I love the sea – on it, under it or beside it – but things aren't what they used to be in my childhood days of sand-castle building and rock-pooling. Between then and now there are another 3.5 billion people populating the earth and coastal environments are the most intensely pressured. The sea provides food, recreation and perhaps more importantly, climate control and CO2 regulation. Ironically, its vastness and unexplored depths lead us to ignore its importance to the human species and it is slowly and imperceptibly being damaged by pollution and acidification. I may not see the consequences, nor may you, but your children may just be denied the fascination and wonder of the world's oceans as you once knew them.

Please support the work of the Marine Conservation Society in raising awareness of this growing and serious, but almost un-noticed, problem.

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So please dig deep and donate now.