Guest Blog: The environment is healing – can we sustain that when travel ramps up?

This week’s guest blog comes from our friends at ZuBlu. Specialising in underwater adventure travel, ZuBlu exists so you can search, discover and book without the fuss. With over 500 eco-friendly resorts, liveaboards and dive centres to choose from, ZuBlu brings you the very best sustainable ocean adventures in Asia and beyond. Who better then to give us some insights into sustainable travel post-Covid-19? For more information and to book your dream holiday go to www.zubludiving.com

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This pandemic has naturally led to a questions about what the world will look like when everything is back to normal, environmental recovery included. When travel gradually picks back up, can we sustain the benefits we’ve seen emerge over the past several weeks?

Q. What will the future of travel look like from the standpoint of protecting the environment, especially places that have recovered during these past few months from fewer tourists?

A. Let’s not forget that prior to the coronavirus, the importance of more sustainable travel was already a hot topic. Major cities in Europe, such as Barcelona and Venice, were struggling under the weight of mass tourism. Destinations such as Boracay in the Philippines and Maya Beach in Thailand (made famous by the film ‘The Beach’) were both closed to tourists for a period, to allow the environment time to breathe and recover.

But, as the news of ecosystem recovery without our presence increases, be it fish in the canals of Venice or turtles nesting on the beaches of India, so increases our awareness of the impact we have. Will this awareness lead to a change in behaviour?

A 2019 survey by Booking.com showed that “55% of global travelers report being more determined to make sustainable travel choices than they were a year ago, but barriers include a lack of knowledge and available or appealing options when trying to put this into practice”. So, the demand to travel differently is there – and it falls to those that facilitate travel to provide customers with the right information and opportunities.

Q. What environmentally-friendly trends will come from this time of no travel that will gain strength and continue on even when travel picks back up? (e.g. domestic travel, slow travel, limiting non-essential business travel, etc.)

A. A change in the way we travel is naturally going to be driven by adjusted purchasing power as we continue to endure a global economic shock, as well as ongoing health and health security concerns.

Type of travel

As we all adapt to remote working, non-essential business travel ceases to exist. Population-dense holiday experiences, such as cruises and theme parks, will take a long time to rebound, arguably, until there is a reliable Covid-19 vaccine in place. Going forward, we believe travelers will seek out experiences that are ‘off-the-beaten-path’ and away from mass crowds. We also anticipate that experiential travel will be the focus, with holidaymakers looking for truly memorable experiences, while the travel dollar will be spent less frivolously and more consciously.

Travel trends

The anti-plastic movement was in full swing pre-coronavirus and this will continue its upward-curve. With nervousness around people-heavy travel, such as public transport and flights, travellers will also be more self-dependent with their travel supplies and opt for bringing their own water, snacks etc.

We are also enjoying a period of social solidarity as we appreciate the incredible actions of those on the front-lines protecting and supporting our communities. One can hope that for travel moving forwards, social media influence and engagement will be driven by the positive actions taken by individuals, rather than simply focusing on the destination a person visits. I, for one, would welcome a world where Instagram feeds were less about floating breakfasts and behind-the-scenes queues of people waiting to capture that ‘unique’ shot, and more about how people are making a positive difference to a new culture or community.

As Jeff Greenwald of Ethical Traveler notes, “Travel can drive the way countries treat their citizens, indigenous peoples, wildlife, and the environment. This means that travelers have enormous power. Where we put our footprints has reverberations reaching far beyond our personal experience.” So, make positive travel choices and have a positive impact on the destinations you visit. That will be more worthy of a like and a follow, both now and in the years to come.

Q. What actions can travelers personally take on trips to continue this environmental protection and recovery as they start to travel again?

A. I’m going to talk specifically about ZuBlu’s area of expertise here. When it comes to supporting and engaging with the marine environment better, travellers can:

Choose more sustainable and eco-friendly resorts and operators.

Stay in hotels and dive with operators that are proud of what they do for the environment and are prepared to stand up for what they believe in. There are plenty to choose from in the dive industry and guests can vote with their wallets. Wherever you stay, make a point and say no to straws, or ask for water refills. If you don’t need your towels and bed sheets changing, tell the staff – they don’t need changing everyday, so save on water and reduce your carbon-footprint at the same time.

