(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Lewis Pugh UK's endurance swimmer who completed the penultimate leg of his Seven Seas for One Reason challenge on Monday in Ras al Hadd has urged the Omani government to set aside more ocean as Marine Protected Area (MPA).
Pugh is a United Nation's Environment Programme (UNEP) patron of the oceans and the Seven Seas campaign is aimed to put MPAs on the global agenda.
Speaking to Muscat Daily Pugh said 'There is an urgent need to create more MPAs in the Arabian Sea. Currently 1.3 per cent of Oman's waters are protected and we are urging all nations to set aside at least ten per cent of the oceans as effective MPAs. I urge the Omani government to do everything it can to protect hawksbill turtles whose global population has suffered an 80 per cent drop in just ten years and are now critically endangered.'
Lewis swam 10km off the coast of Ras al Hadd to raise awareness on the decline in coral reefs due to severe bleaching. It took him three hours 15 minutes in what he described as 'literally one of the highlights of my life'.
Giving a vivid account he said 'In 27 years of swimming I have never seen so many turtles - over 300 green turtles. In some places the whole sea bed was covered in turtles. At the start of the swim there were turtles laying eggs. There were little turtles hatching and making their way into the sea. There were birds diving down and grabbing them. Fish darting in and out. And local artisan fisherman catching fish for their families.
'Today was one of the most enjoyable swims I have ever done in my life. The water was beautiful and warm. Our pilot (a local fisherman named Rabi) was outstanding.'
His tweet about the swim read 'Just completed my Arabian Sea swim. 3h 15min. I've never seen so many turtles. Literally hundreds!!' One of his other tweets read 'We saw green turtles today. I should point out the global population of hawksbill turtles suffered an 80% reduction in just one decade.'
According to UNEP Pugh's campaign will see him become the first person to undertake a long-distance swim in each of the seven seas - the Mediterranean Adriatic Aegean Black Red Arabian and North Sea. He will be in the UK to undertake his final challenge in the North Sea later this week.
The UN body has identified these seas amongst the most polluted and overfished in the world.
'The UN is urging all nations to set aside at least ten per cent of the world's oceans as effective and well-managed MPAs by 2020. The establishment of MPA is a critical component of global efforts to reverse the degradation of our oceans' said Achim Steiner UN undersecretary general and UNEP executive director. 'UNEP applauds Lewis Pugh's latest expedition which will highlight the importance of MPAs and increase global attention to the plight of the world's oceans.
'Land-based pollution poorly managed coastal development overfishing and climate change are all major threats which can be reduced if governments work together and set ambitious targets.
'Over the last 40 years the UNEP Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans have actively supported member states in such efforts including in the creation of MPAs' Steiner said.
He said that approximately 13 per cent of the world's land lies in protected areas but less than three per cent of the oceans are protected and much of that receives little protection in practice.
'The diverse coral reefs of this sea have suffered severe coral bleaching - up to 80 per cent in some areas - from global warming' said Steiner commenting further 'This is set to intensify as sea temperatures rise with climate change. It's a bleak outlook for coral reef habitats; urgent action is needed to reduce climate change at a global level combined with protection at the local level.'
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