We all come from the sea, but we are not all of the sea. Those of us who are, we children of the tides, must return to it again and again, until the day we don’t come back leaving behind only that which was touched along the way – Frosty Hesson, Chasing Mavericks.
I think by nature, human beings are spiritual creatures. In philosophy, epistemologists debate (among many things) the existence of God as either a priori or a posteriori—knowledge that is acquired independently of experience, as opposed to that derived from experience.
By no means do I intend on diving into the realms of Kant and Plato, but I will say this… There is no experience that makes me feel more connected to my spirituality than that of submerging my body beneath the waves, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Robyn Simpson.
I feel of the sea.
The ocean is my church. And I’m here to pay tribute to her on World Oceans Day.
The world has become increasingly fast-paced. Gone are the days of waking and resting with the sun. As a species, we’re pushing ourselves, our lands, and our oceans beyond natural capacity.
According to the United Nations, 90 percent of big fish populations are depleted and 50 percent of coral reefs have been destroyed. We’re taking more from our oceans than can be replenished. Our life source, which produces at least 50 percent of the planet’s oxygen, is suffocating at the hands of humans.
“Now we are facing the consequences: the seas are warming, rising, and becoming more acidic. It’s a sobering thought, that coral reefs may be lost within the next century,” says my personal hero, Sir David Attenborough.
Seaspiracy, the controversial Netflix documentary that rocked the world by exposing the brutal business of fishing, did a sterling job of creating critical discussion and awareness around the state of our oceans and the toxic cultures which surround the business of meat.
One thing that cannot be debated is this: the ocean’s health is critical to the survival of the human race.
“The ocean absorbs over 90 percent of the heat that enters the atmosphere, it provides over half of the oxygen we breathe, it supplies over 3 billion people with 20 percent of their daily protein needs, it enables global trade and transport, and it provides health and wellbeing benefits to millions, if not billions of people. Without the ocean, humans could not exist on Earth,” says Jake Kleinman from Inverse, in response to the film.
As a single being, I look at the disturbing damage, chaos, and culling, and feel smaller than ever before. On a trip to Namibia in 2017, I lay on the banks of the Orange River, looking up at the Milky Way, the real diamonds of the country, and felt overwhelmingly inferior to our planet.
That same smallness is magnified when I consider my desire to save oceans that extends across an entire planet. Is it simply too little to late? My temple is burning and I have nothing but a damp facecloth to extinguish the flames.
One of the many reasons I consider Attenborough to be a hero is his ability to balance critical urgency, harsh realities, and the perfect amount of hope to instil meaningful action (or at the very least, awareness).
“The ocean’s power of regeneration is remarkable – if we just offer it the chance,” he says.
“We are in reach of a whole new relationship with the ocean, a wiser, more sustainable relationship. The choice lies with us.”
From the products you buy to the food you consume, there are small changes that we can make every single day to contribute to the regeneration process of our oceans.
Aristotle said that human beings and animals are separated by our ability to reason, to deliberate over courses of action and choose on the basis of those deliberations.
So, I say: be human. Think, reason, action. Educate yourself and be conscious of the consequences of your actions. Do it so that we children of the tides can return again and again.
Visit the United Nations website for information about this year’s World Oceans Day, as well as how you can be a better human for our oceans. Also check out local foundation, Oceaneers for everything, well ocean. From food for thought to the hard facts – they’ve got you covered.
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