State of Our Oceans

Today, electronic tags allow scientists to track tuna and whales across entire oceans, deep-sea vehicles transmit images of life from the ocean floor, and historical analysis of our fish catch highlight how our oceans have changed over time. These and other new technologies and innovative approaches to marine science have revealed that the oceans are not the limitless resource we once imagined.

The cumulative impacts of global climate change, pollution, overfishing, coastal development, and other activities puts tremendous pressure on the world's oceans. As a consequence, many populations of fish, marine mammals and seabirds are vestiges of their historical numbers. While scientists are learning more and more about the interconnections among plants, animals, and the physical environment, they are also finding signs of degradation in ocean ecosystems around the globe—from tropical coral reefs to polar ice shelves.

Despite these alarming trends, our scientific understanding of marine systems also gives us reason to be optimistic. Most marine species and habitats can still be found in the ocean today, and we know that many can rebound when fishing, polluted run-off, or other pressures are curbed. Marine scientists are also turning their research attention to pressing conservation questions, harnessing marine science in an effort to find innovative solutions and inform policy decisions.

Further reading on this topic

The following citations are meant to provide a general overview of the main issues surrounding the State of Our Oceans. For more information, or for more specific questions, please contact Karen McLeod.

Jackson, JBC, MX Kirby, WH Berger, KA Bjorndal, LW Botsford, BJ Bourque, RH Bradbury, R Cooke, J Erlandson, JA Estes, TP Hughes, S Kidwell, CB Lange, HS Lenihan, JM Pandolfi, CH Peterson, RS Steneck, MJ Tegner, and RR Warner (2001) Historical Overfishing and the Recent Collapse of Coastal Ecosystems. Science 293:629-637.

Lubchenco, J, R Davis-Born, and B Simler (2002) Lesson from the Land for the Protection of the Sea: The Need for a New Ocean Ethic. Open Spaces 5:10-19.

Myers, RA and B Worm (2003) Rapid Worldwide Depletion of Predatory Fish Communities. Nature 423:280-283.

Pandolfi, JM, JBC Jackson, N Baron, RH Bradbury, HM Guzman, TP Hughes, CV Kappel, F Micheli, JC Ogden, HP Possingham, and E Sala (2005) Are U.S. Coral Reefs on the Slippery Slope to Slime? Science 307:1725-172.

Peterson, CH, SD Rice, JW Short, D Esler, JL Bodkin, BE Ballachey, and DB Irons (2003) Long-term Ecosystem Response to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Science 302:2082-2086.

Worm, B, EB Barbier, N Beaumont, JE Duffy, C Folke, BS Halpern, JBC Jackson, HK Lotze, F Micheli, SR Palumbi, E Sala, K Selkoe, JJ Stachowicz, and R Watson (2006) Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. Science 314:787-790.