How To Drain the Ocean

While human obsession with land has lasted centuries, millions have died in wars over land, the Earth’s ocean have remained mostly unscathed. There are battles on the seas but they are few and far between. One would wonder; why would anyone battle over land when the ocean makes up over 70% of the Earth’s surface? Why are territories constricted by land? This is because the ocean is a powerful entity that Man has no control of. Creatures in the ocean still leave the minds of scientists boggling. Man has always been in awe of the ocean and its inhabitants, be it myths like the Kraken or the Loch Ness monster or real creatures like the giant squid and the jellyfish. Man has also always been in awe of pirates and their skill out at sea, think Johnny Depp and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. While we do not truly realize it, the ocean is really a wonder to all of us.

Now imagine the Earth’s ocean being drained in its entirety along with all the sea creatures. Massive container laden ships would be stuck on the ocean floor. Submarines would just be relics in museums. The remains of Titanic would be a worldwide, massive attraction. The mystery of the Bermuda Triangle would probably be solved. The Lost City of Atlantis would end up as an amusement park with themed rollercoaster rides being built around the supposed gargantuan statues of Zeus and Athena.

Considering Man’s ever-constant quest for land (if the fact that the ocean drainage would not cause any environmental effects on the globe and Earth’s water supply would not go into shortage if a drainage occurred), as soon as the Earth’s ocean was drained, I suppose a worldwide war would break out. The United Nation would, of course, attempt to split the “new” land mass accordingly but knowing the greed of mankind, any proposed suggestion would be ridiculed and fall on deaf ears. Countries placed near the once massive body of water would take full advantage of the situation, naturally. The size of United Kingdom would probably be several times than what it was. Singapore would no longer be a “little red dot”.

However, the truth of the matter is, none of the above will happen. That was just a perspective of a war-hungry, land-hungry dictator whose greed precedes his value of nature. If the Earth’s ocean was really drained, the loss of one of the world’s largest ecosystem would give way to a worldwide natural wonder. Ocean depths, some over 12,000 feet, would go on for miles and miles. The world population would be exposed to over 100,000 mud volcanoes, once underwater, now ready to make its mark on the Earth’s surface. More importantly, twisted ridges, meandering slopes, long barren plains as diverse as some of Earth’s more complex rainforests like the Amazon would now be on the surface for all to see.

Of course, if the Earth’s ocean was drained away, even before mankind could get to appreciate the depths and mysteries of the ocean, mankind would be embarrassed with what they would get to see. The global population would get to see the amount of garbage they have trashed out to sea. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (yes, that is what it is called), is a huge mass of plastic trash floating out off the California coast. Bearing twice the size of Texas, the gigantic garbage mass was formed when non-biodegradable garbage, tossed out into the ocean, gets swirled around by current and finally turns into giant-sized trash.

The world should not only be ashamed of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a recent study by the United Nation Environment Programme has shown that for every square mile of the ocean, there are roughly 46,000 pieces of litter. That is indeed a shameful piece of information, fellow humans. The fishes in our ocean right now probably have to avoid that plastic bottle or plastic bag you threw every few seconds.

So, before you throw that plastic bag or bottle without thinking, care for the sea and ocean creatures that share the same ecosystem as you do. Respect the ocean and its inhabitants. Imagine what would really happen if the ocean was drained.