WEBVTT

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Hello and welcome to the
Natural World Facts Awareness Project.

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A new series in which I’ll be
explaining the importance of

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wildlife conservation and
what you can do to help.

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In this video, I’m joined by Alex Collins,

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a fellow YouTube wildlife
enthusiast and biologist

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at the University of Bristol.

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His channel is linked below,

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I recommend you check it out

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for videos on some of the world’s
rarest species

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and what you can do to help them.

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So what is Marine Conservation?

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Marine Conservation is defined as
the protection of marine ecosystems,

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with the focus of limiting the damage
caused to them by humans

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and protecting threatened species.

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The main threats being seen in
our oceans include species loss,

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habitat degradation,

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and changes in ecosystem function.

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Human activities causing a rise
in extinction rates

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has lead to a huge decrease
in biodiversity,

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particularly in coral reefs,
88% of which are threatened

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by excessive CO2 emissions.

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These reefs are among the most important
stores of biodiversity on the planet.

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It takes around ten thousand years
for a reef to form from coral polyps,

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and up to 30 million years for

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a reef to fully mature,

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hosting an estimated 25%
of all marine life.

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And yet, around the world,

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coral reefs are dying,

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as warming temperatures and
stressful conditions bleach the corals

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white as they are forced to expel
the colourful algae

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on which the coral depends
for its survival.

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So, why does this matter?

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Why is marine conservation
so important?

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With the world’s oceans currently
under more threat than ever before,

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and with half of the world’s coral reefs
having died in the last 30 years,

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marine conservation has never been

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more important than is today.

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I’ve already made some videos

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explaining why conservation is
so important to you

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and why we should save
endangered species

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So make sure to check
those videos out after

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watching this.

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Put simply, different species rely
on each other for survival.

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If one species is under threat,

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the likelihood is that so
is another species.

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This can have a chain reaction, until

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eventually a whole ecosystem
is under threat.

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We need healthy ecosystems
just as much as

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the marine life itself,

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because without them,
we’d have less food, less money,

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and with altogether less life
on our planet.

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The bottom line is Earth needs
healthy oceans, and it is our

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responsibility to protect them.

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So how can we do this?

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One of the most effective methods has been
the setting up of marine protected areas.

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This creates a much safer environment
for marine life,

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undisturbed by the impacts of overfishing,

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noise pollution from ships, and
other human activities.

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Thankfully, biodiversity has been found to increase
by 21% within marine reserves like these.

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We can also use artificial reefs.

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These are man-made structures,
built to promote marine life

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and the growth of new coral.

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Artificial reefs have proven successful
in providing a habitat for threatened wildlife,

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These allow damaged ecosystems to recover

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and valuable biodiversity to regenerate.

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As well as these strategies, we also
need to be careful in the way

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we interact with the marine environment.

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Active demersal fishing techniques,
like trawling,

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where a net is dragged along
the bottom of sea floor,

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can be really destructive

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as this destroy ecologically important
species like certain corals.

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Active pelagic fishing techniques, where a
net is dragged through the open ocean,

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can also be just as bad.

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This is because that it’s indiscriminate,
meaning that

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they catch anything in their way of net,

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regardless of whether
the fisherman want it or not.

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This often leads to protected animals
like dolphins and turtles being injured

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or killed. For every 1 kilogram of prawns
that are caught and sold in stores,

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nine kilograms of other sea animals
are caught as bycatch,

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being injured or killed and
then thrown away.

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Marine conservation efforts have been
made to reduce the destruction

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caused by these fishing techniques,

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either by reducing the amount of time
of these techniques are allowed to be used

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or making the technique itself
less destructive.

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One example of this, is to use
specific fishing hooks which

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are less likely to catch unwanted species.

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Solving these problems does
take a lot of hard work,

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but that doesn’t mean
there’s nothing that you can do

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if you don’t work as a conservationist.

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So here are some other things that you can
do to help marine conservation.

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Firstly, use your water supply
more economically.

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This will not only save you money, but it will

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also reduce excess runoff, containing
pollutants and waste into the ocean.

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Secondly, use less energy in your daily life.

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Higher temperatures can cause the death

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of corals, rising sea levels and flooding,

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and more extreme weather which
can damage marine ecosystems.

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Many marine species also rely on
specific temperatures to determine

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what sex they develop into.

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This is called temperature-dependent
sex determination,

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and so by changing the temperature we can
throw an entire population out of balance.

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You can also fish more responsibly,

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or just fish less, or not at all if that is 
an option to you.

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The same goes for eating seafood.

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Reducing your use of plastics
is also essential.

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Ingestion of microplastics, bits of plastic

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which are less than 5mm across,
can lead to bioaccumulation.

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This is where harmful substances

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build up in the food chain and eventually
cause serious damage

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to the species at the top.

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There are just a few things
that you should consider

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when trying to cause less impact
to marine life.

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There are of course plenty
of other things that you can do to help.

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So if you’d like to know more,

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then let us know down in the comments,

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so that we can make another video for you.

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Thank you for watching.

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Subscribe to see more videos
from The Awareness Project.

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Hit the like button and be sure
to watch our video

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on the Pine Marten by following
the link to Alex’s channel.

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I hope you enjoy it.