Calculate your footprint and carbon offsets.

It is now very easy to offset your carbon footprint when flying, but when you arrive at your destination, you’ll need to travel from the airport to your resort, and whilst we would always recommend walking or cycling, it is not always possible with a heavy suitcase. A more realistic alternative is to use a shared taxi or public transport, helping to keep your carbon footprint to a minimum. This will keep your personal costs down, too.

Pack light

The less weight you are packing, the less carbon you are responsible for.

Buy and eat local food

Eating salmon on a beach in the Maldives might sound appealing, but you can guarantee that the fish has been flown in from somewhere else and carries with it, a high carbon footprint. Eat local food and buy local produce whenever you can.

Reduce your waste whenever possible and try to avoid single-use plastic items.

Bring a reusable water bottle along or buy one when you get to your destination. Pack a lightweight, reusable cloth bag for shopping – there is no need for endless plastic bags. Find out where you can refill your water bottle, or failing that, buy a young coconut! If you are in Bali, you can use RefillMyBottle to find a nearby water refill station.

Use reef-safe products

Standard suncreams and hair products contain chemicals that are extremely toxic to coral reefs and marine life. Choose products such as Stream2Sea, a company that also provide a great overview of ingredients to avoid.

Do fewer trips per year and stay for longer

Make the most of your time and carbon outlay from the flight. Perhaps plan to visit two or three destinations back-to-back on one long trip. Locations such as the Philippines or the islands of Indonesia are perfect for this type of extended holiday.

Q. What are some actions that travel-oriented businesses (e.g. hotels, airlines, tour operators, etc.) might take to aid this environmental recovery long-term?

A. The demand for improvement and change is present. There is so much that travel-oriented businesses can do. Specifically for the marine travel sector, businesses need to focus on two things; sharing knowledge and providing opportunities.

The dive industry is one of the most environmentally-sensitive sectors in travel and there are many operators, resorts and dive centres that are making significant steps to conserve their local environment and ensure their business is as sustainable as possible. But, information about what these companies are doing is often hard to discover, and it can be difficult to compare different places.

When it comes to opportunities, ZuBlu is very selective about the operators and resorts we partner with to ensure that our guests can live by our motto – explore the blue, stay green. We also work very closely with conservation organisations and NGOs to offer more eco-ventures and citizen-science experiences. Through ZuBlu, eco-conscious travelers can actively learn to plant a coral reef, protect a nesting turtle sanctuary, or join blue whale research expeditions.

To aid in education, we have partnered with organisations such as The Reef World Foundation and Manta Trust, to help educate our guests on how to be more responsible divers and learn how to interact with marine life correctly. One terrifying fact is that on average, 88% of scuba divers touch the reef once per dive, and that is something we need to change, fast. This responsibility falls heavily on the tour operators to enforce the correct practices and provide additional training as required.

Q. What kinds of policies might come about to protect destinations long-term? (For instance, some destinations had previously implanted policies or fees aimed at visiting tourists to lessen crowds. The island of Boracay was closed in 2018, Venice started charging fees to day trippers, among others etc.)

A. A quote by Dave Barry seems rather fitting when we consider the change in marine-based tourism moving forwards.

”There’s nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except that when you finally see what goes on underwater, you realise that you’ve been missing the whole point of the ocean.”

Throughout history, man’s relationship with our oceans has been purely selfish. We have continuously harvested from this supposedly limitless resource. Billions of people now rely on the ocean for sustenance and economic support. However, as we become more aware of the beauty and wonder beneath the surface, the more value and effort we put towards its protection and future sustainability.

Although tourism can have negative impacts on the ocean, when managed correctly, it can also be used for good. The economic benefits of marine-tourism have helped reduce eco-system destabilising fishing techniques, such as fish bombing and shark finning. Nowadays, a shark or manta ray is worth more alive than it is dead, and this is because of tourism.

As governments become more aware of this and appreciate the value of the blue economy, we will definitely see increased protection policies for destinations – such as this example in the Seychelles – be it temporary closures or fees to support conservation efforts.

