Healthy marine ecosystems are essential to sustain services to humans. However, marine ecosystems are increasingly subjected to environmental fluctuation, global climate change and multiple anthropogenic stressors, especially in coastal waters. Marine ecosystems contain complex physical, biogeochemical, biological, and ecological processes, which is a major challenge for their successful management.  It has long been recognized monitoring key processes as indicators of marine ecosystem health represents the most simple and effective scientific tool to identify thresholds of the impacts of multiple threats on the health of marine ecosystem function. Scientific research are needed to develop practical and robust indicators of marine ecosystem health. For example, cetaceans are widely used as ocean health indicators of marine pollution impact at global scale, due to the fact that some pollutants are easily bioaccumulated and biomagnified in the top predators as cetaceans via marine food chains. Cetaceans are also known to play an important role to sustain healthy marine ecosystems and reduce the impact of climate change. Recent studies shows that cetaceans made great contribution to blue carbon since they accumulate abundant carbon in their bodies during their long lives.  
 

环境污染,海洋生态环境监管,鲸类