How much are our ecosystems worth?

I just read a report that contains this fascinating fact:

"A 2007 study found that the total value of ecosystem services and products provided by the world’s coastal ecosystems, including natural (terrestrial and aquatic) and human-transformed ecosystems, added up to $25,783 billion per year (Martinez et al., 2007)."

Although we know the value of the ocean because we experience it everyday as a source of our livelihoods, sometimes it takes seeing it as a dollar value for others to understand its value.

And as this fact shows us, THE OCEAN IS VALUABLE.

The Martinez citation is as follows:

Martinez, M.L., Intralawan, A., Vasquez, G., Perez-Maquero, O., Sutton, P. and Landgrave, R. 2007. The coasts of our world: Ecological, economic and social importance. Ecological Economics 63: 254-272

First night on the road a success

Our first night on the road tonight and our first screening...in Campbell River. We had a good turnout and a great mix of people. Our guest speaker, Victoria, showed us the most amazing underwater footage. We could actually hear the clicks of the sperm whale as it checked out the sablefish on the line. They intensified and then the jaws of the whale filled most of the frame. What was so amazing was to see how the whale got the fish off the line. He put tension on the line and then it was almost like he was running his teeth along it to get the fish to snap off. I've never seen anything like. Actually, I don't think too many people have had the pleasure of seeing footage like this. We are really lucky on the North Island to have the chance to meet Victoria O'Connell. I of course highly recommend coming to a screening near you!

Tomorrow we are driving back up island to Port Hardy, hopefully with a stop at the Whale Interpretive Centre on the way to be reminded just how massive sperm whales are. See you in Port Hardy!