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Warming counteracts acidification in temperate crustose coralline algae communities

Seawater carbonate chemistry has been altered by dramatic increases in anthropogenic CO2 release and global temperatures, leading to significant changes in rocky shore habitats and the metabolism of most marine organisms. There has been recent interest in how these anthropogenic stresses affect crustose coralline algae (CCA) communities because CCA photosynthesis and calcification are directly influenced by […]

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5 Sensational Sea Snail Species

Move out of the way, sea slugs, there’s a new charismatic critter on the block: the sea snail!

Sea snails are an extremely diverse group of marine gastropods that are found around the world. They can spend time on land, in saltwater or freshwater, be carnivores, herbivores or omnivores and vary in color, from ivory to brown, to vivid orange or pale violet.

Unlike sea slugs, you’re more likely to actually see a sea snail—and without having to venture to the ocean floor. They’re typically found in salt marshes or in shallow, coastal waters. Ever visited a beach and collected shells? Chances are, those are old sea snail shells!

So, what’s so great about sea snails? They are incredible mollusks that are an important source of food for marine wildlife, they provide shelter for other creatures that take up residence in their discarded shells (like hermit crabs) and, most importantly, they provide valuable insight to marine ecosystem health.

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Ocean acidification and nutrient pollution are just two ways that sea snails can help gauge ecosystem health. Ocean acidification is caused by an increase in carbon pollution in our ocean, resulting in weaker shells in sea snails and many other shell-building organisms. Nutrient pollution, which can be from fertilizer runoff, stormwater runoff or sewage, is seen in many of the algae-eating sea snails and is a crucial indicator of the seriousness of pollution and the potential for harmful algal blooms in the region. Because they are so small, abundant and live in regions that experience a lot of fluctuation, scientists can easily monitor sea snails and quickly pick up on any ecosystem changes.

In the United States, Florida is a prime example of these pervasive water quality issues and is home to some sensational sea snails. Check out these five Florida sea snails:

Atlantic Moon Snail

© Jarek Tuszyński

Also known as a “shark-eye,” the Atlantic moon snail (Neverita duplicata) has a smooth, swirling shell that ranges from gray to tan in color. They bury themselves in sandy flats, waiting for bivalves, like oysters, clams or even other snails. Once the moon snail finds a suitable snack, they can completely extend their bodies from their shell and envelop their prey, secreting acid that softens the bivalves’ shell until the snail can pierce through with its radula, a sort of “tongue” covered in thousands of little teeth, and suck up the soft, fleshy body within.

Crown Conch

© Robin Gwen Agarwal/iNaturalist

The crown conch (Melongena corona) is common in Florida’s estuaries, preferring warm, subtropical waters. While they are mainly found along the Gulf of Mexico, there’s a chance that these species may move farther up to the Atlantic coast as waters warm further north and other species migrate. As its name suggests, the crown conch has an elongated shell with a spiraled spire, which is the “top” or part of the shell that doesn’t contain the main body of the snail, with short peaks that give it a crown-like appearance. The crown conch varies in color from brown to purple to white and is carnivorous, eating bivalves, other snails and even some dead organisms. If there are a lot of crown conches in the area, and other species that typically live there are missing, it’s an indication of poor water quality. This can, in turn, affect the oyster and clam populations.

Florida Fighting Conch

© microcosmic/iNaturalist

The Florida fighting conch (Strombus alatus) is most commonly found in Southwest Florida and gets its name from the sharp serrated spike attached to its foot, which is the flat, muscular organ that makes up the majority of the snail’s body. Surprisingly, the Florida fighting conch is an herbivore, eating algae or decaying, organic matter, and uses the serrated spike as a defense mechanism, thrusting around when they feel threatened. They like to stick to shallow, sandy waters and seagrass beds and only grow to about four to five inches in length. The Florida fighting conch also vary widely in color, ranging from orange to green to gray to brown.

