TheOceanIsAlive

Re-visioningOurRelationshipWithTheLivingOcean

GlennEdney

Firstpublished2016ByOceanSpiritLtd

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CoverimagebyGlennEdney

CoverDesignbyRickyHarris,EyeOnDesignwww.eyeondesign.co.nz

ISBN978-0-473-35261-5TheauthorwelcomescorrespondencerelatingtothesubjectmatterofthisbookormattersregardingOcean

conservationandwellbeing.glenn@oceanspirit.orgwww.oceanspirit.org

ForallmyTeachers

IntheOceanandonLand

ContentsTitlePageCopyrightPageDedicationContentsAboutTheAuthorAcknowledgmentsPrologueIntroduction

PartOneTheLivingOcean

1IstheOceanReallyAlive?2ComingIntoBeing3Respiration:TheOcean’sBreath

4Circulation5Metabolism6SentientOcean7SentientBeingsinaSentientOcean8IFeelThereforeIAm9OceanMind

PartTwoRe-visioningOurRelationshipwiththeLivingOcean

10IstheOceanReallyDying?11ComingtoourSenses12FindingOurPlaceChapterNotesandReferencesSelectedBibliographyforFurtherReading

RecommendedOrganisationsandWebsitesIndex

AboutTheAuthor

Glenn Edney is an Ocean ecologist, underwater naturalist, sailor andprofessionaldiver.HehasbeenexploringtheOceanandinteractingwithOceanlifeformorethan30years.HehasanMScinHolisticSciencefromSchumacherCollegeandPlymouthUniversityUK.HisresearchisfocusedonunderstandingtheOceanasa livingsystemandtherolesheplaysas theprimarylifesupportsystem for our planet. He also has a strong interest in bringing togethertraditional indigenous Ocean knowledge and modern scientific ecologicalunderstanding. Together with his wife Janey they have foundedOcean Spirit,with the aimof fostering a deeper andmore harmonious relationshipwith thelivingOcean.TheylivewiththeirdaughterSamand‘Skupors’thesailordogonthenortheastcoastofNewZealand,overlookingthePacific.

AcknowledgmentsThe writing of this book has been a two year project, but the journey ofdiscovery that initiated it startedmore than40years agowhen Idonnedmaskand snorkel and looked beneath theOcean’s surface for the first time.DuringthattimeIhavebeeninspiredbythelivesandworkofmanyOceanexplorers,scientistsandnaturalists.

The great Jacques-Yves Cousteau, pioneering Ocean explorer and co-inventor of the aqualung, was my childhood hero and the inspiration for agenerationofOceanexplorersthatfollowed.Amongthatgeneration,Dr.SylviaEarleepitomisesthebringingtogetherofsciencewiththespiritofadventurethathasseenheremergeasoneofthemostimportantvoicesfortheprotectionoftheOcean.EarlyinmydivingcareerIwasfortunatetomeetandworkwithWadeand Jan Doak. Their work as underwater naturalists is unparalleled and theirfreethinking (unencumberedbyoverly rigid scientificdogma)has led tomanyuniqueinsightsintothelivesofOceandwellers.

WadeandJanintroducedmetothedesignbrillianceofOceansailorJamesWharram.HisPolynesian inspireddoublevoyagingcanoesprove the skill andwisdom of Oceania’s first human explorers, and have enabled many modernsailors(includingmyself)toexploretheOceanrealm.IamgratefultoJamesandhispartnerHannekeforourOceanconversationsandtheirsupportformywork.

My journeyofexploration tooka landward turnwhen Iwent toDevon inEngland to study with Gaian scientist and Deep Ecology practitioner, Dr.Stephan Harding, head of Holistic Science at Schumacher College, and long-timecollaboratorwith the fatherofGaiaTheory, scientist and inventor, JamesLovelock.StephannotonlyguidedmethroughmyresearchintotheOceanasaliving system but has become mentor and friend. I am extremely grateful toStephanforhiscriticalreviewandcorrectionsoftheGaiansciencepresentedinthisbook.IalsothankPhillipFranses,chaosandcomplexitytheorytutoratthecollege,forhisfeedbackanduniquely‘leftfield’insights.

I wish to thank Professor Gerald Pollack for his comments on mypresentationofhisgroundbreakingresearchintothemysteriousqualitiesofEZwater, and for his kind permission to use some of the illustrations from hisexcellentbookTheFourthPhaseofWater.ThanksalsotoEthanPollackforhisassistanceinformattingtheimagesIhaveused.IamalsoverygratefultoJanet

FernandezSkaalvikandYannickBeaudoinfromGrid-Arendal,andPaulBownfrom theMicropalaeontology Unit, University College London, for their helpwith permissions for the use of images and diagrams throughout the book. Iwould also like to acknowledge NOAA, NASA’s Earth Observatory,EncyclopaediaBritannicaonline,wikimediacreativecommonsandPLOSOneonlinejournalformakingimagesanddiagramsfreelyavailable.Specialthanksgo to Ricky Harris from Eye On Design www.eyeondesign.co.nz for hisfantasticcoverdesign.LikewiseIwishtoextendmygratitudetoDeirdreHyde,www.deirdrehyde.com an amazing artist and environmental activist, for herdesignoftheOceanSpiritlogo.

It is one thing to sit down and write a manuscript, but turning thatmanuscript into a book is always a collaborative process. In this I have beenblessedwiththesupportofsomeveryspecialpeople.Firstly,IwanttothankmydearfriendBenSablerolle,whoreadtheinitialdraftofthefirstsixchaptersandofferedenthusiasticbut critical support.Likewisemy friendand fellowwriter,Gill Coombswww.gillcoombs.co.uk provided timely advice as I entered intothesecondhalfofthewritingprocess.

I was extremely fortunate to have two highly skilled writers to edit andproof read the finalmanuscript:GillCoombsandJaneyParesEdney,mywifeand fellowOceanexplorer.Between them theyhave takenmy rawwords andcraftedthemintoacoherentandreadablestory.Iamextremelyfortunatetohavesuchasupportive,enthusiasticandopen-mindedpartnertosharethisjourneyofdiscoverywith.Itwouldnotbepossiblewithoutyou.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to acknowledge and honour all theOcean beingswho have taughtmemore about theOcean than any lecture ortextbookcouldeverachieve.TheyarethetrueOceanelders,andholdersofanOceanwisdom that is as old as life itself. I hope I have done justice to yourteachings.

PrologueThereis,oneknowsnotwhatsweetmysteryaboutthesea,whosegentlyawfulstirringsseemtospeakofsomehiddensoulbeneath.

–HermanMelville

Finson,maskand snorkel inplace, I easemyselfgently from thebowofourPolynesian inspired catamaran and slip silently into ablueworld.Aworld sofamiliar after all these years that it almost seems more natural to be in itsweightless,physicalembracethanthethin,etherealatmosphereabove.

Floating only thirty metres away is a female humpback whale and hermonth old calf. I’ve done this hundreds of times before but this time feelsdifferent, as if I’m being drawn into thewater by a force beyondmy control,overriding my methodical preparations. Her immense presence is calling meforth;IcouldfeelitevenbeforeIenteredthewater.

TwentyminutesearlierwehadclearedthereefpassinfrontofourbaseontheislandofFoa,intheSouthPacificKingdomofTonga.Thesewatersarethebreeding grounds for a relic population of southern hemisphere humpbackwhales,longhuntedbyEuropeanandAmericanwhalersandbroughtalmosttothe point of extinction in the early 1960’s by illegal Russian whaling in thehumpback’s Antarctic feeding grounds.We’ve been living here for six years,runninga scubadivingandwhalewatchingbusiness,whose realpurpose is tofundmyownpassionforinteractingwiththeseOceangiants.

With barely full sails in the morning breeze our catamaran was glidingserenelythroughthecalmclearwatersunderacloudless,azuresky.Toport,thefringingreefandcoconutpalm-linedbeachesofferedapictureperfectbackdrop,butalleyesonboardwerefocusedseaward,scanningthehorizonforthetelltaleplumeofmistybreaththatwhalersofoldwouldgreetwithanexcited‘tharsheblows’. Instead, the calm was shattered as the female humpback explodedthroughthesurfaceinacascadeofspray,thrustingherentire40tonbulkclearofthe water, before succumbing to the alien pull of gravity and crashingthunderouslybackintothewaterbarelyahundredmetresinfrontofus.

InstinctivelyIspunthewheel tobringtheboatupintothewindwhilemypartner,Janey,andourcrewfrantically lowered thesails.Weweresoclose tothewhalethatacollisionseemedalmostunavoidableandyetshecalmlymoved

herselfandhercalfoutofharm’swayandrepositionedherselfdirectlyinfrontofournowstationaryhulls,asif,havinggotourattention,shewasmakingsurewecouldn’tgoanywhere.ItwasatthispointthatIstartedfeelingherpresenceurgingmeintothewater.

Ignoringmyownrules I leaveJaney tobriefourpassengerson thesafetyproceduresandstrictprotocolsforswimmingwiththesegentlegiants.Assoonas I enter the water I feel enveloped in her presence. I’m like an iron filingcaughtinamagneticfield,drawntowardsthesourceandpowerlesstoresist.Afew gentle fin strokes bring me within visual range of her massive bulk, butinstead of stopping as I usually do, I find myself gliding forwards until I’mfloating just three metres away from her enormous head. She is floatingcompletelymotionlesswithjusttheriseofherbroadbackabovethesurface.Herfour-metrecalfistuckedincloseonherleftside.

As I float on the surface, fully immersed in her energetic field, I feel thestrangestsensation,asifI’mbeingenteredthrougheveryporeofmyskin.Ifeelher presence within me, filling my senses with her being. There’s a momentwhen I contemplate resisting; amomentary fear of the unknown perhaps, butthere’snosenseofdanger.Iclosemyeyes,openmyarms,mywholebeingtoherinternalgaze.Everythingoutsidethisconnectionfades;Ihardlyfeelthechillof the water against my bare skin. I’m aware of myself but can no longerdistinguishaclearseparationbetweenus.Irecognisemyownthoughts,feelingsandemotionsbutalsoexperienceheremotionalbeingasmyown.

The feeling is overwhelming and strange, I feel panic rising within me.SuddenlyI’mawareofthecalf,he’srespondingtomyuneaseandisfrightenedby it. ‘My God, he’s here as well’, a part of this ‘mind-meld’. AlmostimmediatelyIfeelacalmspreadingthroughus.Themotherisreassuringus,notwithwordsor thoughts, just a calmpresence. Ibegin to relax,unlike the calf,whostillseemsunsureandIsensehimmovingclosertohismother.Ishiftmyfocus back to her and try to concentrate on openingmyself completely to hergaze.I’manoviceat thisandhavenoideawhatI’mdoing.Ihavetotrusthercompletelyandjustgowithit.

