25/05/2007	The message of the week : The Ocean Under Threat (2) The sea is no longer the endless space that it once was, and it can no longer be the world's dumping-ground. Most marine life is concentrated in relatively shallow waters. Estuaries in particular are the true kindergartens of the sea. The damage being caused to these confined spaces, where 80% of marine species are born, endangers the density of ocean life out of all proportion to the geographical area of the estuaries themselves. Under assault from mechanical diggers, the "lungs" of all this biodiversity are rapidly shrinking, to be replaced by concrete. What is urgently required is an environmental maritime policy. The sea, if we can preserve it, represents the future of the planet... Read the follow-up in the book Ocean, Chapter 5, page 217.
	The Ocean in Figures In China, 80% of industrial waste is discharged untreated into the rivers, so that now more than half the country's network of rivers are suffering from pollutioin. The Volga carries 42 million tonnes of toxic waste. In the developing countries, 20% of aquatic species are beleived to have become extinct in recent years. Extract from the book Ocean, Chapter 5 page 209

27/04/2007	The message of the week : The Ocean Under Threat (1) On a worldwide scale, the many thousands of tons of hydrocarbons discharged by the Erika and the Prestige, along with all the other oil slicks worlwide, are a mere drop in the oceanic rubbish bin. Accidental pollution, caused by the 115 to 120 shipwrecks par year of boats weighing more than 300 tonnes - which means one major wreck every three days - accounts for barely 2.5% of the overall total... Read the follow-up in the book Ocean, Chapter 5, page 209.
	The Ocean in Figures Every year, some 6 million tonnes of different pollutants soil the ocean : 150,000 tonnes are due to oil slicks, 1.8 million tonnes come from deliberate dumping, Over 4 million tonnes come by way of the atmosphere and also our rivers and estuaries (agricultural, industrial and human waste)... Extract from the book Ocean, Chapter 5, page 209.

  

02/04/2007	The message of the week : A Longing for the Ocean While the Romans were in love with the sea, then the shores gradually became the "territory of emptiness". It was hard work for the sea to overcome these fears and win back the hearts of humankind. But little by little, it returned to favour, creating a longing for the shore which, as if carried along by an inner swell, has never ceased to grow. Mankind's view of the water began to change. With a host of great discoveries, the sea became a provider of wealth. It was still dangerous, of course, but now it was also a source of power and growth. The seashore became an attraction. It became a center for sailing, holidays and leisure activities... Read the follow-up in the book Ocean, Chapter 4, page 129.
	The Ocean in Figures In the next 25 years, 75% of the world's inhabitants (to 60% nowadays) will live on the shores. 45% of the british population lives within 50 km from the coast, compared to 8.2% en France. Every year, 135 million tourists descend on Mediterranean coastal resorts. By 2005, this will rise to between 235 and 253 million.... Extract from the book Ocean, Chapter 9, page 369.

09/03/2007	The message of the week : The Ocean, A cradle of Life The sea is our mother and our motherland. We may have descended from apes, but both ape and man seem in all likehood to have descended from these archaebacteria*, real live fossils hiding away in the depths of the ocean. *The archaebacteria are bacteria that flourish at a base temperature of 85 to 115°C and live by chemosynthesis, feeding on the sulphides emitted through chimneys in the earth's crust ... Read the follow-up in the book Ocean, Chapter 3, page 89.
	The Ocean in Figures Nearly 23,000 species of fish have now been classified. 35 new species of marine life are discovered per week... Extract from the book Ocean, Chapter 9, page 369.

26/02/2007	The message of the week : The Ocean Shapes the Land Now we know that the oceans fell from heaven! Among these heavenly bodies that have constantly bombarded the Earth, the most-likely water-bearing candidates are the comets, which are composed of ice and silicates.  From that time on, it set about shaping the Earth. The ocean pushes the emerging land masses around, regrouping them, separating them, watching them change direction... almost as if it were a game.... Read the follow-up in the book Ocean, Chapter 1, page 9.
	The Ocean in Figures Although they constitue 62% of the planet's total area, the bathyal zones (between 200 and 2,000 m deep) and abyssal zones (from 2,000 to 6,000 m) of the oceans are still practically unexplored. The deepest point in the ocean is at 11,034 metres, in the Mariana Trench. Extract from the book Ocean, Chapter 9, page 369.

Every week, Philip Plisson and Christian Buchet intend to share and raise awareness that Ocean is the future of the earth.

"It is the sea that I try to honour through my gaze. I hope that my illustrated emotions will take you on a voyage between the sea and the sky and truly become part of the same fact : the longing for the sea" says Philip Plisson.
Marine expert Christian Buchet's accompanying text incisively examines the many contemporary environmental issues affecting oceans around the world.

Extracts from the Book Ocean  To learn more about the book and glance through its pages...