For next week, let’s read chapter 12, chapter 13 and chapter 14. That’ll take us to page 379 in the book.
This past week took us to an unknown reef off the coast of Brazil, Thai fishing boats with enslaved crews, then behind the scenes of the cruise industry, which would appear to vex Urbina to his very core.
Some questions to kick it off:
The “magic pipe” system was so frustrating, how do you feel about cruises and how they build deniability into their very organizational structure?
What do you think should happen with derelict offshore drilling platforms?
Human trafficking on the Thai fishing fleet is an enormous issue that feels impossible to solve. I don’t really have a question here. It just sucks.
Where do you come down on “the solution to pollution is dilution” now?
We are steadily making our way through, next week has at least some folks working to make things better.
As others have mentioned, this a very difficult book to read. The stories are so heart breaking and so disheartening. I do agree with the author that it is important for people to know those stories. However, the author also conveys an inevitability about these situations that can leave one with a feeling of helplessness. I am not sure that is a helpful message. Greed may indeed rule the seas. But fatalism only enables the present situation. Perhaps the book will offer more hope as it progresses.
My favorite Chapter in this past week's reading was easily The Next Frontier. I really enjoyed reading about the Esperanza, the two person submarine and the race to block the oil drilling. It was so refreshing that the Brazilian scientists and Greenpeace won the battle!
Cruises have always been bad in my book with all that nasty fuel they burn and pollution, but after reading more about them, especially that Magic Pipe, I now would have no problem if cruises were regulated to the point that they hardly existed anymore (that is of course after I get the chance to race on that go-kart track). As for "the solution to pollution is dilution" I've always been against it and will continue to be. Clean water should never be risked and unfortunately it still does daily.
The trafficking issue nauseates me and leaves me feeing powerless. The story about the little girls at the karaoke bar is devastating. I do wonder how much the author tries to paint himself in a “better light?” During the telling of the story about the karaoke bar the author says something along the lines of, “I am here to tell the story, but it sucks.” This left me with a cop out feeling. As if acknowledging the horror of the situation gives him a pass for not doing something to help the little girls? I know this isn’t fair to the author, but it seemed empty to me?
I know my seafood and cruising days are over.
Ironically, as I am reading, I keep thinking I need to quit reading . Lol “The more you know.” Right?
Over this Thanksgiving weekend I’ve had the nagging thought in my head, “Thank goodness this is a turkey-based holiday, not fish.” But, I’m sure many an animal activists would tell more some horror stories of the poultry, or swine, or cattle industries.
This is a tough, tough world - but it would be nice if there were more people doing right to make sure abhorrent behavior less common. I guess in a world of seven to eight billion people there are going to be some bad actors. I just wish it didn’t permeate so broadly.
To the questions of the week - all four questions seem to come down to economic costs vs the vastness of the ocean. If there were clear rules, clear accountability, and clear understanding of the impact of actions, probably a lot of these issues would be addressed.
I wonder as the powers (countries and companies) of the world are moving beyond earth into space, how well the rules are going to be made and followed. Right now we are seeing this play out with the SpaceX satellite’s polluting the vastness of the night sky, debris being scattered throughout orbits, and a potential crime on the space station being investigated that have murky jurisdictions.
Just thinking out loud ... but we probably like to think that country of origin is the responsible authority over space issues. But, what if, the origin was off a new atoll or offshore platform in international water. What authority is there?
Lastly, I am thinking about the author and his role. He is not a neutral observer. I am okay with that. I feel a little misled in the intro of the book (perhaps I didn’t take it as a sufficient warning), but he is rarely a non-character in the essays, and definitely not a non-character in the issues of the sea. He honestly comes across as an activist - something that feels like more than an informer. It’s a real honest question of what role do we want a journalist to play.
As others have mentioned, this a very difficult book to read. The stories are so heart breaking and so disheartening. I do agree with the author that it is important for people to know those stories. However, the author also conveys an inevitability about these situations that can leave one with a feeling of helplessness. I am not sure that is a helpful message. Greed may indeed rule the seas. But fatalism only enables the present situation. Perhaps the book will offer more hope as it progresses.
My favorite Chapter in this past week's reading was easily The Next Frontier. I really enjoyed reading about the Esperanza, the two person submarine and the race to block the oil drilling. It was so refreshing that the Brazilian scientists and Greenpeace won the battle!
Cruises have always been bad in my book with all that nasty fuel they burn and pollution, but after reading more about them, especially that Magic Pipe, I now would have no problem if cruises were regulated to the point that they hardly existed anymore (that is of course after I get the chance to race on that go-kart track). As for "the solution to pollution is dilution" I've always been against it and will continue to be. Clean water should never be risked and unfortunately it still does daily.
The trafficking issue nauseates me and leaves me feeing powerless. The story about the little girls at the karaoke bar is devastating. I do wonder how much the author tries to paint himself in a “better light?” During the telling of the story about the karaoke bar the author says something along the lines of, “I am here to tell the story, but it sucks.” This left me with a cop out feeling. As if acknowledging the horror of the situation gives him a pass for not doing something to help the little girls? I know this isn’t fair to the author, but it seemed empty to me?
I know my seafood and cruising days are over.
Ironically, as I am reading, I keep thinking I need to quit reading . Lol “The more you know.” Right?
Over this Thanksgiving weekend I’ve had the nagging thought in my head, “Thank goodness this is a turkey-based holiday, not fish.” But, I’m sure many an animal activists would tell more some horror stories of the poultry, or swine, or cattle industries.
This is a tough, tough world - but it would be nice if there were more people doing right to make sure abhorrent behavior less common. I guess in a world of seven to eight billion people there are going to be some bad actors. I just wish it didn’t permeate so broadly.
To the questions of the week - all four questions seem to come down to economic costs vs the vastness of the ocean. If there were clear rules, clear accountability, and clear understanding of the impact of actions, probably a lot of these issues would be addressed.
I wonder as the powers (countries and companies) of the world are moving beyond earth into space, how well the rules are going to be made and followed. Right now we are seeing this play out with the SpaceX satellite’s polluting the vastness of the night sky, debris being scattered throughout orbits, and a potential crime on the space station being investigated that have murky jurisdictions.
Just thinking out loud ... but we probably like to think that country of origin is the responsible authority over space issues. But, what if, the origin was off a new atoll or offshore platform in international water. What authority is there?
Lastly, I am thinking about the author and his role. He is not a neutral observer. I am okay with that. I feel a little misled in the intro of the book (perhaps I didn’t take it as a sufficient warning), but he is rarely a non-character in the essays, and definitely not a non-character in the issues of the sea. He honestly comes across as an activist - something that feels like more than an informer. It’s a real honest question of what role do we want a journalist to play.