Want to be an informed conservationist whether you're on one side of the world or the other? Then you MUST take a look at the Seafriends site, a community created in New Zealand that informs event the most well-informed conservationist on the planet, ocean, and the resources that can be used to help keep both as beautiful as ever.
One thing that immediately caught my attention when eyeing up this website about the NZ organization, while trying to get more informed about conserving our marine life and water, was the fact that it's honest, whether you want to hear it or not. Focusing on topics that are readily prevelant though not necessarily easy to hear (such as marine degredation) the group educates the world about the most difficult problems facing our marine life today.
I had the pleasure of speaking with its director, Dr. J Floor Anthoni on the reality and what makes Seafriends the place to go for the latest news, education, and information on what's hurting our marine world today and how we can all make it better.
What is the purpose of Seafriends and why create an organization in New Zealand when there are many marine conservation organizations worldwide?
Seafriends began in 1987 when the Internet was not practical. We opened our doors in 1992. Our web site was established in 1997 from where it grew to what it is today. Although there are many marine conservation organisations, there is a need for thorough and critical marine education which also comes free. There is just too much false information around, like for instance some on Reeftank. My focus is on marine degradation, a subject found only on Seafriends. Yet this is the most important marine issue today. I saw that what is needed is an informational and educational web site that brings environmental science to the masses, step by step, totally truthful and lasting, while also challenging one's mind. In such a web site there is no room for news, blogs or comments.
One reason for a NZ site I discovered later, that NZ is quite unique and different from other places, and that conservation must therefore be done in a different way too. We cannot 'copy and paste' other nations' solutions, such as those proposed by the United Nations.
Why is there a need for this kind of organization in New Zealand?
New Zealand is supposedly 'green and clean' but nothing could be further from the truth. We are perhaps the world's worst eco-terrorists: never before have so few people done so much harm to such a large area in such a short time span. It's time to break the myth. I am passionate about the sea and it hurts to see it degrade while nobody seems to care.
What is your background or interest in marine biology? How did you get involved with the organization?
Although originally trained in physics and electronics, my interest moved to computers for which I obtained a PhD in Delft, Holland. But in 1987 I decided to change my life and become a marine ecologist. Since that decision I have been studying marine ecology. I have avoided going back to University because that would have been such a waste of time. In 1990 I created the Seafriends Marine Conservation and Education Centre in Leigh, and never looked back.
On the website, you write “Conservation is like fixing the mistakes of our parents with the ignorance of ourselves. Conservation is all about changing human behavior and a willingness to learn.” Can you explain what these mean and relate it to marine and water conservation?
All the world's problems are created by people. If there were no people, there would be no problems. Every generation has been creating more problems and new problems and this will continue without an end in sight. So apparently every new generation is fixing the problems of previous generations by their ignorance, and thereby creating new problems. Somehow this cycle needs to be broken, which is possible only by skepticism and education based on factual knowledge. We all need to learn more in order to change our behaviours.
Since the sea rests at the bottom of the land where all people live, it is therefore the sump of civilisation, suffering the total of our follies. One cannot save the sea without saving the land first.
What does the Seafriends website have to offer?
Seafriends has pioneered a large number of activities to educate the general public. We guide school children in the water for their first snorkel experience. We have developed a large number of resources, both outside and inside the classroom, for teaching awareness. But our largest resource is our web site which is unique. It teaches what you need to know about the world and the sea by making science easy to understand. It is also highly skeptical of bogus science like human-caused global warming, ocean acidification, marine reserves and much more. It has become indispensable for people who really want to know the truth about how things work on land and in the sea. But it can do no more than lead a horse to water, as it cannot make it drink. People have to make some effort, a commitment, if you like. We may in the end lose out to web sites that propagate shallowness, which is part of human destiny, I think.
What are some other important marine issues in NZ (you mention them on your site) and what can we do about them?
The marine issues in NZ are no different from those elsewhere. But we are a young country, now going through a phase of rapid marine degradation, from which we ought to learn. In this respect, NZ is unique because this phase happened a long time ago elsewhere. In my view, marine scientists are our main stumbling block, as they hang on too much to outdated ideas. They are too much thinking alike, and there is too much consensus. They are also thinking in too much detail. What we need for the sea is an entirely new way of thinking because none of the ecological rules valid for the land, seem to work in the sea. The sea is just too strange, and this is one of the main reasons there is so much bogus science about it, and so much misunderstanding. Whatever you know about the sea is probably entirely wrong.
You have an entire website but what can the average person do to make others aware that marine conservation efforts need to be made?
The Seafriends web site is only half completed, but I hope to find enough time to complete it one day. It is already very large, with over 4000 printed pages and over 5000 illustrations and photos. I agree that this is quite daunting for most, but it is necessary to make the point. Visit for instance our chapter about ocean acidification. If you want to understand the issues, you must make an effort, yet nothing there is superfluous.
Visit the site map to see which subjects have been covered and which not yet.
The question is not to make people aware that marine conservation is important, but that whatever we will try, will fail, as it did in the past, unless we are more honest about our ideas and what we CAN do, and about the outcomes of our actions. We have to learn that we cannot exploit more than 30% of the planet, or it will change forever, likely for worse. We have to learn that only by saving the land can we save the sea. We have to be smarter and believe in less. We have to expose fraud and fraudsters.
Has Seafriends helped combat marine issues in NZ in any way? Do you have any examples?
Seafriends has not been active politically because it is more important to do the right thing for the right reasons at the right time. We owe this to our children. In this respect, all or nearly all present conservation measures have failed or will fail. Most marine conservation organisations are making big mistakes for the same reason, mistakes that have to be corrected later, by a new generation of people. They have lost credibility by being too keen. So the first thing is to get the science right, which is where we fit in.
What is the future for the Seafriends community?
The future of Seafriends, I hoped, would be by spontaneous and growing support from people who informed themselves from the Seafriends web site and by visiting us. People who would also know that one needs to put in something tangible, like money, effort and time. Alas, after 20 years, too little of this has materialised. So it is fair to say that it will take another 20 years before a snowball may begin to grow, or it may never happen. In the meantime the world will go through a most critical phase during which people will be absorbed by self-preservation and, most likely, war.
I know that the above sounds controversial and perhaps even negative, but we need to be realistic about our achievements, what we can and cannot change, and about how strange the sea really is.
Want to be an informed conservationist whether you're on one side of the world or the other? Then you MUST take a look at the 
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