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Finally, the people and organizations responsible for protecting coastal seas are official government organizations that have created sanctioned laws for oceanic protection.  While many of the American EPA laws are for open ocean pollution, there are things like the Beach Act of 2000 that are specifically tailored to the protection of coastal seas. The  United Nations has also created biodiversity protections for both coastal seas and open oceans in order to make the world a healthier place. The only real persistent reason that coastal seas have a lack of protection of because of misinformation. Many government regulations are specifically meant for the open ocean because officials are unaware of the fact that most of the oceans biodiversity exists in coastal seas instead.

https://www.epa.gov/beach-tech/laws-protect-our-oceans
https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/oceans-and-law-sea/

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1: What organisms actually rely on the kelp itself? The documentary touched on the urchins, but not really much of anything else.

2: Is there a way to actually reverse the coral bleaching process?

3: Why do sharks only hunt at night even when food is literally right in front of their faces?

4: How are animals like whales able to go weeks to months without eating even though they are gigantic and would require more nutrients and energy?

5: Were the sea otters using the kelp as a kind of fur cleaner?

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In the fourth and final episode of the documentary, the focus was on coastal seas around the world.  The episode centered around different kinds of coastal sea ecosystems, like kelp gardens and coral reefs.  There were also organisms spotlights within each ecosystem spotlight.  The coral reefs focused on both the coral and reef sharks, showing both coral bleaching and the hunting process of the sharks.  The kelp gardens focused on sea urchins and the effects that they have on the gardens.  The sea urchins are detrimental to the kelp, which many other organisms need, so fish with sharp teeth and sea otters eat them.  Finally there were the shoals, which focused on the hunting practices of dolphins and migrating humpback whales.

Three persistent themes in this part of the documentary were that of balance, protection, and adaptations.  Firstly, there is a heavy focus on how each ecosystem needs every organism within it in order to stay balanced.  The kelp gardens were a great example with this theme, as there had to be an equal amount predators and prey there for the ecosystem to thrive.  There couldn't be too many sea urchins because they would eat all of the kelp, and there couldn't be too many sea otters because then there wouldn't be enough food for all of them.  The theme of protection was subtle, but always present.  The narrator constantly stated that the thriving areas shown in the documentary were all protected areas and nature reserves, and that the unprotected areas were completely destroyed.  There was not much focus on theme, but it was always mentioned and present.  Finally there was the point of adaptation.  This was best shown in the section with the corals.  The documentary said that corals were bleached because many of them could not adapt to the rising ocean temperatures and had to expel their algae.  The documentary also talked about rising oceanic acidity, and how many organisms will be unable to survive if they cannot adapt to the change in pH.

The global importance of this part of the documentary is paramount. So much of the world relies on the sea, specifically the diverse ecosystems of the coastal seas, for food and resources. If we just let the seas fall to ruin, much of humanity will be unable to survive and there will be a massive drop off in population.

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The responsibility of protecting jungles mostly on independent organizations instead of large government summits and meetings. Organizations like the Rainforest Alliance have to independently raise money in order to actually implement change in the protection of rainforests. One of the larges reasons that things are not getting done is because many of the worlds governments see the rainforest as a resource too big to be exhausted. Like the ocean, they want to make use of the forests bountiful timber resources while neglecting the fact that they are harming the biomes ecosystems.

http://www.earthtimes.org/conservation/protecting-rainforests-responsibility-conservation/733/
https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/articles/protecting-wildilfe-by-conserving-habitat

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1: The gorillas at the beginning seemed very wary of the elephants.  Are elephants naturally vicious predators?

2: Can pitcher plants consume organisms larger than bugs?  Like the bats that roost in them?

3: Why do monkeys and gorillas need so much salt in their diet?

4: Can the Cordyceps fungus spread to organisms other than insects?

5: What is the reasoning behind the name of the spider monkey?

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Diverting from the past two episodes, the documentary now moves to the world's tropical rainforests instead of glaciers and tundras, featuring a completely new climate and organisms. Changing pace once again from the last episode, there was more of a lighthearted tone to this one. The episode focused mostly on predator prey relationships and how humans are directly affecting the environment right now. Unlike the other episodes, this one specifically cites humans as the cause of the problems in the environment. The documentary talked about how the world's tropical rainforests are disappearing specifically because of human activity, and that all of the other problems plaguing the rainforests are due to this clearing of the land. The majority of the episode centered around the relationships between predators and prey. There were three segments featuring simians: one of spider monkeys, one of gorillas, and the other of orangutans.  There were also segments featuring the inner workings of leaf ant colonies and elephant families, as well as a section for pitcher plants and the Cordyceps fungus.

The three major concepts presented in the video were that of predator/prey relations, land clearance, and hunting. First, the predator/prey relationships. The best segment to exemplify this would probably be the one featuring the spider monkeys the documentary went in detail about how one monkey acts as a lookout, while the other one heads down to retrieve food. The best part, though, is that it also features how all prey animals essentially act the same. They have lookouts, the tread cautiously, and they all take the same running stance at the slightest hint of trouble. The second great theme was how humans are clearing away too much area from tropical rainforests, and how that is causing resource scarcity struggles for all of the organisms living there. In the section on Borneo and the Pitcher Plants, the documentary gives a moving diagram to show exactly how much of Borneo's originally forested area has been lost to humans. Finally, there was the theme of hunting. Similar to the predator/prey relationship section, the documentary went into detail on how many of the organisms obtain their food. The Leaf Ants had the best example of this, as the documentary went through the collection, transportation, and treatment of their food source.

