That includes us. Humans are a vital link in the chain of health for the eco-system. Sometimes that’s easy to forget.
We try to insulate ourselves. We build walls, wear layers of clothes, put up fences and make sidewalks all in an effort to distance ourselves from the insects and animals already sharing our world. But it's really only a psychological barrier at best.
Imagine the day we are born; our newness and the sterility of the hospital or birthing room. That's artificial, too. The second we emerge, millions of living organisms claim purchase on our bodies. They never leave - only multiply. We are never alone in the world.
Civilization is a tradeoff. We enjoy more health, less fear of predators and better abundance of food in exchange for no longer being connected to the living world around us. It's a losing proposition, I'm afraid.
Eventually, the natural world we encapsulate ourselves away from will take us. That was - after all - our primary function the larger scheme of things; we were always destined to succumb to the Earth and provide nourishment for billions upon billions of other life-forms... or did you think it was about you? ...Your accomplishments? ...Your "things?" Being the life source for billions of living beings is far more important. Even if we choose not to see the beauty in that, the deep, deep meaning in that, it still happens.
We’re also dependent on other species for our own survival. If we didn’t have colonies of microbes and parasites living on us, we’d be quickly done-in by disease. We wouldn’t even be able to digest our food.
On a larger scale, the health of the plankton will have direct correlation on the health of the fish we eat. That chain – from single-celled organisms to orca or sunlight to sea grass – can only be pulled so hard before it snaps. When it breaks, we soon follow.
The “fragility” of Fragile Waters is about the “chain” being pulled taut. It’s also about the links that are ready to break and the people who desperately trying to mend them.
- Rick Wood, director