A recent video showed a dolphin being rescued after being caught in discarded fishing line.
4coean, a business on a mission to end the ocean plastic crisis, was on a cleanup run in the Pebuahan Ocean, off the coast of Jembrana when they spotted something alarming. After further investigation, they realized it was a poor bottlenose dolphin trapped in plastic fishing line.
The dolphin’s life was in danger so the crew quickly worked to set it free.
Check out the video …
Fishing equipment that is lost in the sea is known as “ghost gear” and it’s known as the most deadly form of marine plastic debris because it can continue killing marine life for decades … possibly even centuries.
Ghost gear has driven marine mammals, such as the vaquita porpoise, to the brink of extinction. But even with its potential for danger and the high consequences, little is being done by governments or the fishing industry to improve the situation.
According to reports, ghost gear is responsible for harming 66 percent of marine mammal species, such as whales, dolphins, seals, turtles, and sharks. It also harms seabirds, subjecting the poor animals to a slow and painful death.
These same reports show that 5.7 percent of fishing nets, 8.6 percent of traps and pots, and 29 percent of all fishing lines are lost around the world each year.
Ghost gear is tied to the practices of fishers and the fishing industry. The legal frameworks created to protect the environment from this type of pollution aren’t effective and need to be improved at a global scale because the efforts are so fragmented.
At Karmagawa and SaveTheReef, we’re concerned that if something isn’t done soon, more species will be driven towards extinction. We have to spread the word so that more people are aware. We need to work together to improve the safety of our oceans so that marine animals can live in safety.
Share this blog post with your friends and family so that they are aware of the situation and so that they can share it, as well.
Watch this powerful video …
The director of this video, Amir Zakeri, created a masterclass for anyone in the Karmagawa and SaveTheReef community who would like to tell visual stories about the causes they care about. If you’re interested, here’s 50% off.
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What do you think about all the wildlife being killed by discarded fishing equipment? Leave a comment below.
(Cover image: Carmian/Shutterstock)