Picture that I took in May 2023 while in Redang Island located in Terengganu, Malaysia.
Whilst strolling along a beach in Redang Island1 on a serene day with a gossamer breeze, I stumbled upon a jagged mound of what appears to be bleached corals2 that seems to extend sideways indefinitely, parallel to where the seawater meets the sand. There were dead corals stacking on top of dead corals, and it is never ending. Upon witnessing such an elegiac sight, I couldn’t help myself but to envision what the deep ocean used to look like a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand years ago, when nature was still untouched. It must have been a beautiful sight to behold then: an ocean bursting with life whose diverse colour palette that today likely no one has ever seen, or will ever see.
The direct evidence of plight of marine life that stood before me on that day, has left with me a deep sense of sadness and empathy for them. Though this happened on Redang Island, this tragedy is happening on a global scale. I genuinely hope that humanity will eventually awaken to the negative consequences that its actions can have, and make a collective effort to end activities that perpetuate the suffering of marine life.