ABSTRACT
Life began in the oceans some 3.5 billion years ago, possibly as single-cell microscopic bacteria and algae similar to the phytoplankton that flourish in the ocean surface layers today (see Chapter 3). It was millions of years after this that invertebrates emerged from the sea to colonize dry land. Most of the human population of the world still lives quite close to the sea. As well as deriving climatic and economic benefits from this location it seems that many people instinctively want to be near the ocean, it is literally in their blood. Professor Keikichi Kihara of Japan speaks of the ‘rhythms of the sea, its tides, winds, waves and sky…it is at the beach where human beings can best feel in the workings of their own bodies and in their breathing that they are indeed an organic part of nature’ (Kihara 1989:11). Sadly, he was referring to the closing of the windows to the open sea in Japan as a result of urban and industrial spread. It seems certain that the areas of greatest population growth in the foreseeable future will continue to be in coastal lands, many of which are already heavily overcrowded.