Horse Conch

© mkosiewski/iNaturalist

The horse conch (Triplofusus giganteus) is considered the largest sea snail in Florida and the United States, growing up to two feet in length. Although they are the official state seashell of Florida, they can be found all along the Atlantic coast, from Florida to North Carolina and in the shallow waters of the Yucatan Peninsula. If their size is any indication of their diet, the horse conch is carnivorous, preying on smaller sea snails and bivalves, smothering prey with their muscular foot. Their shells are bright orange that, interestingly enough, turns white/pale orange with age.

Marsh Periwinkle

© Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program

The marsh periwinkle (Littoraria irroata) is also found along the Atlantic coast in New York, Florida and Texas. They’re most commonly found in, you guessed it, salt marshes. Marsh periwinkles are a tiny species, averaging about an inch long, and have low, conical shells with a pointed spire. They are less flashy in color, typically grayish-white with red/brown dashes and are considered herbivores, munching on algae. What makes marsh periwinkles so interesting is that their eating habits adapt to the changing tide. At low tide, they crawl across the mud, searching for little bits of algae, but at high-tide, they must crawl up tall, stalks of grass in marshes to evade predators like the crown conch and blue crabs. Unfortunately, when the periwinkles escape up the stalks of grass, they pierce the plant and then eat the fungus that grows there—good for the sea snail, bad for the grass. Normally, the grass and sea snails can coexist, but with marsh habitats already facing numerous stressors with the changing climate, the already vulnerable marshes can be decimated by the small sea snail.

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After learning about these sensational species in Florida, ready to make like a sea snail and take action for our ocean? If you’re a Florida resident, speak up and tell your legislators you support improving Florida’s water quality.

Not a Florida resident? No worries! You can still take action for our ocean by helping us, and sea snails, speak up on climate change. Contact your House representative to ask them to support legislation to protect our ocean from the effects of climate change.

The post 5 Sensational Sea Snail Species appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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A New Era in Ocean Conservation

The right to vote for our President is a fundamental tenet of the Constitution. Americans have chosen Joe Biden to be the next President of the United States.

Today marks a new day in our fight for a healthy ocean. After four years of egregious anti-ocean and anti-planet policies that have disproportionately impacted people of color, Ocean Conservancy is ready to work with the new administration and Congress to help re-establish the United States as a global leader in ocean conservation and a meaningful actor on climate change—the single greatest threat facing our ocean. As an incredibly difficult year comes to an end, we are hopeful for the future and committed to our mission: creating science-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it.

It has been a long, draining election season, and it’s not quite over—the next few weeks will be a flurry of final ballot counts, post-election analysis and speculation over what lies ahead. But the American people have spoken, and it’s time to look forward to the next four years. After years of anti-ocean policy, we have no time to waste.

As the new administration is planning its priorities for the new Presidential term, we encourage them to focus on three main threats to our ocean:

Act on Climate: President-elect Biden has promised the most comprehensive climate plan of any President to date. We need to hold his administration to that promise. Climate change is the largest threat to our ocean, and we are at a pivotal time for action. We need swift, decisive policies that limit carbon emissions and support communities affected by sea level rise, wildfires and increased storm events. Ocean-climate impacts disproportionately harm communities of color, Indigenous communities, poor communities and others that are historically underserved and underrepresented. This needs to be recognized and prioritized by the new administration. We also know that ocean-based climate solutions are critical if we are to meaningfully address climate change.

Reduce Plastic Pollution: Every year, 11 million metric tons of plastics enter our ocean on top of the estimated 150 million metric tons that currently circulate in our marine environments. Recent science by Ocean Conservancy and our partners shows that the U.S. is one of the top three polluters in the world when it comes to ocean plastic. To top it off, we’ve seen rollbacks on important policies that reduce plastic use and pollution due to COVID-19, even though there isn’t scientific evidence to support that plastic is a riskier carrier of the virus over other materials. We hope the Biden administration will recognize the threat plastics—particularly unnecessary, single-use plastics pose to our ocean and our communities, and work with Congress to implement policies that reduce plastic production and keep plastic off of our beaches and out of our ocean.

