Why do human beings deplete things the way we do? Is there some deep, underlying insecurity in the human psyche that we feel we never have enough? That we need to divide, conquer, take, and keep taking, even when it is clear we are destroying the very ground we stand on and the air that we breathe?

It seems each time we blink an eye we are the cause of a new species on the verge of extinction. Sharks may be next. A documentary film ‘SHARKWATER’ was a definite eye-opener. This great doc is by Rob Stewart, a young Canadian with a passion for sharks. He travels the world studying and capturing incredible underwater footage in their natural habitat. He stumbles upon a huge underground (or should I day underwater) shark fin trade, that almost gets him thrown into jail.

Shark fin soup is a status symbol in Asia, hugely in demand, and the fins are an extremely profitable commodity. A huge massacre of sharks is underway, their fins sliced off one by one and the rest of their bodies dumped back into the ocean where they sink and die.

Sharks are being depleted at a feverish pace. Only two regions with a substantial population remain: The Galapagos Islands and an Island off the West Coast of Costa Rica.

Sharks are at the top of the food chain. With so many slaughtered and in such a short time, a huge shift in an ancient eco-system is inevitable. Other species (shark prey) can thrive out of control, consuming too much of the plankton in the sea.

Plankton is the biggest source of oxygen on our planet. Combine this with our greenhouse gas emissions and the fact that we’re cutting down most of the trees, and things are not looking so good. As a species we do need to breathe. And oxygen is a rather important part of that equation.

Hence, the birth of a new “Green” business. Ocean fertilization, the spawning of ocean-based algae, is underway. Iron shavings are deposited into the ocean, causing a bloom of fast growing plankton that will, hopefully, soak up mass quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

A great and novel idea, if executed perfectly. Negative side effects are certain if not done exactly right, and if too many companies dive in in search of some of this green (which would not be surprising), the whole process could be overdone, making the situation worse and throwing things even farther off balance. But such technological advances may be necessary in order to compensate for our changing environment.

Isn’t greed the reason the oceans have became so depleted and off balance like this in the first place? We deplete our water, our air, our soil, our food, our central nervous systems….

And for what? So that some of us can live a life flush with modern conveniences and a few trendy indulgences. And so that a very few of us can rake in some very big cash.

Yet another example of the human need to leech everything we can out of every available natural phenomenon. This may sound mellow dramatic, but sadly, it seems to be true. Maybe this is just a phase before the next stage of human evolution. Like the teenage years. Let’s hope so. And that’s presuming we make it that far.

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