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Last episode discussed the protection of scattered glaciers like Greenland and portions of Alaska, but this episode directs addressed the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets. In terms of responsibility, the United Nations constructed a treaty that delegated most of the Arctic responsibility to countries like Russia, Iceland, and Canada, as they are the closest to the area. The only problem is that this treaty only regulates oceanic activities and, while any protection of the Arctic area is important, it does not directly affect the glaciers.  In all reality, the protection of glaciers is placed on the backs of everyone, as climate change is the largest reason as to why the glaciers are experiencing such drastic growing and shrinking periods.

http://theconversation.com/whose-job-is-it-to-protect-the-arctic-64778

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1- Why are scientists able to study arctic creatures so thoroughly, but have such little information on the behavior of narwhals?

2- For what reason are albatross adults still not able to control their landing and flight patterns?

3- What about being in the water changes the quality of a walrus' vision?

4- Why do young polar bears hesitate when hunting? They have no concept of human morals.

5- For what reason do all arctic animals travel so slowly, even when they are in immediate danger?

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The second episode of ‘Our Planet’, Frozen World, took a much darker turn than the first episode.  Unlike the last episode, Frozen World focused specifically on the Arctic, Antarctic, and glaciers.  This time, there were scenarios involving Polar Bears, Albatrosses, Penguins, and Walruses, and the relationship between the living conditions of these animals and the shrinking of polar sea ice.  In the penguin bit, the documentary pointed out how a lack of polar sea ice takes away much of the natural protection provided to undersea krill, causing their population to shrink.  This caused the penguins to have less food and, thus, have a population decline.  The albatrosses were alright, the documentary detailed how they live on one of the only safe haven in the arctic.  The polar ears were in a similar situation to the penguins, as shrinking sea ice limited their food supply.  Finally there was the segment with the walruses, which featured something that amounted to a walrus mass suicide, as they are forced to climb mountains to rest due to a lack of space and sea ice.

The three major concepts presented in this episode were that of spacing, food, and seasonal change.  First, the documentary addressed the issue of how shrinking sea ice takes away much of the space that animals once had.  As exemplified by the walrus segment, shrinking sea ice forces animals closer together, which can lead to paranoia and mass hysteria that gets organisms killed.  The abundance of food sources was also a prominent talking point during the episode, especially when it came to the polar bears.  The shrinking of the ice takes much of the polar bears hunting ground, restricting them from getting food.  Finally, the documentary addresses seasonal change because it continuously talks about how many arctic organisms are safe during the wintertime, but their situations become dire once spring and summer roll around.

This episode connected pretty solidly back to the climate change unit.  While the documentary never explicitly states this, it is implied that humans are the reason as to why the polar ice retreats so drastically during the summer.  Due to what we learned in class, I already knew that this exponential increase in summer temperatures was due to greenhouse gas emissions and other human caused actions.

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The most prominently featured ecosystem in this episode was the glacier, which was given a spotlight at the end of the episode highlighting what is happening to them. The documentary got into how the glaciers are being damaged, but not how that damage can be mitigated.  To protect glaciers, there are national parks and reserves in places like Alaska and Greenland which are specifically dedicated to preserving the ice mass that resides there. While there are steps that can be taken to protect glaciers, actions are not being taken due to conflicting interests between the government and consequence groups. When the government creates a law, there will always be a positive and a negative side. According to the site Glacier Hub, there was an experiment done in Chile based around glacier protection and mining legislation, but action was unable to be taken due to conflicting interests between the miners ( the consequence group) and the government. The government wanted to change the mining laws in order to better benefit glacier growth, while
the miners wanted to keep the laws the same in order to continue making a living as they were.

https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/management/index.htm
http://glacierhub.org/2018/04/05/glacier-law-conundrum-protecting-glaciers-or-limiting/

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1: Are desert cyclones naturally and frequently occurring events, or have human impacts on the environment altered how and when these storms come about?

2: For what reason do the red-capped birds decide to perform in groups when that creates stiffer competition for females?

3: How come the amount of organisms was so abundant despite the fact that the narrator stated that their populations have been declining?

4: Can organisms other than humans have a negative impact on the environment and atmosphere?

5: Why are animals so cold hearted towards their own children?

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During this first episode of ‘Our Planet’, multiple different scenarios were shown of the relationships between predator and prey, as well as the different mating rituals of certain animals, and the relationship of those animals to their habitats.  To start, there was a demonstration with different birds and fish, and how each part of the food chain works together in order to feed one another.  There were also two scenarios involving wild dogs and how different habitats and environments can influence how similar species hunt for prey.  Finally, a segment towards the end detailed the different mating dances of birds and how they attract mates.

Three major concepts that came from the movie is how different parts of an ecosystem work together, how the environment can impact a species living within it, and how completely unrelated events can have large impacts on one another.  The scene involving the dolphins and fish was a perfect showcase of how different organisms work together in a food chain.  By performing their own independent actions, the organisms each created a scenario in which everyone was able to obtain food.  This also connects to the third point of unrelated events affecting each other, as does the segment about the desert storm and the flamingoes.  The flamingoes would have migrated to the desert anyway, but the large storm made their hatching process easier.  Finally, the wild dog segments really highlighted the relationship between organism and environment.  By using the environment to their advantage, the prey animals were able to evade their hunters, showing how vital the environment is to their survival.

This documentary left my view on the environment somewhat frazzled.  While I was pleased to see it, I was confused as to why there were so many abundant organisms around in these places, despite the fact that their populations have been steadily declining.  The final segment about the glaciers made me reflect quite a bit on what we have learned in class. The documentary only addressed the effects of the glaciers melting on local organisms, but background knowledge on human impacts from class helped me place more context into the situation.  Finally, the global importance of this issue is paramount.  Really, it was best summed up by the narrator himself at the beginning of the documentary when he stated: “This series will celebrate the natural wonders that remain, and reveal what we must preserve to ensure that people and nature thrive”.