Sea Week... Film 'The Last Ocean' About The Ross Sea

The most informative and significant thing I did during
 Sea Week was watch the film 'The Last Ocean'.
It's a documentary about the Ross Sea...
The only sea and ecosystem not destroyed by humankind...
And greed for the $...
 Click on the link, read it and watch the movie.
It may be coming to a theatre near you.
If you feel as angry as I do... sign all petitions,
protests and write letters to significant people in governments.

It's a documentary made by award winning New Zealand
filmmaker, Peter Young.
Powerful imagery along with insightful interviews
from Antartic scientists, fishery representatives, politicians
and ocean campaigners make this a compelling
international story.

There is a Charitable Trust...
To raise awareness of the Ross Sea being the
last, intact ocean ecosystem on Earth...
To educate the public about the value of the Ross Sea
ecosystem to humanity  and science...
To educate the public about the unique dynamics of a relatively
untouched ocean ecyosystem and how human impact
could change these dynamics...
To promote the Ross Sea as a unique ecosystem requiring
protection from human influence.

We have eaten our way through 90% of the world's top predatory fish.
We have pushed marine ecosystems to the brink of collapse worldwide.
The Ross Sea is now one of the last places where the intricate
balance of nature prevails. It is also the last living laboratory to study
how an intact ocean system works.
If the toothfish fishery continues in the Ross Sea, every member
of the ecosystem will pay the price.
The intricate balance will disappear and with it will
go our last chance to understand.


The ecosystem from the top predators
to the bottom dwellers... These incredible animals
are part of a grand play of checks and balances.
Together they act as a single organism -
the last intact ocean ecosystem on Earth.


The magnificent starkness of the ice shelf.


The Ross Sea is composed of species found nowhere else in  the world
evolving in an ancient process uninterrupted by humans.
It encompasses less than 3.2% of the Southern Ocean
but boasts significant populations of many Antartic species.


38% of all Adelie Penguins
26% of all Emperor Penguins
30% or more of all Antarctic Petrels
6% of all Antartic Minke Whales
6% of all Weddell Seals - the southern most mamal.








Read this article in the New Zealand Herald
 on the New Zealand governments stance... Apalling.

 The Last Ocean website will provide a public voice and be a focal
point for science and information. It will be the cornerstone to the
building and co-ordinating of the on-line community
and fund raising for various projects.

FORSE (Friends of the Ross Sea Ecosystem) established
in 2001 have provided sound scientific advice to political bodies like
SCAR (Scienific Committee for Antartic Research),
CCAMLR (Convention for Conservation of Antartic Marine Living Resources)
IWC (International Whaling Commission) and
CEP (Committee for Environmental Protection)

FORSE needs your help: Please support these projects...
Donate... Tell your friends.

There is another organisation...
The Antartic and Southern Ocean Preservation...
About issues and advocacy...
And more compelling information.

There is another film, also DVD and book of the same name...
The End of the Line...
Have a look, find a cinema near you where it will be screening.

Look at this site... sign a Petition to the New Zealand Government.
Actually it's now closed but you can start another one.
As a New Zealander I am angry and embarrassed to read that
New Zealand sent the first commercial long line fishing boat to the
Ross Sea... And lead the 20  nations that now are depleting this area
of Toothfish... Sold on the open market as Chilean Sea Bass.
Sandfords, the major New Zealand fisheries and the government are
reluctant to stop fishing in the Ross Sea and are trying to be
 convincing that it is doing no damage!
I don't believe them...