To Hear the Ocean

by Rebecca Drouilhet

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. 
—From Sea Fever by John Masefield, 1902

Years pass, but the glass on the water is not a secret.  The Sixth Extinction is not an illusion. Creatures on this planet are vanishing at one thousand to ten thousand times the rate of natural loss. This week, a Mississippi Coast native called for action to protect seabirds during Audubon's Seabird Fly-In, an event where staff and members met with members of Congress to advocate for coastal conservation. Audubon had recently issued a report stating that, since the 1950's, the planet has lost 70% of its shore birds. The causes cited included pollution, climate change, invasive species and loss of food. Humans compete with sea birds for prey such as sardines, or discard the birds' food sources as unwanted by-catch. Around the world, species are disappearing so fast that food chains are collapsing.

wave after wave
the message in a bottle
still unread