Istarttofeelasenseofexpansiveness,asifI’mstretchingoutthroughthewater like a wave, but with the same feeling of extended consciousness andconnection that comeswhen themind reaches a deep level of stillness duringmeditation.There’sanotherqualitytothissensation,somedeepermeaning,butIcan’t grasp what it is. I feel her probing me, looking for understanding andsomehowIsensethatIdounderstandwhatitisshe’stryingtoshowme.Ican’ttouch ityet, it’s lying justoutof reach,but Iknowit’s there.Maybeshefeelsthis toobecause the intensityof her probingdiminishes and takeson a lighter

feel.SlowlyIfeelmyselfenteringintoherphysicalconsciousness,althoughnot

intentionallyandnotwith the same intensity that I feelherwithinme. It feelslikeshe’sgivingmeaguidedtourofherinnerbeingbutI’mawarethatI’monlyskimming the surface. There’s so much more to see, if only I knew how. Itdoesn’t feel as if she’s hiding anything fromme, just that I’m not capable ofseeingit.ButIalsoget thesense thatshe’smore thancapableofblockingmyaccesstoherifshechooses.Shehaschosentocommunicatewithmeinthiswayanditisverymuchonherterms.

It’sasifI’mexperiencingheressenceratherthanspecificdetails.Likehazymemories I’m vaguely aware of other calves, other whales in her life, longmigrations,butit’stheemotionsandfeelingsbeingevokedthatareclear.Thereislove,joy,painandloss,butmostofallI’mexperiencingagainthatdeepsenseofexpansiveconnection.

QuiteunexpectedlyIfeelherwithdrawing,andwiththisanincrediblesenseof lossas ifshe’ssaying‘goodbye’.ThenI realise thatshe is sayinggoodbye,butit’snotherthat’sleaving,it’smeandsheknowsit.It’swhyshestoppedusin the first place,why she initiated this ‘mind-meld’.Now Iunderstand: she’stryingtoshowmethattheOceanissomuchmorethanIhaveeverimaginedittobe.

ItisAlive!

IntroductionMycommunionwiththehumpbackwhaleandhercalfwasfiveyearsago.It’staken me all this time, and many more Ocean adventures, to feel I reallyunderstand the implications ofwhat she showedme in those fewmoments ofconnectioninthecalmwatersoffFoaIslandthatday:TheOceanReallyisAlive!

This book is an attempt to articulate the livingOcean in away that doesjustice to the gift of life she bestows upon us all, especially those beingsdwellingfulltimewithinherliquidbody.MyaimistopresentacompellingcasefortherecognitionoftheOceanasalivingbeingwithintrinsicvaluefarbeyondthe benefits she provides humanity. A being that deserves our respect andgratitude, but also asserts the right to live unencumbered by the excesses ofmodernhumanbehaviour. I hope it canalso serveas an invitation to embraceour own inescapable reliance onher continuedwellbeing.By reliance I’mnotjust referring to her physiological processes, that in our market economyvocabularywecall‘ecosystemservices’.Ourrelianceismuchdeeperthanthis.Itreachestotheverydepthsofourbeing:eventoour‘comingintobeing’bothasaspeciesandasindividuals.

TheOceanisthecradleoflifeinthephysicalsensebutitalsoservesasaportalintotheessenceofwhatitistobealive;themysteryofmeaningthatliesbeyond physics and chemistry, genes and phenotypes.Words can only hint atthishiddenmeaningbecauseit isonlythroughourphysical,sensedexperiencethat knowledge can be embodied with meaning. The intellect, for all itssophisticatedmachinations,canonlyevergiveusare-presentationofourlivedexperience. We first have to be present to the world; we have to find ourpersonal, bodily connection, from which we can employ our intellect in theserviceof interpretingmeaning intoappropriatebehaviour.Wearealive to theworldthroughoursensesanditisthroughoursensesthatthelivingworldentersus. Rachel Carson, the ‘mother’ of modern environmentalism, beautifullyillustratestheprimacyofthesensedexperience:

Tostandattheedgeofthesea,tosensetheebbandflowofthetides,tofeel the breath of amistmoving over a great saltmarsh, towatch theflight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of thecontinentsforuntoldthousandsofyear,toseetherunningoftheoldeels

andtheyoungshadtothesea,istohaveknowledgeofthingsthatareasnearlyeternalasanyearthlylifecanbe.

–RachelCarson

For us terrestrials theOcean can sometimes seem like a barrier to our senses.Afterall,noneofourfivephysicalsensesworkverywellunderwater.Withoutadivingmask theOcean is a shadowyworld of blurred outlines and unformedmovement;ourearsareconfusedbythespeedofsoundwavespulsingthroughthewatersothatwecan’ttellfromwhichdirectionsoundsarereachingus;wearereluctanttoopenourtastebudstohersaltinessforfearoffillingourmouthsandlungswithwater,whileoursenseofsmellbecomescompletelyredundant.Theonlysense thatcontinues tofunction inasimilarway is touch,andyetsomuchofwhatweencounterintheOceanseemssoalientousthatwearereticentabout reaching out; a reticence so often reinforced bywellmeaning, but overgeneralised, concerns about damaging delicate marine life. But it’s worthremembering that, like most of life’s innovations, our senses had theirbeginningsintheOcean.

The Ocean reaches out to us, drawing us into her mystery, thrilling ourbodieswithhersensualcaress,feedingoursoulfulsearchforlife’smeaning.Forthe longest timewe have held themysterious depths of theOcean as a livingtestament to theunknowable,allowingus the freedomto imagine, tospeculatewithoutlimit,life’spossibilities.Fromherdepthsweconjuredmonsterstofeedourfearandtestourcourage.Welookeduponherlimitlesshorizonasacalltoadventureandexploration.Weusedherbodytoenrichourown,bothphysicallyand spiritually.We needed her to be alive, limitless and sentient sowe couldexploreourownsentience.

Butmorerecentlywe’velargelydoneawaywiththisrelationshipinfavourofamoreutilitarianandprofitdrivenexploitationofhervastness.Fivehundredyearsofexcessiveplundering,startingalongcontinentalcoastlinesbutroamingever further offshore, has seen the immensity of the Ocean shrink, theunknowablewildness tamedandthe livingsentience transformedintosomanymillionsoftonsof‘product’.Whereoncewestoodontheshoreandfeltasenseofwonder,oflife,wildandlimitless,wenowponderresourcedepletion,speciesextinction,deadzones,plasticislands,pollutionandrisingsealevels.Sincetheindustrial revolutionwe have treated theOcean as littlemore than a resourcebank,foreverwithdrawingbutneverrepaying,ouronlydepositsthetoxicwasteofourexcess.

Andyet,despiteourtemporaryamnesia,theOceanhasn’tentirelyforsakenus, nor us her. How can we? We are, in every way, dependent on her life

processes.Thewisdomof theOceanhasn’tbeenlost. It resides ineverywatermolecule,everymicroscopicalgae,inthememoriesofthewhaleandwithinthetraditionalknowledgesystemsofindigenousOceanpeople.Itresidesstillinallwhohear thecallof theOcean, feel thesalt in theirveinsandfind themselvesyearningonceagaintofeelherembrace.

AndIhavelovedthee,Ocean!Andmyjoyofyouthfulsportswasonthybreasttobeborne,likethybubbles,onward;fromaboyIwantonedwiththybreakers.Theytomewereadelight;andifthefresheningseamadethematerror,‘twasapleasingfear.

–LordByron

ThestoryoftheOceanisthestoryoflifeonEarth,includingthecolonisationofthe land. It is the story of evolution, from our planet’s formation to theemergenceof life, to thepresentmoment. Itwould takevolumes to tell inanydetail and would need continual updating as our knowledge grows and ourunderstanding deepens. My aim here is not to catalogue details but rather toevokeasenseofwonder,aweandconnectionwiththelivingOcean.NecessarilyIwillhavetoomitmuchthatisbothinterestingandimportant,butIhopethatbyfocusingonafewexamplesofhowlifeexpressesitself–asanOcean-wide,anddeepprocess–Icanweaveacoherentandworthyoverview.

Thisbookisfirstandforemostacelebrationof theOceaninallher livingsplendour. It looks at the scientific evidence for a living Ocean as far as weknow it,keeping inmind thatourknowledgeandunderstanding is continuallybeing revised. The further back in timewe go the less surewe can be of theactual events. Somuch ofwhatwemight take to be scientific fact, especiallyabout the distant past, is ultimately based on conjecture, derived from patchyevidenceand theory.Nobodywas there tobearwitness. But this isnot just ascientificstory.

AsanOceanecologist,thescientificunderstandingofhowtheOceanworksasacomplexsystemfascinatesme,butasapractitionerofDeepEcology,I’mfilledwith profound reverence for the intrinsic beauty and powerful life forcethatisthesouloftheOcean.AsadiverandunderwaternaturalistI’mtransfixedbythediversity,peculiarityandhabitsofhermyriadlifeforms,andasanOceansailor I’m seduced by her ever changing moods and the intimacy of herrelationshipwiththeatmospherethatgivesbirthtothewindsfillingmysails.IntellingthisstoryIhavedrawnonall thesefacetsofmydeepconnectiontothelivingOcean.

But nomodern story of theOceanwould be completewithout addressing

thecurrentthreatstotheOcean’swellbeing.IhaveadoptedtheapproachtakenbyGaianscientist,JamesLovelock,ofbeinga‘planetaryphysician’.InChapter10 we’ll pay a visit to the ‘Ocean Doctor’ for an Ocean-wide check-up anddiagnosis. Finallywe’ll draw on our deepened sense of connection to look atwhatactionwecantaketolessentheburdenontheOceanandgiveherachancetorecoverherhealth.

Ihaveattempted tokeepscientific language toaminimumfor thesakeofnarrativeflow,butreaderswithaninterestindelvingfurtherintothesciencewillfindusefulreferencesinthechapternotesandbibliography.Mywritingstyleisunashamedly ‘animistic’: imbuing supposedly non-living or inanimate objectswithagencyandsoul.IhavedeliberatelyemployedthiswritingstylebecauseitbestdescribesmyrelationshipwiththeOcean.Anotherintentionalgrammaticalquirk you may notice is that I have chosen to capitalise Ocean in mostsituations.I’vedonethistoemphasistheOceanasalivingbeing,awhoratherthanawhat.

