The Dying Oceans

Jacques Yves Cousteau, the renowned underwater explorer, has covered 155,000 miles of sea on film-making and oceanographic expeditions during the past 3½-years. Last week in Monte Carlo, he summed up what he had seen in glum, blunt terms: "The oceans are in danger of dying. The pollution is general."

It was not only the ubiquity of pelagic oil particles that appalled Cousteau and his crew aboard the Calypso. "People do not realize that all pollution ends up in the seas. The earth is less polluted. It is washed by the rain which carries everything into the oceans, where life has diminished by 40% in 20 years. Fish disappear. Flora too." He especially decried the ecological effects of "brutal" modern fishing techniques. "The ocean floors are being scraped. Eggs and larvae are disappearing. In the past, the sea renewed itself. It was a continuous cycle. But this cycle is being upset. Shrimps are being chased from their holes into nets by electric shocks. Lobsters are being sought in places where they formerly found shelter. Even coral is disappearing."

Cousteau believes that damage to marine life can be stopped. "Very strict action must be taken. The U.S. and Soviet Union are making considerable efforts in this direction. The European nations are starting to act. Some scientists are sure that it is too late. I don't think so."

Meantime in Washington, informed observers predicted that President Nixon's proposed bill to control pollution of U.S. coastal waters had no chance of getting Congressional approval this year.