NEWSBYJULIE PACKARD

Julie Packard, executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change. "Toxic Soup" is a Change.org series focusing on how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacts the Gulf's seafood industry and marine life. For more posts on this issue, see here, here, here, and here.

I’ve spent most of my adult life trying to raise the profile of our oceans and their importance in our lives. So it’s a cruel irony to at last see the oceans in the headlines every day, through the nightmare story of the largest oil spill in American history.

The catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico began on April 22 – the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. For most people, mourning for the human lives lost and lamenting dead wildlife and oiled marshes will fade with time. But for people and wildlife in the region, the after-effects will last for decades.

Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez, that oil spill lives on, in the form of chronic health problems for wildlife and impacts on the ecosystem as lingering hydrocarbons work their way through the food web. Scientists are still working to understand the lasting damage that’s been done.

In the Gulf, it’s clear that all players were grossly under-prepared to prevent and respond to a spill of this magnitude. But amid the finger-pointing, there’s a missing player: We, the public. Why haven’t we learned from past experience? Why can’t we muster the political will to approve policies and funding that our oceans and coasts deserve?

We have the opportunity—right now—to do just that.

Julie Packard is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change.

Change.org asked me what one thing I'd suggest to save the oceans — on Earth Day and every day. My answer is simple:

We can vote with our dollars for seafood that's caught or farmed in sustainable ways. It creates market demand that will get the attention of fishing enterprises and aquaculture producers.

As we help change the way seafood is caught and farmed, we'll help ocean ecosystems stay healthy. And, as we celebrate the 40th Earth Day this year, it's great to acknowledge that our sustainable seafood choices are already making a difference.

Julie Packard, executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, is part of Change.org's Changemakers network, comprised of leading voices for social change. Change.org asked Ms Packard to respond to questions to provide context for her work and the causes she supports.

Change.org: What cause or causes would you most like to promote as a Changemaker and why?

I believe that stemming the decline in the health of our oceans is critical to the future of both nature and humankind. Simply put, for too long the oceans have been out of sight, out of mind even for people who care about the environment. Our oceans are a critical part of Earth's life support system, and these ocean changes are on a dangerous course. The good news is that our oceans are resilient, and with some changes on our part, we can ensure that our oceans continue to be a source of vital services, and inspiration, for the future.

Scientists today tell us that 90 percent of the large animals in the oceans gone as a result of ever-more-efficient fishing methods; that human-induced climate change is altering ocean chemistry in ways that imperil life at the base of the food web; and that coastal development and pollution is degrading productive waters close to shore.

It's imperative that we take action - individually and as a society - to assure a future with healthy oceans.