By Daniel Stone
Industrial fishing. Melting of freshwater glaciers. Greenhouse gases. The factors are numerous, but the effect is simple: our oceans are in peril, slowly altering the resources we take from them and the species that need them for life. “There is hope, but we better turn things around because it may get worse before it gets better,” says Jay Nelson, who heads the Global Ocean Legacy project at the Pew Environment Group. The Daily Beast consulted several marine scientists, as well as the Washington-based ocean-advocacy group Oceana, to highlight the ocean’s species sitting on the brink—and slowly taking marine health and stability down with them.