the voice of the masses , and I think that in order to facilitate the necessary change there needs to be a significant change in the public ’ s attitude towards the oceans and marine biology .