Our Ocean
There is no feeling quite as awe-inspiring as floating in the endless expanse of the ocean. Deep underneath the waves and at the mercy of the currents, it’s impossible to not be confronted by your own smallness. In this magical, alien world teeming with life and perpetual motion, time stands still.
Floating at zero buoyancy, I imagine it’s the closest sensation to being in space. And just like space, the ocean remains a mystery. To date, only five percent of our ocean has been explored.
What we do know however, is that the ocean is a treasure trove of the weird and the wonderful.
It is the largest eco-system on our planet, covering almost 71 percent of the earth. It is home to over 240,000 known species with millions more believed to be undiscovered.
The ocean produces between 50-80 percent of all oxygen on earth. It is a climate regulator and our biggest carbon sink. Humans rely heavily on the ocean for food, biochemical substances, oil and minerals.
And yet, we treat the ocean like our trashcan.
We overfish until there is nothing left. We use destructive fishing practices that ruin the sea floor and suffocate the whales. We pollute with our oil spills, forever chemicals and plastics. An estimated eight million tons of plastic end up in our ocean each year largely thanks to littering of single-use plastic items and improper manufacturing processes.
We spread misinformation about the lack of life on the deep seafloor so we can extract rare minerals to power our mobile phones, electronics and “green” technologies. We watch as sea levels rise, temperatures soar and the ocean acidifies thanks to our unchecked carbon emissions from wars, an unsustainable economic system, and lavish overconsumption by billionaires.
In only 40 years we have lost 50% of our coral reefs from mass bleaching events.
These underwater color gardens are an immersive invitation into my hazy recollections of the deep - the most magical and deeply peaceful place I have ever had the privilege to explore.
Our ocean is an mind-boggling treasure. It deserves to be fought for.