During the last week the BBC has produced some excellent programming in the shape of Big Blue Live.  For those unaware a group of BBC Earth reporters headed off to Monterey Bay, California,  to do some live broadcasts about the big gathering of creatures that occur there every year.  Monterey Bay is a Marine Conservation Zone, and extends a lot of protection to the inhabitants and environments in that area.

This morning, whilst doing my early morning trawl of social media, I was overwhelmed to see this the footage of a Blue Whale has gone viral:

VIdeo of Blue Whale on BBC Big Blue Live (may only be viewable to UK viewers).

If you needed to see the argument for the requirement and protection of Marine Conservation Zones, then this is it.  The Blue Whale was hunted to within 1% of extinction.  This was not caused by disease, or natural predation, but solely through Human Activity.  In this video, it appeared, almost on queue, to demonstrate the benefit and urgent need for Marine Conservation Zones throughout the world.   It's great to see the return of such a magnificent co-habitant of the planet, and to see it in such a beatiful location.  

The UK has a number of Marine Conservation Zones, but they are already at risk from political gesturing, and licensing of activities that could cause long-lasting and even permanent damage to the ecosystems they sought to protect.  For those of us who care about the ocean and, in particular, the seas around the UK, it seems that the creation of the Marine Conservation Zones is merely a way for the National and Local government to generate income for licensed activity, regardless of the impact on the MCZ ecosystems, and ignoring the spirit of the legal definition of the Marine Conservation Zones. 

It really comes down to simple mathematics.  Our oceans, and indeed our planet in it's entirety, has limited resources.  Some of these resourcescan replenish themselves, but it takes time to do so.  If we take out more in any given time-period, than the ecosystem can put in, the damage can be immense, long-lasting or in some cases permanent.  If we are to return to a point where live in balance with the planets limited resources, we have to put measures in place that encourage the recovery of ecosystems, the recovery of fish-stocks, and the future ongoing support of those ecosystems to maintain a balance.  Short term, "cash first" thinking is no longer a viable way to approach our planets valuable and limited resources.

If you would like to know more about Marine Conservation Zones in the UK , and the projects that could cause immeasurable and possibley permanent damage then I recommend that you read up on them  at  MCZ Designation Document, Whitsand Bay Spoil Dumping, Whitsand Bay MCZ, Manacles MCZ and Campaign AgainstDean SuperQuarry for more information about the encroachment on our precious marine conservation zones.

I also recommend you visit the  BBC's excellent Big Blue Live Week website to find out more about the importance of Marine Conservation, and, for a limited time, watch the episodes from this years Big Blue Live week (unfotunately this is only available to UK viewers at the moment).

#marineconservation @BBCBigBlueLive #diveuk #scubadive