Our Ocean—Our Future

The ocean is the largest unexplored part of Earth— and maybe the least appreciated

Jan 02, 2022

Pacific Ocean, by Robin Applegarth — *Pacific Ocean, photo by Robin Applegarth*

You’re at Mother E, a free Substack newsletter published every other Sunday. I’m telling the stories about our connections with other species in a climate-changing world. You can read more posts here. Did you miss the last one? Bringing the Light to Winter

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A FRESH NEW YEAR prompts me to enlarge my thinking. What do we need to pay more attention to in the coming year?

Recently, the ocean has been on my mind as a crucial part of Earth that needs more love and attention. Whether you live on the coast or a thousand miles inland, the ocean has a more significant influence on your life than you might realize.

Pause and take a deep breath, in and out. NOAA scientists estimate that 50-80% of Earth's oxygen is provided by the ocean, courtesy of the algae, plankton, and bacteria that photosynthesize. The sea also provides an essential source of food and livelihood for over three billion people as well as other life-preserving services.

Note: Earth's various named oceans are all connected, so I refer to it as a single entity- the ocean.

The ocean covers an astonishing two-thirds of our planet. Earth is a (sea)watery world. We're often attracted to the sea and fascinated by the ever-changing waves, expansive views to the horizon, and all those life forms who call it "home." Who doesn't love watching sea birds, seals, or even whales if we're lucky enough to see them? Being around the ocean enlarges our perspective and promotes well-being.

Despite this fascination for the ocean, or maybe because of it, our heavy human presence on Earth has imperiled this vast part of the planet. It's suffering from climate warming, acidification, fishing waste which entangles hundreds of thousands of sea creatures every year, toxic oil, chemical and noise pollution, and severe over-harvesting of fish populations.

As a result of human impacts, hundreds of low-oxygen "dead zones" are multiplying worldwide and now cover thousands of square miles of ocean. Almost no life exists in these barren, oxygen-depleted waters. One of the world's larger dead zones is in the U.S.'s Gulf of Mexico.

In Nautilus Magazine's Ocean edition (Summer/Fall 2021), a recent article was titled "To Save the Ocean We Need a Revolution" by John Steele. How would that look?

The blue economy— for them or for us?

To start, we need to find a way to use the ocean sustainably so we're not depleting it. The term "Blue Economy" has been coming into more use, and here is one definition.

The blue economy is the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem." World Bank

Notice that the above definition is human-centric and for human benefits largely. The words "preserving the health of ocean ecosystem" is listed last.

"Blue carbon" is another newish term, and it refers to the plants in oceanic and coastal ecosystems that store carbon and help us fix the climate. This includes tidal and seagrass marshes, mangroves, and forms of algae.

What if we flipped the blue economy script above? A new version could read something like this:

"The blue economy is the promotion of a healthy ecosystem for all ocean inhabitants, providing monetary incentives to sequester carbon by improving coastal wetlands and regrowing fish populations."

That sounds pretty wonky, but it does prioritize ocean creatures being supported in their own habitat.

Fish come first?

Humans, who are not the inhabitants of the ocean, need to step back if we are to heal the ocean. The well-being of resident ocean creatures comes first in any effort to rebalance and restore what we've lost. Can our human species plan and act with future awareness to prioritize ocean species struggling for life?

Dona Bertarelli, a world-class woman sailor who circumnavigated the Earth and later became Special Advisor for the Blue Economy to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, says we shouldn't underestimate the impact of the ocean. "The ocean is truly our life support system."

How do we foster more love for the ocean—the right kind of love that appreciates it, responsibly uses it and promotes a desire to protect and enhance it? Bertarelli adds, "You protect what you love, and you love what you know and understand." (From her interview in "To Save the Ocean We Need a Revolution" by John Steele.)

Can we understand the creatures that live in a very different medium? At least we can offer our respect for the ocean species who have survived on Earth for millions of years longer than humans.

It's hard when I try to imagine the life of a fish, crab, or octopus. What would it take to bridge that gap, to forge an understanding of life forms immersed in a watery world with a different feeling of gravity?

We have to get people closer to the experience of what is under the ocean in the way that we excited people about what was in space… there's a lot of stories to tell.
Wendy Schmidt, Businesswoman, philanthropist, environmentalist, co-founder of the Schmidt Ocean Institute, (From an interview in "To Save the Ocean We Need a Revolution" by John Steele.)