Inkeepingwiththeunderstandingthatknowledgeleadstomeaningthroughdirect experience, I have included some guided visualisations, in italics, onaspects of the living Ocean. Not as a replacement for direct experience, butratherasaninvitationto‘imaginarysensorialexperience’–amethoddevelopedby the 18th century visionary, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, for thephenomenologicalstudyoflivingorganisms.IdeallythoughIencourageyoutojourney to theOcean and engagewith her directly. If this isn’t possible theremay be a way you can connect with another body of water: a lake, river orstream.Afterall,allwateronourplanetisconnectedandisatvarioustimesanintegralpartoftheOcean

PartOne

TheLivingOcean

1

IstheOceanReallyAlive?Noaquarium,notankinamarineland,howeverspaciousitmaybe,canbegin

toduplicatetheconditionsofthesea.–JacquesYvesCousteau

WhenIstartedmydivingcareer30yearsagoIworkedasanaquariumassistantattheworld’sfirstacrylictunnelaquariumonthewaterfrontinAuckland,NewZealand.Theingeniousideaofdivingpioneer,KellyTarlton,thetunnelcreatesa ‘reality-flip’,with thepeople encased in an acrylic tunnel running throughagiantsaltwatertank.Fish,sharksandstingraysswimaroundandoverthetunnel,givingthepeopleinsidethetunnela3Dview,anunderwaterexperiencewithoutgettingwet.Frommypositioninsidethetankwiththefish,Ioftenwonderedjustwhowasondisplay!ButthethingInoticedmostwashowdifferentitfeltdivinginsidetheconfinesofthetankcomparedtodivingintheOcean.

When I dive in the Ocean the very water feels alive. Every piece of myexposedskinisbeingcaressedbymicroscopicphytoplankton,tinyzooplankton,larvalfishandinvertebratesaswellasallthefaecalmatterassociatedwiththeirmetabolism,not tomentionall thedissolvednutrients continuallymixingwiththewatermolecules.Oceanwaterfeelsenergised.Andofcoursethere’sawholecommunity of fish and invertebrates, encrusting life such as corals, sponges,anemonesandascidians,kelpsand seaweeds, allgoingabout theirbusinessofhunting, foraging, fossicking, filtering andphotosynthesising.On the sea floorthebenthiccommunityisjustasvibrantandbusy.Unimaginablenumbersoflifeforms, from polychaete worms and shellfish, to microbes and single-celledbacteriaarebusyrecyclingnutrientsfromthecontinualsupplyoffaecalpelletsandotherdetritusrainingdownfromabove.IntheOceanthereisnosuchthingaswaste.Inshort,theOceanisacomplexlivingsystem.

Inanaquariumon theotherhand, thewater is re-circulated throughgiantbiologicalfiltration tanks toremoveparticulatematter,ozonefilters tosterilizethewaterandhigh-pressurepumpstore-oxygenateit.Becausethereisoftennodirect sunlight, theonlyphotosynthesis thathappens is fromartificial lighting.

Basically much of the life is removed from the water itself. Every other daymyself and other divers would vacuum the sand with large suction hoses,removingallthefishdetritusaswaste,tominimisebacterialbuildupandreducetherateofinfectioninthefish.Despiteourprecautionswewouldoccasionallyhave toaddantibiotics to their food,aswell asvitaminD, tomakeup for thelackof sunlight.The result of all thiswas a largely sterile environment ratherthanavibrant,complexecosystem.

Forthetouristsmovingthroughtheacrylictunnelonamotorisedconveyerbelt,theaquariumisafascinatingandentertainingwindowintotheunderwaterworld,ajourneyintotheOcean.ButformeitwasmorelikebeinginaparodyoftheOcean.Itlookedsimilarbutitfeltlikeafacsimile,anabstractrepresentationthat the life had literally been sucked out of. The fish, sharks and stingraysswimming around and over the acrylic tunnelwatching the passing display ofhumans,wereswimminginatankfullofmoreorlesslifelesswaterratherthanalivingOcean.

Nevertheless, it was at the aquariumwhere I first encountered individualpersonalitiesamongstthepopulationofsupposedlyunthinking,non-feelingandprimitive sharks, rays and fish.Until then, likemost people, I bought into thebeliefthatitwasonlyhumansandaselectbandofhighermammalsthatenjoythegifts of sentience and individualism.Butnotonlydid theyhave their ownpersonalities, it also appeared that at least some of the sharks, rays and evensomeofthefishcouldrecogniseindividualdiversandwouldreactdifferentlytoeach of us. The differences between the divers were often subtle, a slightlydifferentswimmingstyleorbreathingpatternperhaps,butnonetheless,wecouldobserve different responses to each diver from those animals who wereinterested in interacting with us. It wasn’t until sometime later that I realisedthey were probably responding to our different energetic fields and chemicalsignaturesasmuchasourbehaviourandlooks.

So,whatwasthissenseofalivenessIcouldfeelintheOceanbutnotintheaquarium?Certainly thepolystyrene rocks, artificial light and limiteddiversityplayed theirpart,but thereseemedtobesomethingelsemissing,something inthewater, so to speak. Is it possible there is something about theOcean as awhole that can’t be replicated: the water, minerals, nutrients, and myriadorganisms creating more than the sum of the parts, in other words, a livingOcean?

Just tobeclear,Idon’tmean‘living’inthemetaphoricsensefavouredbysome scientists, who would use the term living ocean to describe the myriadcollectionofbiologicallifeformsinhabitingtheOcean.Inthiscontexttheoceanisseenasconsistingofbiological lifewithinanon-livingenvironment.This is

theclassicseparationbetween thebioticandabiotic, the livingandnon-living,thathasbeenchampionedby science for thepast fourhundredor soyears. Infact, so pervasive has this separation become in Western thought that wescarcelypayitanyattention,andyet it isanideathathasplayedakeyrole inshapingourcurrentrelationshipwithlifeitself.Beforeweexplorethequestionof the livingOcean further it’sworthbriefly tracinghow this separationcameabout.

ChangingPerceptionsofLifeFormostofthetwohundredthousandyearhistoryofourspecieswehavelivedin tunewith therhythmsof theplanet,our identitygroundedfirmlywithin thephysical world around us. Our surroundings not only served as a physicalorientation, but also provided our spiritual compass with which we began toexplore our growing self-awareness. That self-awareness was underpinned bythefundamentalacceptance thatourverysurvivaldependedonmaintaininganintimate connection to the life-force around us. We needed to nurture ourrelationshipwithoursurroundingsinordertomaintainaccesstotheknowledgeofhoweverythinginourworldfittedtogether.

One could not have knowledge about predator or prey withoutunderstanding how they also related to, and within the world. We needed toremainsensitivetohowthoserelationshipsfluctuatedwiththechangingmoodsof our shared environment. It would have been both counter-intuitive andcounter-productivetoseparatelifeandenvironmentinanyway.Thelifeofthesunbathing lizard and the sunbaked rock, the spawning salmon and the milt-swollenriver,theschoolingfishandthesurgingOcean;allwerepartofthesamelifeprocess,aswerewe.Tobeself-aware,wastoidentifyandhaveknowledgeof yourself within the larger body of life around you, rather than to imagineyourselfoutsideandseparatefromtheworld.

Wehavelargelylostthissenseof‘embeddedness’inourmoderncultures,andnowviewitasanaïvebeliefsystemheldbyindigenousculturesthatimbueinanimate objects with agency and soul. This worldview has been labelled‘animistic’byWesternscholars,who themselvesare followingaphilosophicaltraditionsetinmotionbyPlatointhe4thcenturyBCE.Hewasamongstthefirstto articulate the idea that the power of creation lay somewhere outside thematerialworld,therebygivingbirthtothenotionofaneternalheavenlyrealm,apartfromandsuperiortotheearthlybody.

Even though he championed the human intellect as the pathway to thisdivinerealm,healsosawtheworldasalivingembodimentofthecreativeforce,alive with soul and agency. In one of his most important texts ‘Timaeus’ hewrites,‘Thisworldis indeeda livingbeingsuppliedwithsoulandintelligence… a single visible entity, containing all other living entities.’ This was latertranslatedintoLatinastheanimamundithe‘souloftheworld’.So,evenwhilepavingthewayforChristianity–andlaterthescientificrevolution–toseparateand raise humans above the rest of life, Plato himself it would appear,

experiencedtheworldasasentientlivingwhole.1But even before Plato, we were starting to disengage ourselves from the

intimaterelationshipwithplacethathadnurturedusforsolong.Theadventoffarming and agriculture drove a wedge between humans and themore-than-human world.Where once all the landwas alivewith its own story,we nowenforcedourwilluponsomeareas,tamingtherocksandsoil,domesticatingtheplantsandanimals.Beyondourfencesthelandbecameathreat,fullofuntamedforces thatwouldencroachuponournewlyperceived security.Wenowhadadualrelationshipwithoursurroundings:thesafetyandrelativepredictabilityofour enclosures (the places under our control), and the wild beyond. As ourdominancespreadacrossthelandsothewildernesswithdrew,andalongwithitourconnectiontotheanimamundi,thelivingsouloftheworld.2

The scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries introduced a newelement to this growing separation: the concept of the world, and indeed theentireuniverse,asavastmachinewhoseworkingscouldbeunderstoodusingthenewscientificmethodofreductionismexpoundedbyRenéDescartes.Descartes’beliefthatanyphenomenoncouldbeunderstoodbystudyingitsconstituentpartsinisolationevenextendedtolivinganimals,whichhesawasnothingmorethancomplex machines without feelings or soul. The subsequent success of IsaacNewton’snewly formulateddifferential calculus inpredicting the trajectoryofmovingbodies,suchastheplanets,seemedtoback-upthisideaofamechanisticuniverse that could be understood and ultimately controlled, using objectivemeasurementandmathematicalreason.

Sonow,notonlyhadwedrawnalinebetweenbiologicallifeandthenon-living environment, but we had also re-defined life into sentient and soulfulhumanexistence,surroundedbyallotherlifethatenjoyedneithersentiencenorsoul.Inafunnysortofwaywethenre-unitednon-humanlifeanditsnon-livingenvironmentbygivingitaname–Nature.3

OfcoursenotallWesternthinkersheldthisview.Evenamongstscientists–CharlesDarwinamongthem–therewerethosewhofoundtheideaofaworldinwhich humans were the only sentient beings deeply disturbing. Nevertheless,with the start of the industrial revolution it seemed that through the rapiddevelopment of technology, and the use of ever-more powerfulmachines, thephysicalworldcould indeedbecontrolledandexploitedfor thesolebenefitofhumanity.

Theoneplace that still seemedbeyondour controlling reachwas thevastopenOcean.SomehowtheOceanbeyondthenearshorestillheldthemysteryoftheunknowable,theuntameable.Inthiscontextshewasstillalivetous,capableof exerting her free will upon any who would venture onto her vast body.

Survival depended on the intimacy of our relationship with her rhythms andchangingmoods.Theseafarerwhoneglected this relationshipwouldsoonfindtheOceanacruelandheartlessmistress;whilethosewhopaidheedunderstoodthatsheheldnofavourites,dispensingneitherpunishmentnorreward,butrather,embracedallattheirownrisk.

But as the 20th century progressed even the vastness of the Ocean wassuccumbing to our relentless drive for domination.Not onlywas our newoil-driven technologyopeningup the entireOcean to exploitation,but itwas alsodrivingastakeintotheheartofthislastbastionofourconnectiontotheanimamundi.FollowingtheglobalvoyageofdiscoverybyH.M.S.Challengerin1872,when we first put a number to the deepest part of the Ocean, our scientificexplorationhas replacedmuchof themysterywithobjectivemeasurementandreducedthelivingpulseofhervastnesstoacatalogueofresources,thereforthetakingbythosewiththecapability.

