Interviewer: In an article that you wrote that I just read, you said you wished you could take everyone back to decades ago to look at the Florida Keys.
Interviewee: Fifty years ago. Think about how much change has taken place in that short period of time. We have managed to consume on the order of 90% of the big fish in the ocean: the tunas, the swordfish, the sharks. They’re mostly gone. Until recently people have had the belief that there isn’t much we puny human beings can do to change the nature of the ocean. But in fact, we have, not just because of what we’ve been taking out, and the destructive means often applied to take fish and other creatures from the sea, but also what we’re putting into the sea, either directly or what we put into the atmosphere that falls back into the sea.
Interviewer: So if you were going to give a grade on the health of the oceans today, what would it be?
Interviewee: Well, it depends on which aspect. Across the board. Huh. The oceans are in trouble. It’s hard for me to assign a specific grade. Maybe C-.