Half Of The Ocean's Population Disappeared In The Past 45 Years
School of Spadefish NOAA/Flickr/Greg McFall Life isn't always better under the sea. A combination of overfishing and environmental changes have cut the population of the worlds oceans nearly in half, according to a new report from the World Wildlife Fund. The report, which looked at 1,234 species of mammal, bird, reptile, and fish, found that between 1970 and 2012, populations declined by 49 percent, with some species hit much harder than others. Commercially valuable species like tuna and mackerel declined by 74 percent, and sea cucumbers (seen as a delicacy in some parts of the world) saw their populations reduced by over 90 percent in specific areas like the Galapagos and the Red Sea. Currently, harvesting sea cucumbers is banned in the Galapagos, though illegal fishing still occurs. The report also found that marine habitats...