Written By Ayesha Imtiaz

Since our inception, we, as humans have contaminated our planet Earth with our activities, be it the land or the sea, no place is unknown to pollution. According to recent studies, 88 percent of the Earth’s ocean surface has been polluted with plastic debris including the Arabian Sea that forms the coast of Pakistan. 

Primarily being an agricultural country, Pakistan’s coastline is subject to seepage of pesticides and insecticides used in crop cultivation which therefore harms the marine life that dwells in the ocean. The Pakistani industrialists also lead this race with the dumping of oil, plastic and factory waste materials openly into the sea. 

Even though we see a sparkling blue ocean in front of our eyes, what happens beneath the water surface is terrifying. With many sewerage lines opening up in the sea and the civilians throwing up garbage in the ocean, the fishes are suffocated with an alternation to their normal environment as they consume plastic and the trash, assuming it as food. 

As a result of these horrendous alterations to the marine environment, back in 2018, thousands of dead fishes washed ashore on Karachi’s Sea View beach metaphorically depicting the consequence of our ignorance over polluting the fishes’ marine abode. According to experts, such events happen every year as the local authorities have opened up a sewage line in the sea. 
It is not only the responsibility of industries and welfare organizations to clean the ocean and end the marine pollution but even ours as the civilians. If this issue is not addressed soon, we might witness millions of dead fishes and mass marine extinctions in the future. Greatness comes from small beginnings so let’s take a small step in the direction of a cleaner ocean today!