ComplexSystems:ANewScienceofLifeFourhundredyearsof separatist thinkingmayhavebroughtus to thebrinkofecologicalcatastrophe,butithasonlydonesothroughourmisuseofknowledge,rather than the knowledge itself.Whilewemust all take responsibility for thewayourcivilisationcontinuestoabusetheOcean,andindeedthewholeplanet,we can also celebrate the incredible advances in our understanding about thenature of life.A giant leap forward in that understanding came in 1859whenCharles Darwin published On the Origin of Species. Darwin’s theory ofevolution by natural selection introduced two hugely important ideas that laidthefoundationforsciencetoexploreanewdirectioninitsquesttoexplainlife.

Thefirstwasthatalllife,includinghumans,sharesacommonancestry,andthe second was that new species come about through a process of naturalselection.4ThemoreprofoundimplicationsofDarwin’scontroversialideashaveonly recently started to be realised in the scientific context. That all life isinterconnected and that evolution progresses, not in accordance with a granddesign,butratherthroughtheemergenceofspontaneousandnoveladaptationsresultingfromthelifeprocessitself,isnowthecornerstoneofmodernscientificunderstanding.

Darwinmayhavelaidthebiologicalfoundationsforthisunderstanding,butadvances have come in all fields of science, including our discovery of thequantum universe, the microbial world and the chemistry of life. All havecontributed to the shift in our understanding. Despite the reluctance of somemainstream evolutionary biologists, we can now finally move away from thesimplistic idea of life as a machine; where competition for scarce resourcesdrivesevolutionarychange,toonewherelifeisamilieuofcomplex,cooperativeand interactive relationships which continually evoke creative responses tochallengesandopportunitiesalike.

ThisnewscienceoflifeisknownastheSystemsViewofLife,atermcoinedby physicist and complexity researcher Fitjof Capra, which is based on theunderstandingthatlivingsystemscreatenetworksofrelationships,andthatthesenetworkshaveapatterntothemthatcanonlybeunderstoodwhenviewedasawhole.5 Furthermore, there are networks within networks and ‘wholes withinwholes’.Forexample,ourbodiesaremadeupofapproximately50trillioncells.6Eachcellisawholewithinitself,butisalsonestedaspartofagreaterwhole;forexampletheliver,heartorbrain,andeachoftheseorgansisalsoawholenestedwithinthewholebody.Wecannotunderstandthehumanorganismbystudyinga

single cell, anymore thanwe can understand theOcean by studying a singlefish.

Thetheoreticalframeworkforstudyingthesepatternsofnetworksisknownas Complexity Theory, or Non-linear Dynamics, which for the first time hasallowed scientists to create models of these networks using non-linearmathematicalequations.Whatthemodelsshowisthatlivingsystemsarealwaysin a stateofdynamic flow.Thepatternswecan see are fractal,meaning self-similar rather than identical, allowing the system to creatively adapt to ever-changingcircumstances.Inotherwords,livingsystemsarecontextual:theycanonly be understood in the context of their surroundings. This alsomeans thatlivingsystemsareinherentlyunpredictable.

SohowdoesthisrelatetoourquesttoconnectwiththelivingOcean?Canwe view the whole Ocean as one complex living system? It would seem so.Indeed,scientificunderstandingofthecomplexdancebetweenbiologicallifeintheOceanandtheOceanmediumitself,hasblossomedinthepastfewdecades.Infact,recentdiscoveriesabouttheparttheOceanplaysinthewholeEarthasasingle livingsystemare truly remarkable.Wenowknowforexample that thistightlycoupledinterplayisamajorplayerintheplanet’svariouscarboncycles,whichwe’llexamineshortly.

ThisnewEarthSystemsviewoftheOceanisstronglyinfluencedbyJamesLovelock’s Gaia Theory.7 Lovelock’s intuitive understanding, backed up bycarefulresearchandempiricalevidence,thatlifeitself(inpartnershipwithrocks,air and water) plays a vital role in producing and maintaining environmentalconditions within the narrow limits that life can tolerate, and on a planetaryscale, is one of the truly great scientific achievements of the 20th century. ForLovelock,Gaia isnot just thesumofall life in feedbackwith theatmosphere,water andEarth’s crust (the biosphere), but is rather the emergence of a self-regulating superorganism that comes into existence through the process ofevolution. In his ownwords, ‘Life and its environment are so closely coupledthat evolution concerns Gaia, not the organisms or the environment takenseparately.’8

Gaia’sOceanWithoutwater,ourplanetwouldbeoneofthebillionsoflifelessrocks

floatingendlesslyinthevastnessoftheinky-blackvoid.–FabienCousteau

TheOceanisbyfarthelargestpartofGaia.NotonlydoestheOceancovermorethan70percentofGaia’ssurface,butitalsoaccountsforsomewherebetween97to99percentoftheliveablebiosphere.Soit’snotsurprisingthatvirtuallyalloftheself-regulatingmechanismssheemploysinvolvetheOceaninsomeway.9Asfarasweknowlifeisn’tpossiblewithoutwater,soit’ssafetosaythatwithouttheOcean,Gaiaandthereforealllifewouldnotexist.Butwhatiftheconverseisalsotrue:withoutlifetheOceanwouldn’texist?Thismaysoundfarfetched,butfromaGaianperspective there isstrongevidence thatwithout the influenceoflife’s metabolic processes, the water on our planet would have literallyevaporatedintospaceandEarthwouldbeasdesiccatedandlifelessasitsnearestneighbours,VenusandMars.10

InthenextchapterwewilltravelfarbackintimetoexplorehowtheOceanfirst came into being as a living synthesis, but for now we’ll focus on theextraordinaryfactthat,ofthethreeinnerplanets–Venus,EarthandMars–it’sonly Earth that’s managed to maintain significant volumes of water in liquidform.Tounderstandthepartlifeplaysinthismiraculousachievement,let’sfirstlookattheelementalpropertiesofwaterandhowtheyinteractwithotherforces.This will help us understand what may have happened to our planetaryneighbours, and what our own planet’s fate might have been without life’sintervention.

Thewatermolecule(H2O)isperhapsthemostwidelyrecognisedsymbolinthelanguageofchemistry.Twohydrogenatomsbondedtooneoxygenatomtocreatethelife-givingmiraclethatiswater.Toreallyappreciatethebeautyofthisdynamicrelationshiplet’sfollowtheinspiredworkofGaianscientistandDeepEcologypractitioner,StephanHardingandhisbeautifullyanimisticdescriptionsoftheseelementalpersonalities.11

Allatomscontainpositivelychargedprotonsresidingwithintheirnucleus.Orbiting the nucleus in concentric rings is an equal number of negativelychargedelectrons.Thefirstringclosesttothenucleuscanonlyholdamaximumof two electrons, the second and third rings eight each and beyond themsubsequentringscanholdevenmore.Themagicalpropertyofatomsthatmakes

life possible is their intense need to have a full outer ring of electrons. Forexample,acarbonatomhassixprotonswithinitsnucleuswithsixelectronsinorbit around them. This means it needs two rings, an inner ring with its fullcomplementoftwoelectrons,andanouterringwithfourelectronstoequalitssix protons. Thus it needs to find another four electrons to fill its outer orbit.This can happen when carbon atoms come together and share electrons witheach other in amutually fulfilling bond of friendship inwhat chemists call acovalent bond. These long carbon chains happily bondwith other elementals,such as oxygen, sulphur, phosphorus and nitrogen, to form the complexmoleculesoflife.

The hydrogen atom is the lightest and most abundant element in theuniversewith justasingleprotonwithin itsnucleusandone lonelyelectron inorbitaroundit. Insearchof justonemoreelectron tofill itssingleorbit itcanfind fulfilment most easily by joining with another hydrogen atom to form ahydrogenmolecule(H2).Butsolightandfancyfreearethehydrogenatomsthattheyaremorethanhappytoindulgetheadvancesofotherelementalbeingssuchas oxygen. This suits the passionate oxygen atom, who with an outer orbitneeding two electrons, will bond with just about any other element.When itcomesacrossourhydrogenmoleculeitspassionatedreamsarefulfilledandtheresulting ‘lover’s embrace’ creates themiraclemolecule, (H2O)water. (Figure1.1)

Figure1.1Thewatermolecule(H2O).(Image:iStock)

There’s something elsewe should knowabout ourwatery lovers.Our oxygen‘Romeo’putssomuchpassionateenergyintothisménageátrioswiththetwohydrogen ‘Juliets’, that he is left feeling a bit ‘negative’ about their flippantways;while the light hearted Juliets have nothing but ‘positive’ vibes and anurge formore. Somuch so in fact, they just can’t resist smooching up to theoxygenatomintheneighbouringmolecule.Inchemistrythisisknownasaweakhydrogen bond and is the reason water molecules have a tendency to stick

together.Inliquidwatereachmoleculecanbehydrogen-bondedtoasmanyasfourothers.

Waterisindeedthemiraclemolecule.Notonlyisitthefacilitatoroflifeaswe know it, but because of its unique and mysterious ability to move easilybetween liquid, gas and solid states, it plays a key role in the whole climateprocess. In fact, so mysterious is this phase-shifting capability of water, thatscientistshaveuntil recentlybeenat a loss toexplain justhowwater achievesmanyofitsmiraculousfeats.Butoverthelastdecade,ateamofresearchersleadbyProfessorGeraldPollackfromtheUniversityofWashingtoninSeattle,havemade a breakthrough discovery that could shake the very foundations of ourscientificunderstandingoflife.

