July, 2003: Marine biologists now report
some ninety percent of all the large fish
species have been removed from the world’s
oceans and seas. Now is the time of last resort…
if it’s not already too late! No longer can wish
and prayer save the seas from being hurled
into obliteration by overexploitation by Man.

Thousands of Atlantic fishermen go unemployed
as the seemingly limitless supply of cod once enjoyed
no longer exists. Will their numbers rebound ever?
More and more the answer appears to be no, never…
so our grandchildren won’t know the wondrous taste
of cod, swordfish, or tuna - what a pity, what a waste.

What folly by Man to ruin the ocean’s great grandeur!
The consequences of our actions remain conjecture,
but removal from that ecosystem of its top animals
by overfishing, by polluting with foul, toxic chemicals,
by stupidity and greed will pay dire dividends to men.
The day may come when we can only remember when…

when the seas held abundant life to serve the needs of Man,
when the seas were populated by sharks, whales, swordfish,
and millions upon millions of fish that always could renew.
We’ll rue the arrival of when the now dead seas no longer can
feed Mankind, when rampant algae/plankton/weed accomplish
the once-thought impossibility of the death of the seas we knew.
How shall we answer our grandchildren’s “Oh, how could you?”