Protect the Arctic: The Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth. The impacts are far-reaching for Arctic Indigenous people and coastal communities, and potentially devastating for Arctic marine ecosystems and their uniquely-adapted wildlife. As Arctic ice melts, we’re facing new threats that need immediate action, including more vessel traffic, pressure for offshore drilling, industrial fishing fleets moving north and increased risk of devastating oil spills. We encourage the Biden administration to be an outspoken advocate for the Arctic and for justice and equity for Arctic Indigenous people on the domestic and international stage. The next four years will be crucial to protect this important ecosystem and the communities that rely on it.

While there are legal challenges underway, the votes have been counted and Joe Biden has the necessary electoral college votes to win the Presidential Election. As always, we support and encourage a peaceful transition of power—as crucial to the democratic process as counting every vote. As an incredibly difficult election season comes to an end, we are hopeful for the future and committed to tackling the greatest challenges facing our ocean.

We look forward to working with the Biden administration toward a brighter environmental future.

Now, let’s get to work!

The post A New Era in Ocean Conservation appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Only Together Can We RISE UP for Our Ocean

Even if you can only stomach the news in small amounts these days, you’ve probably seen some depressing stories about the health of the planet or snippets of politicians debating what to do about it. The climate crisis is ramping up, the lesser-known biodiversity and extinction crisis continues, the trends for ocean plastic are overwhelming, oil spills from small to catastrophic occur with regularity, cities around the world still struggle to provide and maintain clean air and water in face of competing industrial and development demands—the list goes on. That translates to a theoretical laundry list of actions needed to save the planet, each more critical than the last.

So, I knew it was special to be heading up the elevator of United Nations Headquarters in February 2020 arm-in-arm with our colleagues from the environmental community, as well as fisherfolk, Indigenous peoples and philanthropic organizations, to ask the Secretary-General to support the most important thing we can do right now for the planet—to RISE UP for the ocean.

© Anna-Marie Laura

RISE UP is a coalition of more than 400 organizations from around the world and with diverse perspectives calling on governments and businesses to save our ocean and take bold, decisive action to:

• Restore Ocean Life
• Invest immediately in a net-zero carbon emissions future
• Speed the transition to a circular and sustainable economy
• Empower and support coastal people
• Unite for stronger global ocean governance
• Protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030

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Ocean Conservancy is proud to be an early endorser of RISE UP and, through specific programs and initiatives, we are working in some way on all of these goals. For example, our work promoting ocean solutions to climate change includes efforts at the International Maritime Organization that align with the RISE UP priority action to “target 100 percent decarbonization of all shipping by 2035, and immediately ban heavy fuel oil use in the Arctic.” Similarly, our Trash Free Seas^® program is working through initiatives with governments and businesses to “eliminate all non-essential single-use plastics and reduce plastic production by implementing zero-waste strategies by 2025.” And across Ocean Conservancy, through initiatives like ocean planning and marine conservation in the Arctic, we “recognize the critical importance of ancestral Indigenous and local knowledge, and seek to ensure it is incorporated in decision-making.”

As you can see from these examples, to truly RISE UP for the ocean and the communities that depend on its resources, we need ambitious action in many places—geographically and politically. Countless international governmental bodies meet and decide what rules everyone in a certain place or a specific sector should follow. And a lot of these are voluntary, making it hard to hold anyone’s feet to the fire.

© RISE UP

Some decisions to protect the ocean can be made in the UN system, like the Paris Agreement to address climate change or the Convention of Biological Diversity to address biodiversity loss and species extinction. Some decisions are made in other bodies, like the World Trade Organization that pledged to end harmful fishing subsidies that incentivize overfishing and fail to protect communities that depend on these resources by 2020. Or the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) which met last week and decided against expanding protected areas in the Southern Ocean that benefit protected marine mammals, the biodiversity of a unique polar ecosystem, and also marine resources for future generations. While there are a number of forums attempting to address plastic pollution, like the Global Partnership on Marine Litter, the Basel Convention and the UN Environment Assembly, to name a few, there is currently no international framework to address plastic waste on a global scale, and such an action could take up to a decade to negotiate.

In all of these instances, countries get to decide if they want to participate in the first place and even when the majority of countries agree on a particular path forward, it only takes one or a small handful of them to thwart progress. RISE UP is asking governments to raise their ambition, to work together across these many forums and take bold action today in order to protect the ocean and our planet.

