Blue is beautiful but how long will it survive ?

Yes, everyone out there guessed right- I’m talking about the oceans ..and none other than the Atlantic..Being so very near to the ocean, for quite some years now, my husband and I, consider ourselves sort of self-proclaimed experts and take pride in describing and differentiating between the different blues of different oceans …for instance , the gulf of Mexico is a different shade of blue, the ocean in Miami beach is sea green …but we were just blown out of our minds when we saw the ocean in Bahamas – color of turquoise or rather copper sulphate blue..There are no words to describe the sheer beauty and serenity of such blue color and we haven’t seen anything like that ever before.. The color was just so raw and so unpolluted , that at one time I felt I could color my white dress just by dipping in it.

We kept staring for hours to take in as much as we can and even then it didn’t seem enough.The weather was gorgeous, the day was sunny , which accentuated the color even more …All the fellow passengers were equally mesmerized , I’m sure of that.

So, after a while I really started brooding on the problems of ocean pollution – all the dumping , spills, toxic wastes that are finding their way straight to the beautiful oceans and causing havoc to marine lives and in turn to us …So, is it that this very very blue signifies that The Bahamas have remained literally untouched or is it just deceptive with something going on inconspicuously ?! I would really love to find out ..

With this intention I researched online and found out some dreadful things , some of which just refreshed whatever I already knew from my ecology courses and online studies ..Quoting specifically from a website “The cruise line industry relies on pristine oceans, beautiful coral reefs and marine life to draw millions of travelers on cruise vacations each year. But the same ships that advertise excursions to untouched ocean scenery are threatening these very same natural resources with their standard practice of flushing harmful toxins, mostly as sewage and food waste, into the ocean. “

So, what do we do ? So , here I am, in a big fix – Being all awe-struck with the blueness of the pristine ocean, I forgot that I myself is one of the culprits for polluting the ocean, such that our future generation might not find it so blue…So, isn’t it necessary to devise a solution so that man and nature can almost co-exist successfully side by side. ? I say

co-exist, because there will always be some collateral damage.

So, obviously the ocean in Bahamas is highly polluted..which anyone can guess just by looking at the sheer size of the tourism industry –which incidentally serves as the sole source of income for the islanders and the thousands of cruiseliners anchoring all the year round at Nassau and other islands. The saddest part is, apart from the huge amount of wastes we, the tourists create …all the food that we don’t eat and throw away, are also part of the garbage that finds it’s way to the ocean.
Just one line- all possible kinds of waste generated by these cruiseliners, the bigger it is ,the more the quantity of garbage- finds their way straight to the ocean. Well this not only “ doesnot “ feed the fishes, but rather creates acidic atmosphere and harms the reefs. Oftentimes it happens that snorkeling trips have to canceled, because some cruiseliner had has dumped oil right around the reefs.

Wow, what a justice …This is what is called to “ punch a hole right in the plate in which you eat “ . The reason for this negligience is not that the industry lacks technology . They are reluctant to spend the money required,although they earn a huge sum without having to pay any taxes in the US, as most of them are flagged in foreign countries and hire very poorly trained staffs as environmental officers. Many of the well-known cruising companies have upgraded their sewage disposal system but the results are not as fast as they should be, keeping in mind that these cruiseliners promise the tourists the view of “ a pristine scenery “ although to do that they are bruising them by polluting the environment. And then there is politics involved in everything.

So , do we stop going on cruises in our effort to stop pollution or do we join our hands in doing something , in our own small ways to enjoy cruising without bruising ?