They’vediscovereda fourthphaseofwater that isneither liquidnorsolidbutisdescribedas‘…aliquidcrystalwiththephysicalpropertiesanalogoustothose of raw egg white’. This liquid-crystalline, or inter-facial water, formsaround any hydrophilic (water-attracting) surface, including organic particles,creatinganexclusionzonebetweenthesurfaceandthesurroundingwater,hencethe nickname, ‘EZ’water.As the name suggests this exclusion zone excludesothermolecules like dissolvedminerals. But the really important discovery isthatEZwatertakesonadifferentmolecularstructure:H3O2.(Figure1.2)

Figure 1.2 EZwater forms lattice like layers, resulting in a differentmolecular structure (H302), inwhich two oxygen atoms become bonded with three hydrogen atoms. (Image courtesy of ProfessorGeraldPollack,©EbnerandSons/GeraldPollack)

ThismeansthatEZwateractuallycarriesanegativechargeinsteadofaneutralcharge like ordinary water. A helpful, although not entirely accurate, way tograsp this is to think of twowatermolecules joined together butmissing onehydrogenatom.12Theleftoverhydrogenatomsaretransferredtothesurroundingwater where they latch on to ordinary water molecules, creating positivelychargedhydronium ions (H3O).This results inanareaofpositivecharge rightnexttothenegativelychargedEZ.(Figure1.3)

Figure1.3TheresultinghydroniumionsassociatedwiththemolecularstructureofEZwatercreatesapositivecharge in thesurroundingbulkwater. (ImagecourtesyofProfessorGeraldPollack,©EbnerandSons/GeraldPollack)

Pollack and his teamhavemade two other key discoveries. EZwater absorbsradiant electromagnetic energy from the sun and uses it, much like plants doduringtheinitialstagesoftheirmorecomplexphotosynthesisprocess.Secondly,EZwatercanstorepotentialenergy likeabattery.13Research intoEZwater isstill in its infancy and, like so many new discoveries, will take time to bedigested, tested and either accepted or rejected by the scientific community.However, the implications for the life process are profound, and we’ll beexploring some of these in later chapters, but for nowwe’ll just note that theworkofscientistslikeProfessorPollackandothers,isstartingtoprovidesomeof thedetails forwhat thegreatAustriannaturalist,VictorSchauberger,calledthelivingnatureofwater.14

LifetotheRescueIfthatisalltherewastotheelementalstoryofwaterwewouldmorethanlikelybe living on a much wetter planet and, if we could look backwards in timethroughapowerfultelescope,wewouldbeabletolookuponournearestgalacticneighbours, Venus andMars, and see vast oceans possibly teemingwith life.Instead,we now see barren landscapes devoid of life, but clearly showing thetelltalegeologicalfeaturesindicatinglargevolumesofwateroncecoveredtheirsurface.

So,whathappened?Theanswerliesinthelight-heartednatureofhydrogen.So light in fact, that with hardly a backwards glance, it will leave the bereftoxygen behind, slip easily away from the clutches of Earth’s gravity anddisappearintothevastnessofspace.Oneoftheprocessesbywhichthishappensiscalledphoto-dissociation–whenliquidwaterevaporatesandbecomesagas(watervapour).Asitrisesintothestratosphere,ultravioletradiationfromthesunbreaksthestronghydrogen-oxygenbond,releasingthehydrogenmoleculesintospace forever. Another important process is the sequestering of the oxygenatomsbyironandsulphur,presentinthebasaltrocksontheOceanfloor,whichagainfreesthehydrogentoescapeintospace.

Whenoursolarsystemwasyoung,Venus,with itscloserproximityto thesun,wasexposed toapproximately40percentmoresolar radiation thanEarth.This would have caused vast quantities of water to evaporate into theatmosphere,settinginmotionarunawaypositivefeedbackloopofwarming(dueto the powerful greenhouse effect ofwater vapour), leading to an exponentialincrease in photo-dissociation and subsequent hydrogen loss to space. Thispositive feedback loop would have continued until virtually all the water onVenushadevaporated.15

ThefateofMars’oceanisprobablysomewhatmorecomplex.Beingfurtheraway from the sun it receives some43percent less solar radiation thanEarth.Evenso,therewereprobablyabundantgreenhousegases,suchasmethaneandcarbondioxide (CO2), capableofgeneratinghighenough temperatures toholdwater in its liquid state. Some of this water would have been lost throughevaporationandphoto-dissociation.Inaddition,vastquantitiesofcarbondioxidewould have been stripped from the atmosphere over geological time, formingcarbonate rock.With no plate tectonics to replace the carbon dioxide throughvolcanic activity, the Martian atmosphere has become thin and lost itsgreenhousecapability.Asthetemperatureplummetedmuchoftheliquidwater

onMarsmay have frozen,which is evidenced by the large polar icecaps andpossiblylargeareasofundergroundice.16

TheatmospheresofVenusandMarsarenowinastateofnearequilibriumand are completely at the mercy of the chemical and physical processesdescribedabove.Withoutlife,Earth’satmospherewouldbeinasimilarstateofequilibriumwith98percentcarbondioxideandlittleornooxygen.LikeVenuswewouldbeinanunstoppablegreenhousefeedbackloop,creatingfurnace-likesurface temperatures and causingmassive evaporationof theOcean.With thisand other processes, it’s estimated that under these conditions Earth’s Oceanwouldhavecompletelydisappearedbyabout twobillionyearsago.17That I’msittingherewritingthisbookatteststothefactthatthisdidn’thappen!SohowhaslifesavedtheOceananditself?

According to Gaia Theory there are two main strategies by which lifesustainsEarthas theOceanplanet inour solar system.The first is thevariouswaysinwhichlifemaintainsatmospherictemperaturessuitableforliquidwater– neither too hot nor too cold. These include manipulating the ratios ofgreenhousegasesintheatmosphere,forexamplethroughthemetabolicprocessof photosynthesis that removes vast amounts of carbon dioxide from theatmosphere and replaces it with oxygen.18 Besides providing life with abreathableatmosphere,thisfreeoxygenisresponsiblefortheozonelayer,whichvastly reduces photo-dissociation in the stratosphere.19 Life also plays amajorroleinthelong-termcarboncycle;criticaltomaintainingthebalanceofcarbondioxidelevelsintheatmosphereandthereforeplanetarytemperatures.LifealsoinfluencesthetemperatureoftheatmosphereandOceanbyhelpingtoformthecloudsthatreflectsomeofthesun’sheatbackintospace.(We’llfindouthowinChapter3.)

Thesecondwayinwhichlifereduceswaterlossisbyenticingthefreeandeasyhydrogenatomsback into theirwaterymarriagewithoxygenbefore theycanescapeintospace.Wehavethemicrobialworldofbacteriatothankforthis.In the darkest depths of theOcean, uncountable armies of bacteria have beentirelesslyworkingbehindthescenes,conjuringwonderfullyimaginativeactsofmolecular alchemy, blissfully unaware that their metabolic livelihoods wereplaying such an important role in keepingGaiamoist. Some of these creativestrategiesincludemetabolisingsulphur,whichreleaseshydrogentojoinwiththeoxygen produced by photosynthesisers. Others react carbon dioxide with freehydrogentoproducemethaneandwater.20Ofcourse,likeallcomplexsystems,thesestrategiesaresocompletelyinterconnectedthat it isa littlemisleadingtopresent them as separate processes. Be that as it may, it is useful to have anexample, just to illustrate the profound creativity of Gaia. It’s also worth

remindingourselvesthatallofthesestrategiesstartedwiththecomingintobeingofthelivingOcean.

TheLong-TermCarbonCycleandtheBiologicalCarbonatePump

The long-termcarboncycle is recyclingonagrandscale,whichhappensovergeologicaltimeframesmeasuredinhundredsofthousandstomillionsofyears.The firstpartof the recyclingprocess isknownassilicate rockweathering. Itinvolvesatmosphericcarbondioxide(CO2)dissolvedinrainwater,reactingwithexposed granite and basalt rock surfaces to form water-soluble calciumbicarbonate. The calcium bicarbonate is carried by rivers and streams to theOcean where it is consumed by marine organisms, thereby removing carbondioxidefromtheatmosphere.

Until the early 1980’s this was considered a purely chemical process.However,we now know that life has been enhancing this process for at leasthundredsofmillionsofyears.Frombacteriaand lichens tomassive treeroots,life works its way into the rocks, exposing more surfaces to weathering. It’sestimated that this life-enhanced rockweathering is ten timesmoreefficientatremovingcarbondioxidefromtheatmospherethanchemicalweatheringalone,andplaysahugelyimportantroleinkeepingtheEarthcool.21ThelivingOceanisinvolvedineveryaspectofthisbeautifulGaianprocess,fromtheseedingoftherain-producingcloudsthatdissolvethecarbondioxideintheatmosphere,totheriversthatdeliverittotheOcean,andthecarbonsequesteringorganismsintheOceanthatconsumethecalciumbicarbonatethroughaprocessknownasthebiologicalcarbonatepump.

The current champions of the biological carbonate pump are a group ofmicroscopicalgaewiththeexoticnameofcoccolithophores.Notonlyaretheyone of the primary producers in theOcean, using the sun’s energy to convertcarbon dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen, but also – as if this isn’tenough – they use that sugary energy to perform one of the most importantclimate control functions on the planet. Extracting calcium bicarbonate ionsfrom the Ocean, they create exquisitely crafted chalky plates – coccoliths –withintheircellularstructure.Eachcoccolithplateisinessenceastorehouseofcarbonthatwasoncecarbondioxidedriftingintheatmosphere(Figure.1.4).

Figure1.4CoccolithophoresextractcalciumbicarbonatefromtheOceantocreatetheirexquisitelycraftedcoccolithplates.(ImageSource:Andruleitetal.2005JNRArabianSeacoccos.http://ina.tmsoc.org/Nannotax3)

WhentheydieandsinktotheOceanfloor,theirchalkyskeletonsaccumulateinsuchvastnumbers that theircombinedweight formssolidchalkand limestonerock.OvermillionsofyearstheserocksarecarriedalongtheOceanfloorbythemovementoftectonicplates,untiltheyarefinallysubductedbelowtheOcean’scrust,wheretheintenseheatmeltsthemintoreformedgranite.Theintenseheatalso releases the trapped carbon dioxide, which is spewed back into theatmosphere through volcanic eruptions, thus completing the cycle andcontributing to the dynamic balancing act that keeps Gaia habitable. EminentAmericangeologistDonAnderson,evenpostulatesthattheimmenseweightofthelimestonelaiddownbythecoccolithophoresandothercalcifiers,maybeoneofthedriversofplatetectonics.22

The life-enhanced long-term carbon cycle not only plays a pivotal role inmaintaininghabitableconditions,butalsocontributesmightilytotheretentionofwaterthroughitstemperaturecontrollinginfluence.This,andthemanyotherlifeprocesses that have contributed to maintaining the Ocean, are only possiblebecause water was there in the first place. But, as we’ve seen, water is amysteriouslycomplex,elementalrelationshipthatcanonlysurviveinits liquidphasewiththehelpofmorethanafew‘lively’friends.

From this perspective itmakesno sense to impose an arbitrary separationbetweentheOceanmediumandthelifewithinit.Ifonecannotexistwithouttheother the only sensible option is to view them as one intra-dependent, livingentity.TheOceanisn’tthebackgroundforlife;ratheritislifeinmotion.Or,astheeminent19thcenturyRussianscientistVladimirVernadskysoeloquentlyputit,‘Lifeisanimatedwater’.23

Ofcourse thisappliesequally to theatmosphereand terrestrial life.Everyair molecule in every inhalation we take is only possible because of all the

breathsthathavegonebefore.Infact,ouratmosphereasitexistsnow,isexactlythebreathoflife.The21percentoxygeninouratmosphereisonlytherebythegraceofallthosephotosynthesisersintheOceanandonland,whichinturnrelyontheplanet-wideexhalationofcarbondioxidetohelpthemharnessthesun’senergy.As terrestrial, air-breathing beings it’s perhaps understandable thatweidentifymoststronglywiththesetwominorityrealms,andyet,withoutalivingOceantherewouldbenolandplants,nobreathableatmosphereandnous!Ourvery physiology mirrors Gaia’s great body and tells the story of our Oceanorigins.