It also calls on businesses to take action because they are a critical part of us collectively realizing the technological, political and workable solutions we need. Just like governments, they work together through a number of voluntary agreements that can act to protect the ocean and any single business’s interest can either catalyze or hinder action.

We need as many organizations as possible to join us and RISE UP to ask governments and businesses to take action for our ocean. Like a wave coming to shore, the success of this movement depends on collective forward momentum and a demonstration that this is not a call only from environmental organizations, but from organizations around the world, representing diverse cultures, perspectives and ways of life. Only together can we RISE UP for the ocean before it’s too late.

The post Only Together Can We RISE UP for Our Ocean appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Sand Dollars are Truly Priceless

If you’ve ever been to a beach in places like the United States, chances are that you’ve probably come across a sand dollar at some point. These iconic emblems of our nation’s beaches often serve as a stunning representation of vacation memories for so many Americans … but how much do you really know about them? Today, I’m here to bring you six wild facts about these fascinating creatures.

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They are cousins to sea stars and sea urchins.

As echinoderms, sand dollars are related to several other iconic shoreline species, including the two aforementioned critters. Fun fact: sand dollars are also sometimes referred to as “sea cakes” or “sea cookies.” Aside from that, though, these animals are bottom-dwellers, traversing the seafloor to find plankton and algae to consume (much unlike your typical birthday cake, of course). They use spines and tiny hairs called cilia to move across the bottom of the sea to ensure their next meal is within reach. Speaking of cilia…

These creatures use their hair to eat.

Yes, you read that correctly! While sand dollars’ “hair” may not be functionally the same as ours, the same cilia that help them to move along the seafloor also ensure that they can obtain and consume the food they need. When sand dollars eat, they activate their cilia to move food to their mouths, which are close to the lower-center of their bodies. If you’ve ever seen footage of their sea star cousins having a meal, it’s a very similar process.

Once their food reaches their mouths, things get even more wild. This may be surprising to you (it sure was for me), but sand dollars have jaws with five sections of what are essentially small teeth, which can easily grind up plankton and other food.

They’ve even been known to chew what they consume for up to fifteen minutes before they “swallow” it, and digestion sometimes takes up to 48 hours. Hey, moms always say to slow down when we eat … maybe sand dollar mamas say the same.

The process used by scientists to age them as very similar to the process used to age trees.

As sand dollars age, they develop rings around their exoskeleton. These rings demonstrate how long a sand dollar has been around. They typically live for no more than 10 years, but it’s fascinating to know that scientists can tell how old these echinoderms are in the same way that they age trees (by the number of rings that have developed within their trunks). Above anything else, the commonalities between land and sea creatures is what blew my mind the most, illustrating that patterns can be found in nature even in the most unexpected places.

Sand dollars love hanging out in groups.

If any of the facts I discovered about these animals surprised me the most, it was this one for sure. I’ve never thought of bottom-dwellers of our ocean (especially echinoderms) as particularly “social” creatures, if you will, but sand dollars proved me to be vastly wrong with that assumption. These animals tend to congregate together, sometimes amassing into groups of upwards of 600. I don’t know about you, but a group of that many sand dollars is something I want to see at some point in my life.

The need to be in the water to survive.

While we’re on the topic of where these interesting little specimens thrive, it’s important to know that they must be in the water to survive. While it’s a common occurrence for SCUBA divers or snorkelers to pick these animals up as tokens of their underwater adventures, it’s critical to remember that sand dollars are not merely shells, but living creatures. They can only live underwater, and removing them from their aquatic homes threatens their survival.

They aren’t naturally white.

© Lacey Williams, Unsplash

In my experience, most advertisements that feature sand dollars seem to depict them as a crisp, bright white color, contrasting beautifully against the warm tones of tropical sand. But this type of visual is misleading. When sand dollars are alive and healthy, they are not white, but rather a tan, almost taupe-like shade. When they die, the remaining skeleton is bleached by the sun and turns white.

