“With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea.”
This quote, by legendary oceanographer Silvia Earle, highlights how we are individually connected and indebted to the ocean for the very basic elements of life. No matter where we are on the planet, the ocean connects humans to each other and to other species, both materially and symbolically.
June 8 was World Oceans Day. And every June 8 since 1992, World Ocean Day has marked an opportunity to raise awareness about the benefits humans derive from the ocean, as well as humans’ reciprocal duty to protect the ocean and use its resources responsibly and sustainably.
Currently, human activities pose many threats to the ocean and its ecosystems due to overfishing, invasive species, and pollution from plastics, sewage, and chemical runoff. And yet, during this uncertain time with overlapping crises of health, justice, economics, and climate change, the ocean is one of our greatest allies in forging the global solidarity and collaboration necessary to protect our communities and build resilience against future crises.
So, with this post, I’m asking you to take a moment to connect with the ocean during World Oceans Week, June 8-12, especially if you are one of the many people who feel far removed from it.
For example, the ocean regulates the global climate. This also means that the ocean is directly connected to the air we breathe, no matter how geographically close we are to it. More than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere comes from ocean plants, like phytoplankton and seaweed. The ocean also absorbs 25% of carbon dioxide emissions, and absorbs 90% of the heat produced from greenhouse gas emissions.
Equally important, the ocean provides humans with natural resources necessary for food, materials, and energy. It is the source of jobs for over 10% of the world’s population, and according to the OECD, 90% of international trade uses ocean routes. The ocean is also essential for recreational and cultural activities around the globe, as approximately 40% of the world’s human population lives near ocean coastlines (>3 billion people).
Increasingly, the health of the ocean is also intimately tied to our health and mental health. Oceans and other waterbodies give our brains rest from overstimulation. Sensory activities that include the sight and sounds of crashing waves, the smell of ocean breeze, and the feeling of warm sand and salt water are linked to stress relief, mindfulness, and overall mental health and wellbeing.
Life under the ocean has existed three times longer than life on land. Marine biodiversity and the ocean genome contain information and materials that can help humans build resilience and protection from future diseases and environmental crises. New studies even demonstrate how bacteria from the ocean floor are used to carry out rapid testing for Covid-19.
If you are wondering how to proactively connect to the ocean right now, here are a few things you can do, no matter where you live, that will contribute to a healthy ocean:
- Eat safe, sustainable seafood. Do you know where your seafood comes from? How it was caught or who fished it? Consumers play an important role in shaping ocean health. More than 70% of commercially sought wild fish populations are overfished or fully fished. Look for labels and assurances that your seafood is farmed or fished sustainably and that fishers and fish processors worked in humane conditions. Several past reports have shown that across the international seafood industry, many fishers and fish processors are underpaid or unpaid, labor is unprotected and seasonal, and vessels can be unhygienic even in the best conditions. Furthermore, due to ocean pollution, many species are unsafe to eat. Carry a sustainable seafood card and or get an app for your phone to help you make safe and sustainable choices. Ask your seafood restaurant, grocer, or local fish market to buy from sustainable fisheries. Look for special terms like "line caught," "diver caught," "sustainably caught" or "sustainably harvested.”
- Use reusable plastic products, or find non-plastic alternatives. In recent years, huge progress was made locally and internationally to transition away from disposable plastic, a major source of ocean pollution (about 8 million tons per year!). Even if we live far from ocean coastlines, much of our plastic waste still ends up there. About 90% of plastic pollution in the ocean flows into it from inland rivers. Since Covid-19, interest groups have heavily lobbied to reverse or suspend regulations on disposable plastic bags and other food containers. To be sure, there are many things that we must do together to slow the spread of Covid-19, but using more disposable plastic is not proven to be one of them. Check out the UNEP’s Clean Seas Program to learn more about what you can do to cut down on plastic waste.
- Participate in science. There has never been a better time to be curious about the ocean and to participate in meaningful ways to ocean science. Citizen science opportunities allow non-specialists to partner with professional scientists to conduct research and collect data. There are many and diverse citizen science opportunities that you can participate in locally or internationally from a computer or smart phone. For example, you can monitor turtles, penguins, or other ocean species; you can track marine debris, or identify polar phytoplankton. You can even share your ideas to help save the ocean through an online challenge. These are just a few of the growing network of citizen science programs that allow you to contribute directly to ocean science.
- Interact with nature. If ocean travel is not in your forecast, visit your local lake or river and learn about how it is connected to the ocean. Or, spend some time in your own backyard or neighborhood, garden, observe the plant and animal species in your community, or help clean up litter. Human health and environmental health are intricately connected to ocean health; spending time in nature is good for you and the planet (and the ocean!).
- Support your community and the causes you love. Just as we depend on the ocean, the ocean needs our passions, resources, and solidarity. A healthy ocean depends on sustainable and resilient communities, which are not possible with large-scale social division or without social equity. Volunteering and supporting local businesses and local causes, for example, are actions that build community solidarity. Importantly, our individual behaviors, when combined, can make positive impacts that are restorative and regenerative for our communities and for the ocean.
- Vote responsibly. Contact your representatives. Several pending pieces of legislation will significantly impact ocean health and marine species. Decision makers need to hear from you to know your concerns and to let them know you support marine conservation projects. Oceana, the Ocean Conservancy, and several other ocean conservation organizations keep track of pending legislation at state and national levels.
- Learn more about oceans and share with a friend. There are many free online resources from national and international organizations that include interactive educational materials, collaborative projects, and webinars that can help you learn more about the ocean’s connections to your everyday life, the problems facing the ocean, and how you can take action to protect the ocean. Tell people what’s going on with the world’s oceans and what they can do to join you in making a difference.
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Anne-Marie Hanson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Studies. She is a Public Voices Fellow with The OpEd Project, co-founder of CURES (the UI System’s Center for Urban Resilience and Environmental Sustainability), and author and co-editor of A Political Ecology of Women, Water, and Global Environmental Change (Routledge, 2015).
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