The oceanographer’s protest under the sea to protect the grass

By Zeba Tarannum

Mauritian female oceanographer, Shaama Sandooyea holds underwater protest to protect seagrass She chose this fancy strategy of protest to strengthen the ongoing movement around the world to tackle climate change.

Mauritania is a country in north-western Africa in the western part of the Indian Ocean. It has become imperative to conserve the ecosystem that has developed cantering the seagrass over a wide area under the sea of the saya de Malha sea bank of the country.

Thousands of marine species rely on that area for food and habitat. Besides, the area absorbs a large amount of carbon dioxide gas. This gas is very important for global warming. But the world is losing around 8% of its seagrass cover per year due to dredging, rising ocean temperatures and other factors.

The 24-year-old oceanographer, Shaama Sandooyea from Mauritia, protested under the sea demanding necessary action in the situation.

She held an underwater protest with a placard on the coral wall of the Saya de Malha bank, a submerged part of the Mascarine Plateau. The placard was written ‘Youth Strike for Climate’. She carried out the program to highlight the need to protect the world’s largest seagrass or seabed grass.

Shaama and her collaborators are hoping to draw attention to a UN goal of developing 30% of the world’s water and land area as protected areas by 2030. According to scientists, if this amount of land and water is established as a protected area, it is possible to prevent climate change and the loss of biodiversity.

Shaama hoped her protest program will help take more aggressive global action against climate change. She said, “There is a lot of life in the ocean that we don’t know exists. Marine animals shouldn’t be suffering by the decisions and actions of human”