© Teresa Campbell

While these remaining skeletons are known to be popular souvenirs, it’s critical to make sure that you don’t take them home with you if they’re still alive and not this bright white color. In many locations, it’s even against the law to collect them when they’re alive. If you come across a tan or grayish looking sand dollar, be sure to return it to its ocean home.

There’s truly so much more to sand dollars than meets the eye. The same can certainly be said of so many more creatures that call our ocean home, too. You can learn more about both the well-known and lesser-known wildlife that call our ocean home by visiting Ocean Conservancy’s Wildlife Fact Sheets, and be sure to engage with us on social media by commenting or messaging us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to let us know which marine animals you’d like to learn about next. In the meantime, check out our Action Center to find out what steps you can take to help protect sand dollars and all the precious creatures that call our blue planet’s ocean home.

The post Sand Dollars are Truly Priceless appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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Saltwater Cure: The Healing Ocean

My story of the ocean’s ability to console a mourning soul is not uncommon. Like many families facing a life-changing loss, when my beloved father passed away unexpectedly in 2007 we knew exactly what we would do to memorialize him. We would scatter his ashes in the shimmering waters of the Indian River Lagoon on Florida’s east coast.

Dad was a sailor, diver and all-around waterman who lived on the lagoon for decades and who profoundly loved its saltwater and its wildlife. He inspired in me a deep passion for caring about unique Floridian ecosystems like the Lagoon, like the Atlantic Ocean, like the springs and swamps of the Kissimmee River Headwaters and the St. John’s River—a passion for all the water that is our life and that nourishes our spirits as Floridians. It was only natural that in death we returned Dad to that same water that meant so much to him and for which he taught us such great respect. The knowledge that a little bit of my dad’s spirit is still there in the Indian River that he so loved is such a consolation, and is such a testament to the curative, restorative nature of the ocean and her waters.

So many of those of us who are grieving turn to the ocean for its ability to restore and heal us. The great, ancient force of the powerful sea is awesome in its untamed majesty, reminding us of the preciousness of our lives in the face of its grizzled absoluteness. And yet it is at the same time delicate and gentle with its soothing undulations, cradling so much life in its abundant wilderness.

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In my work, I spend a lot of time thinking about policy changes, regulatory reforms and lawmaking that can protect the ocean—sometimes that work can be dry, transactional and tedious, feeling removed from the wild sea itself. But a lot of the time I am fortunate that my work takes me into saltwater, and lets me experience firsthand the restorative, curative, consoling spirit of the ocean.

One such time that truly moved me was late last year. I was in Key West, working with Project Healing Waters, an organization that helps rehabilitate disabled veterans. A part of our work together involved a major marine debris cleanup, where we removed 4,000 pounds of trash from all around the lower Keys—this included discarded fishing gear, tires and all kinds of plastic litter. It also included something incredibly special, that we all identified straight away as something that was not trash—a message in a bottle!

We were excited to open it and find what mysteries it contained—and quickly we were all deeply moved by the heartbreaking story that it held inside.

On September 26, 2012, Anne Marie Baker married her soul mate, her “twin flame” Kevin Baker, on Smathers Beach in Key West. And tragically, it was only five years later that Anne Marie lost Kevin to cancer.

© Isaac Mead-Long

Her heartbreak was severe, and looking for some kind of healing, Anne Marie knew that she would return to the ocean, where she and her soulmate used to “spend hours by the sea together” to “set Kevin sailing on a new course of adventure and wonder.” So, she traveled back to Key West, back to Smathers Beach, and captured their love story in her message, tucked it into the bottle and set it adrift– “Go peacefully into the sunset floating on the sea, by the light of ‘Our Full Moon’ my angel—I love you forever” she wrote.

And months later, we found her message. And now we are able to tell the story of Anne Marie and Kevin’s love, of Anne Marie’s loss and of how the magic of the ocean can bring some shred of solace to her grieving heart.

This is why I work to conserve the ocean—to protect the water that we humans are indelibly and spiritually connected to, that alleviates our sadness, eases our burdens and consoles us through rough seas. The ocean is there for us, and I want to be there for it.

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The post Saltwater Cure: The Healing Ocean appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.

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