difficulty am I got Heather yet now I do
not repent me of all the trouble I have
been at to arrive where I am my sword I
give to him that Chelsea seed me in my
pilgrimage and my courage and skill to
him they can get it I recited that quote
from John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress at
my father’s funeral last year from his
deathbed he taught me something profound
he taught me to stand with conviction
for what you believe in I’m standing
here today asking you to join me in
committing one small act to save our
oceans all life on Earth depends upon
healthy oceans oceans regulate earthly
temperatures and climate produced more
than half of the world’s oxygen and
recycle large amounts of co2 and most of
the world’s water my love for the ocean
has developed over the past two years
when i began diving in the kelp forests
and exploring along the intertidal zones
of k point i’ve always had a deep
connection to nature but I wasn’t so
sure about the creatures that lived
under the sea apart from finding the
ocean freezing cold it was intimidating
daunting formidable somewhat like my
father could sometimes appear to be so
when he encouraged me to go diving I was
reluctant nervous even scared however
I was soon persuaded and as I cautiously
peered under the surface of the water I
was met by the googly eyes of an
inquisitive clip vez staring straight
back at me that’s when I realized I
might not be the only one who was afraid
after all I must have looked pretty
scary myself in my monster goggles I
fell in love with that little fish and
so began my adventure into an alien
world beneath the waves I discovered
that the kelp forests created a
protected safe haven that I could
explore and at the sea magnificent and
powerful could be calm beneath the waves
somewhat like my formidable father who
is kind-hearted and generous benitez
crusty outer shell as I began to learn
more about the biology of the marine
environment it became more interesting
and engaging first I learned the names
of the different types of limpets these
pair limpets grow red algae gardens and
defecate which is the fancy word for poo
at low tide to fertilize their gardens
who would have believed that such a
simple looking creature was evolved
enough to be a gardener the many ants
starfish have recently become quite
abundant in false Bay most starfish are
known for their ability to lose limbs to
predators and easily grow back more
however this particular species of
starfish splits in order to replicate it
actually divides in half and then grows
an additional body and additional arms
so this is a crazy form of reproduction
one of my favorite and what I believe to
be by far the wackiest creatures I’ve
encountered other sea has she has
release a thick dark ink into the water
when they feel threatened so as to allow
them time to escape from
predators as I was exploring this
foreign new world my father was ailing
he had been diagnosed with stage 4
terminal cancer and had come home to die
he didn’t want to die in hospital he
wanted to die at home surrounded by
those he loved and cherished so he
nursed and took care of him in the last
month’s of his life my father did not
want to deteriorate slowly losing all
his faculties and becoming weaker and
more dependent he did not want to die
the death of a thousand cuts he wanted
to die with dignity so he brought an
application to court to allow him an
assisted suicide my father wanted to
relieve end of life suffering not just
his own but that of all terminal
patients so frail and weak and in pain
he fought to change the law in this
country while my father was confined to
bed I received a call telling me that
there were large sevengill cow sharks in
relatively shallow waters these sharks
grow to 2 to 3 meters in length and they
hunt seals and dolphins and being the
size of a rather large seal naturally I
was a bit afraid with butterflies in my
tummy I dawned on my goggles and fins
and full of apprehension at the start I
relaxed as soon as I was in the water
sheltered by the kelp I watched in awe
as these magnificent serene creatures
glided by as I recalled Mike dive with
the cow sharks it struck me that sharks
are the guardians of death in the oceans
you see sharks take out the weak sick
and injured so they don’t endure a long
protracted painful death
sharks mercifully put an end to
suffering and I began to draw an analogy
between the Sharks role in the ocean and
my father’s cause and yet a hundred
million of these magnificent creatures
are killed every year a hundred million
it’s hard to even imagine such a huge
number many sharks are killed merely for
their fins for shark fin soup once
defend in the ultimate act of human
cruelty these sharks are thrown back
into the sea finless we’re
heartbreakingly they sink and drown this
is just one of the many horrific acts of
humanity that are systematically
destroying our oceans yes there is a
pervasive cancer that is killing our
marine life and we humans are the source
of that cancer we’re polluting our
oceans at a terrifying rate in fact it’s
estimated that by 2050 they’ll be more
plastic in the ocean than fish borough
of fishing we fished out ninety percent
of the big fish in our ocean that’s
right only ten percent remain when I
learned this I decided I must do
something one small act so I decided to
stop eating fish and then persuaded my
mum to do the same which proved quite a
challenge as she loves sushi I’m not
saying that everyone must stop eating
fish but if you do eat fish twice a week
cut back to say once a week one small
act but collectively powerful we all
need to realize
that all life on earth is dependent upon
healthy oceans as our oceans produce
more than half of the world’s oxygen and
recycle most of our water with every
breath you take with every drop of water
you drink you are connected to the ocean
no matter where on earth you live the
however he didn’t benefit from this
victory as he died only hours before the
ruling this wouldn’t have mattered to my
dad as this has set a new precedent from
which all terminally ill patients will
now benefit my father taught me that the
acts of one person can make a difference
can change the law I’m going to my
father’s and with great difficulty oh my
god Heather yet now I do not repent me
of all the trouble I have been at to
arrive where I am my sword I give to him
that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage
and my courage and skill to him they can
get it it was too late for my dad but
it’s not too late for our oceans thank [Applause]