World Ocean Day. "No water, no life. No blue, no green."

I open this blog, on the week that World Ocean Day is held for 2024, with the words of Sylia Earle, 21st century’s most loved and influential marine biologist, oceanographer, explorer.

"No water, no life. No blue, no green."

World Ocean Day, celebrated annually on June 8th, is a global day of ocean celebration and collaboration for a better future. It's a unique opportunity to honour, help protect, and conserve the world's oceans. This day, in 2024 and every subsequent year, holds increasing gravity and urgency in the face of climate change and the threats our oceans are facing.

Oceans are the heart of our planet, they are its lifeblood, supplying most of the oxygen we breathe, regulating our climate, cleaning the water we drink, offering a pharmacopoeia of medicines, home to many life forms and holding the key to unimagined discoveries. More deeply, the ocean is intimately intertwined, not only with the origin of life on this blue planet but also with the spiritual evolution humanity has experienced. Water has been and continues to be at the centre of our very ability to exist and thrive biologically, intellectually and spiritually.

Our inability to comprehend the vastness of the oceans has also led to the incorrect belief they are somehow resistant to or not affected by climate change. Surely something of such unfathomable immensity, is immune to a few degrees of temperature increases right? As it turns out, this is not the case. The oceans are very much feeling the effect of climate change. In the last 50 years, they have absorbed more than 90 per cent of the extra heat the greenhouse gases released by human activity have added to the planet's systems. (1) In 2023 the highest surface temperatures were recorded and the rate of increase has doubled in the last 80 years. (2) The implications are extensive and a testament to how delicate our ecosystem is. The warming factor alone is driving the extinction of some species and ocean flora and the over flourishing of others. Ice sheets preserved for millennia are melting, resulting not only in sea levels rising but also in changes to the Thermohaline - the circulatory process of deep water currents driven by differences in the water’s density, the latter determined by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline) differences. This circulation plays a critical role in regulating our climate as it transports warm water from the tropical zones to the poles and vice versa. Changes in these cross continental flows are already measurable and have the potential to result in dramatic remodelling of what we now know and enjoy as our wonderful planet home. We then consider other outputs of the capitalist driven exploitative growth model we have adopted as a collective, such as toxic and plastic pollution, overfishing, mining and fracking; one can quickly see the pressure we are placing of this delicate ecosystem. The effects of global warming are certainly ‘seen’ on land. Forests burning in different parts of the world, heatwaves resulting in loss of life are just two examples. Perhaps it is more difficult to ‘see’ and comprehend how change is taking place in the very big blue we love; but the evidence is overwhelming.

I wonder about the stories this seal could share…..

Like me, you may worry and be overwhelmed by this all and feel paralysed at the thought of what you can do. I implore you to see this World Ocean Day not just as a day of celebration, but also as a day of action and awareness. It provides a platform for discussions on sustainable management of the world's oceans. It is a day that encourages individuals to think about what the ocean means to them and what it has to offer all of us with hopes of conserving it for present and future generations. Educational and conservation activities take place around the world on this day. These range from beach clean-ups, art contests, film festivals, and sustainable seafood events to wildlife watching and exploring the great depths of the ocean. These activities aim to increase our understanding of the ocean's biodiversity and its vital role in sustaining life on Earth. Find a project or event in your locality and join in. Whether it is reducing our plastic consumption, supporting sustainable fishing practices, or spreading the word about the importance of our oceans, every little action counts. Support organisations and businesses that prioritise minimising their environmental impact.

I would take it a step further and ask you to treat every day as Ocean Day. We need water daily to survive as humans. And in the words of Dr Wallace J Nichols, water needs us now.

World Ocean Day is a global recognition of our ocean's worth and a day to remind everyone of the major role the oceans play in everyday life. They are the lungs of our planet, providing most of the oxygen we breathe. Let's pledge to take better care of our shared ocean not only on World Ocean Day but every day.

Just like the oceans, our actions ripple out. Make sure your ripples are for protecting our oceans.

(1) Deep Water, James Bradley, page 7.

(2) Ibid.