“Never before could we see or understand that the most important thing we extract from the ocean is our existence.”
These words by Sylvia Earle1, world-renown oceanographer and Honorary Fellow of the Marine Biological Association, are a poignant reminder that we humans are creatures of the ocean.
She continues:
“The ocean drives climate, weather, and planetary chemistry, regulates temperature, embraces 97 percent of the biosphere and by far Earth’s greatest fundamental biodiversity” … “we are essentially sea creatures, connected to the ocean with every breath we take, every drop of water we drink.”
For many of us our connection with the ocean is lost in our day-to-day busy lives, only to be rekindled when we smell, see and feel the ocean in occasional visits to the coast.
I am lucky to have access to the sea through sailing, paddling, swimming, snorkelling and using my underwater drone. ‘Salty’ experiences have a distinctly positive effect on my wellbeing and my work follows my curiosity about the ocean and its ineffable nature.
Recently, I was mesmerised by coastal kelp forests and happily share my video2 from a day spent bobbing on the surface in a boat while exploring the seafloor with my drone. It is deliberately ‘slow viewing’.
References:
Challenging Habitat 
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