These stories need to tell about the interesting lives of ocean creatures who breathe their oxygen through ocean water, hear sounds that travel much faster than in the air, see shafts of sunlight bouncing in beams below the surface. They eat floating plankton, krill or hunt other swimming creatures of myriad shapes and colors. My Octopus Teacher movie and the book What a Fish Knows are two stories that enlarge our understanding.

Individual lives are unfolding down in the dark depths of the ocean, in almost freezing temperatures, under pressures of 3000 to 9000 pounds per square inch. Visual sight matters little when the waters are dark and murky. Multi-dimensional hearing, touch, smell, and taste become superpowers.

There is marvel, miracle, and even majesty in these lives inside the ocean. They have evolved over millions of years to thrive in a harsh environment where we would perish.

What is a whale worth?

We humans tend to reduce all other life forms to a value related to what they can do for us, directly or indirectly. Even whales have been given monetary worth by economists. Here, Dona Bertarelli references an economist who points out the economic benefit of letting whales live rather than hunting them.

I was fascinated by the work of an economist from the International Monetary Fund who estimated that a great whale is worth $2,000,000 alive, but just $80,000 once dead, as it absorbs the equivalent in carbon dioxide of 30,000 trees each year.
Dona Bertarelli, from an interview in "To Save the Ocean We Need a Revolution" by John Steele.

What about the right of each species in this intricate web of Earth's life to exist because they evolved here naturally?

A mating dance in the ocean

I watched three whales on a courtship maneuver off the Farallone Islands Marine Protected Area coast earlier this year. I assumed they were two males going after one female. They rolled around, splashed, tangled, and dived. The water was churning with their activity. One would swim a few hundred feet away, then come back for more engagement. I watched this active whale play with fascination as several of Earth's most enormous creatures prepared to make a new life. Here's a video of three different Gray whales in courtship. (Why three? See the short video.)

Seeing these 30-40 ton mammals mating in their watery world made me glad that they still inhabit this planet, even though Gray whales have suffered an Unusual Mortality Event UME since 2019, which has caused more standings/deaths. Their current peril makes sightings like this all the more poignant. Earth is a more vividly alive place because they share it with us.

Who will fix the ocean for these whales and other species?

People are just expecting somebody else to fix it—but nobody else will. It's you and me, us— we have to fix this. And I think there has to be much stronger global transparency and accountability.
Nina Jensen, CEO of REV Ocean and former Secretary General of World Wildlife Fund Norway, (From an interview in "To Save the Ocean We Need a Revolution" by John Steele.)

Large parts of the sea do not fall under the rule of any one country, so planetary cooperation will be needed. Some of that is already happening. About 70 countries have signed on to the 30x30 pledge to protect 30% of the ocean and lands by 2030.

What can we as individuals do? Learn more about our life-supporting ocean, tell its stories to others, and let your elected officials know this is a priority. Support more Marine Protected Areas and be an advocate for life on Earth.

Experts say we've lost 40% of life in the ocean in the last 40 years. One of the world's leading ocean experts, Sylvia Earle, has been warning for over a decade that the "oceans are dying."

Our role as responsible members of Earth is to stop the losses and support the restoration process—for our own sake as well as theirs.

Don’t miss the curated collection of ocean videos below! Enjoy.

Want to learn more about our ocean? These videos will entertain, inform, and enlarge your understanding.

Seaspiracy (Netflix) is an engrossing look at the fishing industry. Is your tuna really free of dolphin bycatch? What happens out on international waters where no nation is looking? Why are fish populations plummeting and what can we do about it?

Mission Blue (Netflix) is leading ocean scientist Sylvia Earle’s documentary. It’s visually rich and makes the case for saving the ocean in order to save ourselves.

Mother of the Sea (A WaterBear film on YouTube) 8 minutes long. An age-old story told by Indigenous people in the Arctic has relevance to our current times. This short, award-winning film is part of the WaterBear series of short films about culture, water, and nature.

My Octopus Teacher (Netflix) is a classic true story of two different species bonding in a deep way. Follow a burned-out filmmaker who reconnects with his passion for life when he shadows behind an octopus over a period of months and finds himself drawn in to its life.

The Japanese man who formed a 25+ year friendship with a wild fish.

Do you have a favorite film about the ocean? Feel free to share at the comments button above.

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