It’s clear that the Ocean exists the way she does today because of theintricate and complex dance of life within her great body. But if we restrictourselvestoapurelyscientific,rationalexplanationofthiscomplexitywe’reindangerof losingournewlyrekindledconnectiontoher livingessence.Sciencecan help us deepen our understanding about how we should behave in ourrelationshipwiththeOcean,butitcanneverexplainthatdeepsenseoftinglinganticipation,aswestandonhershorereadytodiveintoherliquidembrace.Inthat moment, when we leave rationality behind and feel her fluid pressureagainst our flesh; when we feel ourselves fully alive; that’s when the Oceanrevealshertrue,livingnaturetous.

AndhowdoestheOceanrespondtoourplungingbody?Wefeelherwaterytouchonourflesh,butisshenotalsofeelingour‘fleshy’touch?Ourpresenceisbeing felt in an active exchange of information. Our body is a mass ofelectromagnetic and chemical messages and the Ocean is the ultimateinterpreter;ourownunique, livingsignature instantly translated into thousandsofdifferentlanguagesandavailablefordownloadbymyriadlifeforms,seenandunseen. This is the living synthesis our sensing body respond to as we pushthroughthewater.

Clearlythere’smoregoingonherethanjustthephysicsofelectromagneticconductivityinseawater.Indeedwecaneasilyreplicateasalinesolutioncapableof equal conductivity;we can even put a fish in thatwater andmeasure howquickly it receives theelectrical impulses.Whatwecan’t re-create though,arethecomplexrelationshipsthatgivecontextandmeaningtothoseimpulses;onlythe livingOceancando that. In thenext chapterwe’ll dive into thedepthsoftime, to theveryoriginsof theOceanherself, butbeforewedo, let’s imaginewhatitwouldbeliketobecomepartofthelivingOcean.

BecomingWaterIfyoucan,findaplacebesidetheOcean,orariver,lakeoranybodyofwater.

Look into the water. Take a few slow, deep breaths and imagineyourselfshrinkingdowntoaninfinitesimallysmallbeingasyoudivein.Youaresosmallthateventhesingle-celledalgaefloatingpastseemlikegiants. You have become the smallest, lightest elemental being in theUniverse:ahydrogenatom.

Youfeellightandspaciousasifnothing,noteventhepressureofthewater,orgravityitself,canholdyou.Butsomehowyoufeelincomplete,likethebeginningofastory,withoutamiddleorend.Anirresistibleurgeto joinwithyourkincomesoveryouasyou’redrawn towardsanotherhydrogen atom. Embracing, you feel a great sense of peace andfulfilment,andyet,eventogetheryoustillfeelyourselvesfloatingthroughthewateryexpansetowardsthesurfaceandinfinitespacebeyond.

Justasyouareabout to leave thewateryrealmbehindyoufeelanintensepresence.Anoxygenatom,newlyliberatedfromitscarbonmateby the photosynthesising magic of a passing single-celled algae, ischarming itsway between you and your partner. You don’twant to beseparated,butevenso,youfeelatingleofexcitementastheoxygenatomsnugglesinbetweenyou.

You feel the weight of its presence holding you in place and yoursensesbecomealive toanewconsciousness that is somuchmore thanyoucouldhaveachievedseparately.Youarenowawatermolecule,theessence of life itself. Your newly expanded self is thrumming withpotential and you sense your ability tomovewith ease between liquid,gasandsolidstates.

In your current liquid state, another urge is building within yourhydrogen twins, who can’t resist the electrifying personalities of otheroxygenatomsinthewatermoleculesallaroundyou.Beforelongyoufindyourself connecting with your neighbours until you are completelycocoonedinawateryembrace.

Nested within your kindred community you feel connection uponconnectionflowinginalldirections,butyouarealsoawareofotherlifeforces moving within your expanded body; other elemental beings –magnesium,potassium,calcium,sulphate,iron–alladdingtheirunique

consciousness to your own.Gradually you start to feel the presence ofmuch larger beings, cellular andmulti-cellular forms, dancing throughyourbodyandfillingyoursenseswiththeirexuberance.Asyouvibratetothis living symphonyyou realise that togetheryouhavebecomepartofthelivingOcean.

2

ComingIntoBeingFordeepintheOcean,liesthefirstsecret.

The livingOcean is an evolutionary synthesis ofwater and life – four billionyears in the making. We experience her now as the vast interconnected andinterdependent being that profoundly affects our own existence, indeed thatmakes our existence possible.But howdid theOcean come into being?Whatwasthenatureofherbirth?Howdidlifestartatall?AndwhyintheOcean?Socomplex are these questions and so long ago did it all happen that allwe canreallydoismakeeducatedguessesaboutthedetails.However,weknowenoughto paint across the deep chasm of time with broad brush-strokes to tell asomewhatcoherentstory.

Oursolarsystemisaroundfivebillionyearsold,fullyathirdasoldastheUniverseherself.Earth,alongwiththeotherplanets,coalescedoutofanebularcloudofswirling,stellardust, leftbehindafterasupernovaexplosionthatalsogave birth to our sun. Over hundreds of millions of years, tiny stellar dustparticlescametogetherintolargerandlargerclumpsthateventuallyformedintomountain sized planetesimals, hurtling through space in increasingly definedgravitational orbits around our nascent sun. Time and time again theseplanetesimalscollidedwitheachother,eventuallyformingthefourinnerplanets(Mercury,Venus,EarthandMars).

The four outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn,Neptune andUranus) remained asgas giants, but the inner planets took on amore solid form.Aftermillions ofyears of this continual accretion, Earth coalesced into a molten cauldron ofliquidrocksurroundedbyswirlingcloudsofgas.About4.5billionyearsagoaMars-sizedplanetsmashedintoEarth,creatingamassivetsunamiofmoltenrockthat was thrust out into space. This circling ring of lava slowly cooled andeventually formed into our closest galactic neighbour, the moon. This wasperhapsthemostimportanteventinthelifeoftheyoungEarth,forwithoutthemooncirclingincloseconsortwithourplanet,theevolutionarystorythathasledtoyoureadingthesepageswouldhaveunfoldedinaverydifferentway.1

ThefirstimportanteffectofthiscataclysmiccollisionwastocreateatiltintheEarth’saxis,whichtothisdaygivesusourseasons.Themoon,whichwasmuchcloser then,alsoacted toslowandstabiliseEarth’s rotation, lengtheningthedaysandprovidingagravitationalcounterbalancetothepullofthesun.Themoon’sgravitationaldancewithEarthiscriticaltoourOceanstory,asitistheprimary driver of the daily ebb and flow of tides. Although we don’t knowexactlyhowbigthetidesmayhavebeenwhenthemoonwassomuchclosertoEarth, it’scertain that theywouldhavedwarfedeven the largestking tidesweseetoday.2ThesemassivetideswouldhavecreatedsurgingrapidsandmassivewhirlpoolsastheOceanwasviolentlypulledfromonesideoftheplanettotheother.

There aremany other critical factors that allowedEarth to flourish as theOceanplanetandcradleof life inour solar system.Fora start, itwas just therightdistance from the sun to allowwater to stay in liquid form,and itsmasscreatedjustenoughgravitytoholdthatwater–alongwiththeatmosphere–inaclose embrace. Even the other planets helped the infant Earth by contributingtheir gravitational forces to the overall mix of emergent stability as the solarsystemevolved.So, the conditionswere just right forourOcean to come intobeing,butwheredidallthatwatercomefrominthefirstplace?

IntheBeginningThereWasJustWaterWater is abundant in our solar system but much of it is locked up in frozencomets, asteroids and meteors. Water molecules were present in the nebularcloudthatformedoursolarsystemandatleastsomeofthemwouldhavebeendrawnintotheEarth,mixingwiththedustparticlesastheyformedintorock.It’sestimated that there may be as much as five to ten ocean’s worth of waterlocked-up in themantle, below theEarth’s crust. So it seemsmost likely thatEarth’swaterisamixtureofthisembeddedwater,out-gassedovertimethroughvolcanic activity, and galactic water delivered from comets, asteroids andmeteors colliding with the young Earth.3 Just how much water came fromgalactic bombardment is unclear, but even two or three large asteroidswoulddeliveranOcean’sworth.

For the first fewhundredmillionyearsEarthwas ina tumultuousstateasviolentvolcaniceruptionsspewedmoltenlava,gascloudsandwatervapourintothe atmospherewhilemeteors and comets bombarded the surface.During thisperiodtherewereprobablyseveralepisodesofliquidwaterforming,onlytobevaporised back into the atmosphere, before the Earth cooled enough for theliquid water to finally remain permanently. By four billion years ago, at thebeginning of the Archean Eon, most of the planet’s surface was covered bywater,withperhapsasmuchastwicethevolumeastheOceantoday.4

Thescenewouldbecompletelyunfamiliartous.Therewerenocontinentallandmasses:theonlydrylandwouldhavebeenvolcanicislandsrisingabovethesurface. Thiswaterworld and the sky abovewould have looked like an alienplanet fromsomescience fiction fantasy.Huesofpinkandorange, createdbythehydrogensulphideladenatmosphere,wouldhavepaintedthewaterinshadesofbrown;andnomatterwhereandhowwelookedtherewouldbenosignsoflife.

Butbelow the surfaceamost importantgeologicalprocesswasalready inmotion.Thenewlyformedcrustcoveringthemantleofmolten,viscousmagmawas constantly being remelted and reformed as the young Earth continued toslowlycool.Slowly,therockmakinguptheEarth’scrustseparatedintoheavy,densebasaltandlighter,lessdensegranite,whichwasabletofloathigheronthemoltenseaofmagma.Asthisgranitebuiltupoverhundredsofmillionsofyearsthe continents slowly formed until they finally reached their current landmasssome2.5billionyearsago.5

Earth’s crust was now differentiated into the lighter but thicker granite

continental landmasses,and theheavier,but thinnerbasaltof thesea floor.Onaverage the oceanic basalt crust is four to ten kilometres thick, while thecontinentalgranitecrustis30to40kilometresthick.Thismeansthattheoceaniccrustisrecycledverymuchfasterintothemantlethanthegranite.Thisrecyclingprocesscontinuestothisdayintheformofplatetectonicsandinfact,it isthelubricatingqualitiesofwater thatkeepthetectonicplates inperpetualmotion.6Withoutplate tectonicsEarthwouldbeunrecognisable andas lifeless asMarsappearstobe,whosecrustfusedintoasingleencirclingskineonsago.ButEarthdoeshaveplatetectonicsandit’satthesesub-marinemeetingpoints,wheretheoceanic crusts are in a continual state of creative renewal, that wemay get aglimpseoftheOcean’sfirstsecret:thebeginningoflifeitself.

