Is it us or them: The dichotomy of humans versus planet

Last night my wife and I took went for a walk at the beach. In the warmer weather we do this 3-4 times a week after work. We got there earlier than usual so rather than watching the sunset like we usually would we decided to go for a drive before coming home. We ended up at a place called Garden Island which sits in the inlet of the Port River and is a mangrove habitat and sanctuary for birds and marine life. Right next door is the Torrens Island power station which encompass 8 natural gas burning turbines creating approximately 1280MW of power for Adelaide.

It's a really quiet area, despite the power house being so close, and all one hears are birds typically. We decided to take a walk on the rather rickety boardwalk out over the water and were treated to a show by a couple of dolphin pods playing in the waters just off the boardwalk. I had my camera and I think I must have snapped off about 100 shots trying to get a good one of the dolphins. Alas it wasn't to be.

It made me think about the dichotomy of these two worlds and their struggle to co-exist; On one hand the man made behemoth that is the power plant and on the other the animal kingdom clinging grimly to what original habitat humans leave them.

We leaned up against the rail of the boardwalk looking out over the greenish-blue water, listening to the dolphins splashing only 20 meters away and the birds wheeling and calling overhead. A quick glance over our shoulders and we could also see the massive high voltage towers stretching off into the distance like skeletal sentinels standing in formation guarding the power plant.

I've photographed both for you to demonstrate. The first image is looking to the east with the sun setting behind me. We were watching the dolphins just below where I took the photo. If you look to the right side you may just be able to make out the double row of high voltage towers heading east. The second image (above) was taken just 400 meters away from the first and is a shot looking back to the west at the power station.

These two worlds, ours and their's, fight a constant battle for balance or domination and unfortunately mostly we win. It is an accolade we should feel ashamed of. Our lack of regard for the environment, overuse of resources and excessive production of anything and everything impacts on the other inhabitants of this planet. Our visit to Garden Island demonstrated that clearly. It’s a shame we can't seem to find a balance and for that reason the environment and our plant suffers.

We're running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe - Elon Musk

Use less, tread more lightly
@galenkp