“Save the nematodes!” just doesn’t have as good a ring to it as “Save the dolphins!”

However, marine invertebrates deserve just as much attention as we give to other sea creatures such as dolphins and sea turtles. Society at large tends to pay attention to “cute” sea creatures: the more evolutionarily advanced ones, and the ones we can relate to. There have been huge movements to stop overfishing and trash pollution, and the images associated with these movements tend to show sharks with their fins cut off or sea turtles with their heads stuck in those plastic soda can holders.

We tend to ignore the fact that the changes humans have made to the ocean over the years, from raising its temperature to polluting it with mountains of trash, not only affect marine vertebrates that have a prominent place in the media. The ocean is home to more than just pretty fish, adorable dolphins, and scary sharks. Although nematodes are not as cute as dolphins, they are in just as much danger if humans continue on our destructive path.

Professor Harvell’s talk and the documentary that she starred in helped open my eyes to this. If there had been a disease like the one discussed in the film that was killing sea lions up and down the West Coast (instead of sea stars), the media would be all over it and everyone would know about it. This is a problem, and I’m sure Professor Harvell’s documentary will help to spread awareness about protecting the smaller creatures living in our oceans.

In the meantime, someone come up with a slogan that sounds better than “Save the marine invertebrates!”