Our oceans are in trouble as much as our land. They have suffered centuries of unsustainable abuse and exploitation. They have been plundered for vast quantities of fish, with huge areas of the seabed smashed and stripped of life. Globally, only 13% of oceanic waters are now considered truly wild.

The seas around Britain were once home to the biggest creatures on the planet – including blue, humpback, fin, sperm, bottlenose and sei whales. But the whales were hunted to local near extinction for meat and oil, before commercial whaling in Britain ceased in 1963 (although a worldwide moratorium ...

 

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