LifeBeginsI felt the full breadth and depth of the ocean around the sphere of theEarth, back billions of years to the beginning of life, across all thepassing lives and deaths, the endlesswaves of swimming joy and quietlosses of exquisite creatureswith fins and fronds, tentacles andwings,colourful and transparent, tiny and huge, coming and going. There isnothingtheoceanhasnotseen.

–SallyAndrew(2009)TheFireDogsofClimateChange:AnInspirationalCalltoAction.

Deep below the Ocean’s surface the mysterious alchemy of life’s beginningsmay still be playing out, in the same way it did some 3.9 billion years ago.Along the mid-ocean ridges, where the Ocean crust is continually emerginganew, high-pressure thermal vents spew out super-heated water loaded withlife’s essentialminerals.As this 400ºC elemental concoctionmeets theOceanand begins to cool, chemical reactions are created that have the potential tocohere intocreativeanddynamicpatternsofbehaviour.Usually thesepatternsare very short lived, lasting only as long as the chemical reaction that evokedthem;butatsomepointinthedistantpast,atleastoneofthesedynamicpatternspersistedwithsuchcoherencethatitwasabletodrawenergyintoitselfandusethatenergytomaintaincoherence.

Justhowthatcoherenceoccurredismysterious,butapotentialanswerliesin the newlydiscovered fourthphase ofwater. If you remember from the lastchapterthisinter-facial,orEZwater,formsaroundorganicmolecules,creatinganegatively charged, liquid crystalline skin around the molecule, while at thesame time sending positively charged hydronium ions into the surroundingwater.Multiple organicmolecules,with their negatively charged EZ skin, areattractedtotheinterveningpositivelychargedwater,bringingthemcloseenoughtoeachotherforthemtocohereintoacondensedmass.

Experiments carried out by scientists at the University ofWashington inSeattle,confirmedthatmoleculessurroundedbyaskinofEZwaterare indeedattracted to each other via the intervening, positively charged water, and thatthey do form condensedmasses (Figure 2.1).Based on this evidence it seemsquite possible that this physics-defying property of ‘living water’ may haveprovided thephysicalmechanismfor thechemicalsof life tocometogether. Ifso, thepotentialenergystoredin theEZwatermaywellhavesuppliedat least

the initial energy needed to prolong coherence.7 Thus the first and mostfundamentalaspectoflifemayhavecomeintobeing–theabilitytorenewandmaintainitselfbymetabolisingenergy.8

Figure2.1OrganicmoleculessurroundedbyaskinofnegativelychargedEZwateraredrawntogetherviatheinterveningpositivelychargedbulkwater.(ImagecourtesyofProfessorGeraldPollack,©EbnerandSons/GeraldPollack)

Chileanbiologist,HumbertoMaturana,callsthismetabolicmiracle,autopoiesis,whichliterallymeansself-making.Autopoiesis isdefinedas:‘aselforganisingsystem capable of sustaining itself through a network of reactions thatcontinuallyregenerateitscomponents,withinaboundaryofitsownmaking’.9Acell is a perfect example of an autopoietic system:within the boundary of itsself-made,permeablemembrane, itsustains itselfbyabsorbingenergyfromitssurroundingsandusingthatenergytoregenerateitsinternalstructure.

Through autopoiesis it was only a matter of time before one of thesechemical beings became a biological being. Perhaps from an oily droplet ofcomplex carbon compounds, autopoiesis worked its metabolic magic andbrought forth the first membrane-encased bacterial cell.We’ll probably neverknowtheexactdetails,butoncebacteriallifehadbeguninthewaterydepthsoftheArcheanOcean,therewasnoturningback.Evenso,itwouldtakehundredsofmillionsofyearsbeforelifebecameamajorplayerinplanetaryaffairs.

These first hardy bacteria dined on a rich soup of organicmolecules andsulphides. Very early on some of them started producing methane as a by-productof theirmetabolism.Thiswascritical, asmethane is apowerfulgreenhouse gas and its accumulation in the atmosphere kept the early Earth warmenoughtostoptheOceanfromfreezingovercompletelyand‘snuffingout’lifejust as it was beginning. Another early innovation involved using the sun’senergy to break down hydrogen sulphide into sulphates. This was a hugelyimportantprecursortoperhapsthemoststunningandinfluentialinnovationlifehaseverachieved;themagicofoxygen-producingphotosynthesis.10

The infant Ocean and the atmosphere above were almost completelyoxygen-free. This was critical because if oxygen were present it would have

interferedwiththeessentialchemicalreactionsthatbrought-forthlifeinthefirstplace. It can’t have taken long however, for the early bacteria to exhaust theavailableorganicchemicalgoodiesandneedanewenergysourcetopowertheirmetabolism.Thechallengewastakenupbyaninnovativegroupofbacteriawhoevolvedtheabilitytousethesun’senergytobreakthestrongelementalbondsbinding oxygen to hydrogen in water molecules. Using this new style ofphotosynthesis theycombinedthecarbonandhydrogenatomstomakefoodaswell as manufacturing cellular structures including DNA. The by-product oftheirautopoeticmetabolismwasoxygen.11

These talented innovators are cyanobacteria - named for their blue-greencolouration - and over millions of years they populated the sunlit Oceanshallows.CyanobacteriaaretheancestorsofallmodernphotosynthesisersintheOceanandon land, andeven today theyare abundant. In fact, recent researchshowsthatcyanobacteriaarestillthedominantphotosynthesisersinthenutrient-poortropicalareasoftheOcean.12

To startwith, any free oxygenwas immediately sequestered by oxidisingagents in the Ocean such as iron and sulphur, but over time vast colonies ofcyanobacteriastartedtoproducemoreoxygenthancouldbeabsorbed.Byabout3.5billionyearsagothereisevidenceoflocalaccumulationofoxygenand200millionyearslaterthereweretraceamountsofoxygengas(O2)insedimentsandintheatmosphere.13

As continental landmasses started to develop, the cyanobacteria tookadvantage of the shallow continental slopes to build solid platforms onwhichthey could bask in the light of the young sun. Over millions of years theysecretedcarbonateskeletons,buildingupmassivestructuresthatsupportedothertypes of bacteria, creating complexmicrobial communities that thrived in thesun-drenched shallows. Known as stromatolites, these were the first barrierreefs, billions of years before our familiar coral reefs existed. Livingstromatolites still exist in a few locations, such as Shark Bay in WesternAustralia, where they continue their traditional livelihood, unchanged almostsincelifebegan(Figure2.2).

Figure2.2Stromatolites,suchastheseinSharkBay,WesternAustralia,representavisible,livinglinktotheArcheanOcean.(Image:dreamstime)

James Lovelock speculates that Gaia as a living, planetary system didn’tmanifestuntilbacteriacoveredmostoftheplanet.14Ifthisisso,thenthatslowawakening took its first tentative steps at life’s beginning nearly four billionyears ago somewhere in the Ocean. For the next billion years or so, thecyanobacteriaruledtheplanetandquietlywentaboutthebusinessofco-creatingaliving,breathingOcean.AsthelivingOceanawakenedGaiabecamepossible.

TheGreatOxidationEventThe runaway success of photosynthesis created the first life-inducedenvironmental crisis. Over a relatively short – 150 million year period –cyanobacteriabecamesoprolificthattheyoxygenatedthetoplayeroftheOceanas well as the atmosphere. Not only was oxygen lethal to some of the otherbacteria,butalsothenewoxygengas(O2)readilyreactedwiththemethanegasintheatmosphere,reducingthegreenhouseeffectdramatically.Evenbeforethecyanobacteriahadachancetoconsumetheremainingcarbondioxide,Gaiawasplungedintoasevere iceagethatmayhavelastedformillionsofyearsbeforeshemanagedtosteadyherself.15

With ice covering vast areas of the planet’s surface, more of the sun’swarmthwasreflectedbackintospace,coolingtheplanetevenfurther.Ifthishadcarried on, Earth might have frozen permanently. Luckily, some areas of theOceanremainedice-free,whilevolcanicactivityintroducedmorecarbondioxideintotheatmosphere.

Slowly the living Ocean reached a happy balance, with thephotosynthesisersmetabolising carbon dioxide to produce oxygen, andmyriadotherbacteria feedingon thedecomposingorganic leftovers,producingcarbondioxideandmethane.16Thiswasself-regulationonagrandscale!TheOceanasalivingsystemhadsurvivedherfirstbigtest,andnowthestagewassetforanevolutionarymasterstrokethatwouldeventuallyleadtothestaggeringdiversityoftoday’sOcean,andindeedallmulti-cellularlifeontheplanet.

EvolvingOceanThe first two billion years of the livingOcean belonged to the bacteria; whorepresentthefirst‘KingdomofLife’.ThesecondKingdomemergedoutofthebacterialequivalentofamarriageofconvenience,somewherebetweentwoand1.7 billion years ago, during the Proterozoic Eon, which stretched from 2.5billionto542millionyearsago.Fromthe‘bacteriaeatbacteria’wateryjungle,asortofbenigncannibalismemerged thateventually lead tomutuallybeneficialsymbiosis. Through multiple mergings a new kind of cell evolved, theeukaryotic,ornucleatedcell,whichincorporatedthevariousskillsandtalentsofindividualbacteriawithinitsexpandedbody.17TheevolutionofeukaryoticcellsusheredinthesecondKingdomofLife:protoctista,meaning‘firstbeings’.

These free-swimming organismswere responsible for the development ofsomeoflife’smorefamiliarinnovationssuchassexualreproduction,speciationand even aging anddying.Somewould later goon to become the other threeKingdomsoflife-theanimals,fungiandplants.Foratleastabillionyearstheprotoctists concerned themselves with exploring their own creative potential,diversifyingintoastunningarrayofplanktonicbeingsthatcarpetedthesurfaceof the living Ocean, gently re-organising the chemical makeup of the entireplanet. Others took up a more sedentary life, inhabiting the Ocean floor andfeastingonthecontinualorganicsmorgasbordofdeadbodiesrainingdownfromabove–recyclingonagrandscale.Alllifetodayiseitherprokaryotic(bacteriaandAchaea) or eukaryotic (plants, animals, fungi and protoctists) butwithoutthesymbioticbacterialivinginoureukaryoticcellsnoneofuswouldbehere.Infact,wearetheresultofthegreatestactofcoordinationandcooperationlifehaseverseen.

Todaytherearethousands,perhapsmillionsofspeciesofOceanprotoctists.Just like the bacterial kingdom, the protoctists includeboth primaryproducers(the photosynthesisers) and consumers: those that eat the primary producersand/orotherconsumers.Mostofthemarefartoosmallforustoseeunaided,butwiththehelpofamicroscopeaworldofunparalleledbeautyandintricatedesignis revealed. From the photosynthesising diatoms, coccolithophores anddinoflagellates, to consumers such as the radiolarians and foraminifera, thesetiny beings join the bacteria at the very foundation of the Ocean as a livingpresence(Figure2.3).

