FUSINGAN, Josefa Millen R.

WFU

Knowledge is Key: Reflection Paper on the Exhibit

Seeing and understanding the exhibit last September 27, 2019 at the UP Marine
Science Institute lobby made me grasp fully the importance of educating people,
especially the youth, about the physical, biological, chemical, and geological features of
the ocean. As a kid, I had always been fascinated about the waters here in the Philippines
especially since our country is an archipelago with numerous beaches and shores, and
wide spectrum of marine species. During my high school years, I also considered being
a marine biologist among other careers. This is the reason why I enlisted Marine Science
1 for a couple of semesters, and successfully I got this one.

Since I have been taking MS 1 for almost half a semester now, the understood
most the concepts presented in the exhibit such as ocean acidification, death of mangrove
forests, and several more. However, other people might not fully realize the importance
of the ocean and how our actions here in land extremely affect our marine life. For
example, I never really realized how excess carbon emission increases ocean
acidification, thus tremendously affecting our corals, up until I took up this course.
Moreover, if people don’t entirely grasp the repercussions of their actions on our marine
ecosystem similar to terrestrial ecosystem, they won’t know why they are doing these
preventive measures such as reduction of use of single-use plastic.

Being knowledgeable on the features of the ocean, as well as the problems that
arise due to anthropogenic activities, makes us realize that the solution may not be limited
here in land. According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in
the year 2000, it estimated that as much as 95 percent of the world's oceans and 99
percent of the ocean floor are unexplored. We have even explored the planet Mars more
than the deep parts of our ocean. Who knows what could the ocean offer to the research
community?

Exhibits like these which are easy to understand especially for those with little to
no background in the marine sciences will help a lot in disseminating information about
the prevention of deterioration of the ocean. With the help of technology, we can also use
different platforms such as the social media to post infographics, videos, and even articles
which can encourage everyone to lessen their use of single-use plastic and reduce their
carbon footprint. Moreover, exhibits like these educate people the importance of fighting
for our territory which are being explored by China. The exhibit shows a map of the
Philippines dated centuries ago which includes the Spratly Islands and its many reefs
which provides historic evidence that these islands are part of our exclusive economic
zone. This historic evidence led us to our victory in the arbitration case over West
Philippine Sea.

It is important that even at an early age, people have knowledge about the ocean,
marine biodiversity, and territory of our country, because I believe knowledge is the key
to creating solutions we are currently facing in our society.