GS PAPER II: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Context: The 85-minute documentary feature, My Octopus Teacher, which won the best documentary award at the recently concluded Academy Awards, is about the relationship that developed between a human being and a wild octopus.

• Lead actor of the documentary has founded the Sea Change Project, where many divers work in tandem to protect the biodiversity of the Kelp forest.

About Kelp Forests:

• Kelp forests are under water areas with a high density of kelp, which covers a large part of the world's coastlines.
• They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Earth.
• Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds.
• Kelp forests occur worldwide throughout temperate and polar coastal oceans.
• In 2007, kelp forests were also discovered in tropical waters near Ecuador.
• In context, algal kelp forest combined with coral reefs account for less than 1% of global primary productivity.
• Physically formed by brown macroalgae, kelp forests provide a unique habitat for marine organisms and are a source for understanding many ecological processes.
• Over the last century, they have been the focus of extensive research, particularly in trophic ecology, and continue to provoke important ideas that are relevant beyond this unique ecosystem.
• For example, kelp forests can influence coastal oceanographic patterns and provide many ecosystem services.
• However, the influence of humans has often contributed to kelp forest degradation.
• Of particular concern are the effects of overfishing nearshore ecosystems, which can release herbivores from their normal population regulation and result in the overgrazing of kelp and other algae.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-life-lessons-from-my-octopus-teacher-7292513/

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