Q1.
Why do you think life under the sea is just as important as life in the forests?
Answer
Because the sea does the same jobs a forest does, and a few more. We notice a forest because we can walk into it. The sea does its work out of sight, so it is easy to forget.
| Job | How a forest does it | How the sea does it |
|---|---|---|
| Makes the oxygen we breathe | Trees make oxygen in their leaves | Tiny floating sea plants make a very large part of the world's oxygen |
| Gives food | Fruit, honey, roots, leaves | Fish, prawns, crabs and salt — the daily food of millions of Indians |
| Gives work | Forest produce, honey collecting | Fishing, boat making, net making, ports, tourism |
| Keeps the weather steady | Trees cool the air and bring rain | The sea heats slowly, sends up the vapour that becomes our monsoon rain |
| Protects the land | Roots hold the soil on hillsides | Coral reefs and mangroves break big waves before they hit the shore |
| Home for living things | Tigers, birds, insects, orchids | Corals, fish, turtles, dolphins — countless kinds, many still unknown |
The idea to hold on to: everything is joined. A reef shelters small fish; the small fish feed big fish; the big fish feed people in the fishing village; the village keeps the harbour going. Damage the reef and every link after it suffers. The chapter says the same thing at the end — everything is connected.
For your discussion: Ask one another, "name three things in your house that came from the sea." Salt, dried fish, a shell, a pearl button, sand in the cement of the wall. The list gets longer than anyone expects.