World Aquatic Animal Day
This post is written by Lika Kvizhashvili.
World aquatic animal day is celebrated every year on 3rd April since 2020 to raise awareness about wildlife that lives in or near water. These places include oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, streams, reservoirs, wetlands and other bodies of water on our planet. And aquatic animals are not only fish, octopuses, whales and dolphins, but also polar bears, penguins, seabirds, reptiles, amphibians and more.
Importance of aquatic animals
The importance of aquatic animals is not fully understood by most people. Those animals create ecosystems underwater that are crucial for the world. They are maintaining a healthy planet and life on planet, and they are providing humans with resources that are used in daily life. Over the years, consumption of water animals has increased and there is fear that we may lose some of the species. But it’s not only overconsumption to be of.
Threats to water animals
Global warming and pollution have also a huge impact on water animals. Because of global warming ice is melting faster and it is destroying the home for polar bears, pinguins and other animals that need cold environment to survive. Also, because of global warming and high temperatures, water levels are getting low, and some lakes and wetlands are even becoming dry and deserted, which results in the destruction of water animals.
Pollution has a significant effect on aquatic life. All the plastic that goes to the oceans and seas kills water animals. Underwater creatures eat plastic, which is deadly for them. Also, large items of plastic can capture and entangle marine mammals and fish, and stop them from escaping, which can cause suffocation, starvation and drowning.
One of the main risks for water animals is commercial fishing. Almost half of the fish species, which are caught by fishing vessels are not commercial, so they are just thrown away back to ocean and seas, dead or injured. Also, the gear those fishing vessels are using often ends up in water, which is deadly for the water animals and for the coral reefs, because discarded fishing nets can break rainforests of the sea, preventing healthy growth.
What can we do?
There are ways to protect aquatic animals. We need to reduce pollution and global warming. It is important to lower consumption of sea products too. But most importantly we need more educated people who have knowledge about water animals’ importance and passion to save the underwater environment.