Figure2.3Representativeprotoctists,showingtheinternalstructureofA:DiatomThalassiosiraferelineata(Jouse),B:CoccolithophoreWatznaueriabarnesae(BlackinBlackandBarnes,1959)Perch-Nielsen,1968,C:RadiolarianElphidiummacellum(FichtelandMoll),D:ForaminiferaPterocaniumpraetaxum(Ehrenberg).(AllimagescourtesyofUniversityCollegeLondonMicropalaeontologyUnithttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/micropal/index.html

We’llrevisitthemwhenweexploretheplanktonicsurfacelayeroftheOceaninChapter5,butfornow,there’soneotherveryimportantpointtomakeabouttheprotoctista kingdom. Not only did it revolutionise single-celled life with thedevelopmentoftheeukaryoticcell,butitalsointroducedmulti-cellularlifeintothe evolutionarymix. In the primordial shallows, perhaps as long as ago as abillion years, the first tentative multi-cellular life forms appeared.18 What wenowcallseaweedstarteditsswayingdanceintothefuture.Alloftoday’salgae,from the microscopic phytoplankton to the giant kelp forests, are in fact notplantsatallbutthemoderndescendantsofthoseearlyprotoctists.

AsIsnorkeloutfromabeachinSouthWestDevon,EnglandIcanseevastmatsofkelpandseaweedslowlyundulatingbackandforthinthegentleAtlanticswell.DivingdownIfindaclearpatchofsandamongsttheancientrockyreefs,whereIcanfloatateyeleveltothisswayingforestoflife.WhilemybreathlastsIcaressthebroadrubberyfrondsofkelp,withtheirroot-likeholdfastsclingingtenaciously to the rocks, and gently squeeze themore cylindrical, sponge-likebranchesoftheseaweedsstretchingtowardsthesurface(Figure2.4).

Figure2.4Theextraordinarykelpandseaweedgardensofthesouth-westernDevoncoastinEngland.

Thecreativeexuberanceofshape,colour,textureandmovementismesmerisingandit’sonlymyachinglungsthatforcemebacktothesurface.AssoonasIgetmybreath back I dive down again, for here amongst this swayingmass I canexperience a tangible, visible link to the very first multi-cellular beings largeenough tobe seenwith thenakedeye. Ifwecould somehowdive700millionyearsback in time,wemightglimpseancientkelpsandseaweeds,notentirelydissimilartotheOceanforestsoftoday.

KingdomoftheAnimalsAs we’ve seen, the first two Kingdoms of Life toiled for three billion years,creating, refiningandmaintaininga livinghomefor themselves;but theywerealsoputtingthebuildingblocksinplaceforanexplosionofcreativeexpansion.Thesecretingredientthattooklifefromprimordialsouptoextravagantbanquetwas oxygen, or more precisely, oxygen gas (O2). Only in a living, breathingOceancouldthishavebeenachieved.Sometimearound700to800millionyearsago,longbeforetheso-calledCambrianExplosionofhard-bodiedanimalsthatproduced such a treasure trove of fossils, life was undergoing its next majormetamorphosisthatwouldgivebirthtoourownanimalkingdom.

In theEdiacaraHills in southernAustralia, fossil remainsofbizarre, soft-bodiedbeingspreserved in650millionyearoldsandstone,maywell representlife’s first foray into an animal way of being. These Ediacaran beings weremobile jelly-like organisms inhabiting shallow sunlit waters. Most wereprobablymulti-cellularprotoctists,harvestingthesunlight,orfeedingonfloatingbacterialpastures.19Butit’sherethatsomeofthefundamentalaspectsofbeinganimal may have emerged, including the adoption of the sperm/egg way ofreproducing and a distinctively ‘animal’ approach to embryonic development.So, rather than the sudden arrival suggested by the Cambrian Explosion, theanimal way of being evolved slowly through a creative exploration of life’spossibilitiesinasupportivelivingenvironment.Theancientancestorsoftoday’sctenophores–combjellies–mayhavebeenamongsttheseearliestofanimals.20

Thefirstdefinitivefossilrecordsofearlyanimallifedateback635millionyears, where there is clear evidence of abundant and continuous presence ofspongesinthesaltybasinsofTheSultanateofOman.21Spongesarethemostun-animal-likeanimalsimaginable!Theyaresimplesouls,withonlyafewdifferentcell types taking care of all their needs, from physical form to feeding andreproduction. Yet they have persisted and prospered through time, survivingviolentgeologicalupheavals,numerousiceages,evenmassivemeteorimpacts.Thefivegreatmassextinctionspassedthembywithhardlyaraisedspicule(theexquisite,interlacedglass-likefibrestheycraftfromsilicaorcalcite)andtodaythey inhabit allOcean realms, fromshallow tropical reefs to frozenpolar seasand deep Ocean trenches. They are the Buddhas of the Ocean: less is more.RespectedGaianscientist,TimLenton,suggeststhattheymayhaveevenhelpedoxygenate the deep Ocean through their filtering lifestyle, thereby setting thesceneformorecomplexbeingstoevolve.22

FromthesehumblebeginningstheanimalKingdomveryquicklyblossomedintoaperiodofcreativeenergy,thelikesofwhichhadneverbeforebeenseen.By the time of theCambrian Explosion, 540million years ago, fossil recordscontainexamplesofvirtuallyeverymajoranimalgroupweseetoday,aswellasmany that didn’t make it. One hugely successful group brought forth by thisevolutionaryspikewasthearthropods.Withtheirexternalskeletonandjointedlegs they thrived and diversified. Crabs, lobsters and shrimps are their livingdescendants in the Ocean, but they also spread on to the land in the form ofspidersandotherinsects.

Around this time appearances were made by the first ancestors of ourmoderncnidarians:jellyfish,anemonesandcorals,aswellastheechinoderms:starfish,urchinsandseacucumbersandalso thecephalopods: squid,cuttlefishand octopus. The first vertebrates, animals with backbones, also appeared,probablyresemblingmoderndayhagfishoreels.23

Of the creatures that didn’tmake it, perhaps the trilobites best exemplifythisperiodofevolutionarycreativity.NeverbeforehadtheOceanseenanythingremotelylikethesearmour-platedcreaturesscuttlingacrossthebottominsearchofeasymeals.But theirarticulatedbodyarmourandornatelyadornedhelmetsweren’t just for looks; this was also the period when predators capable ofswallowinglargepreyevolved.Overthenext100millionyearsorso,theOceanbecamea cosmopolitan andcomplexwebof lifestyles that laid the foundationforthediversityoflifepresentintheOceantoday.However,towardstheendofthisperiodmanybeingsbesidesthetrilobites‘fellbythewayside’,possiblyasaresultofatemporarydropintheamountofoxygenintheocean.24

Despitethesesetbackslifecontinuedtodiversify.Around460millionyearsagofishdividedintotwomajorgroups:thebonyfishwithahardskeleton,andthecartilaginousfishwithsofterskeletonsmadeofcartilage.Thecartilaginousgroupwouldeventuallydevelopintothesharksandraysoftoday’sOcean.Some20millionyearslaterthebonyfishagainsplitintotwomajorgroups:thelobe-finned fishwith bones in their fleshy fins, and the ray-finned fishwith softercartilage in their fins. The ray-finned fish are the direct ancestors of mostmodern fish species while the lobe-finned fish would go on to evolve intoamphibians,reptiles,birdsandmammals.Inawonderfulevolutionarytwistonegroupoflobe-finnedfish,thecoelacanthsdivergedfromtherestofthelobe-finsaround425millionyearsagoandhaveremainedvirtuallyunchangedtothisday(Figure2.5).TheyaretheoldestknownlivingfossilspeciesintheOcean.25

Figure 2.5 The coelacanth is a member of the lobe-finned fish group that eventually evolved intoamphibians,reptiles,birdsandmammals.Theyaretheoldestknownlivingexampleoflobe-finnedfish.(Image:iStock)

UnsteadyProgressAfterthreebillionyearsoflife’sevolutionintheOceanthescenewasfinallysetfor substantial colonisationof the land.By400millionyears agomuchof thelandwascoveredinforest,andfinallyterrestriallifecouldgivesomethingbacktotheOcean,intheformofevenmoreoxygentodissolveintoherfluidbody.Foranother150millionyearslifeflourished.Coralreefscameintobeing,sharksandotherlargepredatorsprosperedandmarinereptilesincludingturtlesroamedfar andwide.Amongst the sediment anunparalleleddiversityof crawling andburrowing creatures continually recycled nutrients raining down from thesurface.

Then, 250 million years ago the largest mass extinction Gaia has everexperiencedwipedoutmorethan95percentofOceanlifeandtwothirdsoflifeonland.JustwhatcausedthiscataclysmiceventattheendofthePermianPeriodisn’t fullyunderstood,but it coincidedwitha timeof intensevolcanicactivitythatspewedforthtwomillioncubickilometresofmolten,basaltrockoverwhatis nowSiberia.Massive amountsof carbondioxidewere released into the air,initiatingawarmingphase thatbroughtGaiaoutofastableglacialperiod thathadlastedatleast60millionyears.Recentresearchsuggeststhismayhaveledtoadropinoxygenlevels in thedeepOcean,causingthereleaseofpoisonoushydrogensulphidegas.Thismayhavebeenduetoacombinationofthewarmerwater holding less dissolved oxygen, and an increase in hydrogen sulphideproductionbythebacterialdecompositionofmassiveplanktonblooms,triggeredby thewarmer conditions.26All of thisdramacoincidedwith thebeginningofthebreakupofPangea,theplanet’smostrecentsupercontinent.

ThePermianExtinctionwas the biggest of fivemass extinction events tobefall Gaia. The next largest, theCretaceous, 65 million years ago, not onlywiped out the dinosaurs, but also decimated the vastmajority of the Ocean’splanktonspecies.What’ssurprisingis that lifebouncedbackrelativelyquicklyaftereachoftheseextinctionepisodes.Notonlydidliferecover;itdidsowithrenewedvigouranddiversity.TheOceanbecametheplaceofgiants:predatorysharksthreetimesthesizeoftoday’sbiggestgreatwhitespatrolledtheMioceneseasupuntilfivemillionyearsago;enormoussquid;fiercespermwhaleswithteeththreetimesthesizeof today’sspermwhales;andmassivepredatoryfish,allattesttoanOceanatleastasproductiveastodays.27

Wenowenter theevolutionary recentpastand the ‘coming intobeing’oftoday’sOcean.By30millionyearsagomoderncetaceans-whales,dolphinsand

porpoises-hadevolvedandsplit into their twodistinctgroups, themysticetes:thosewhales that filter krill and small fish through comb-like baleen, and theodontocetes:allthetoothedwhalesincludingthesmallerdolphinsandporpoises.TheOceanstartedfillingwithallthefamiliarfishfamiliesweknowtoday;thecoral reefs and other shallow habitats took on their modern kaleidoscope ofcolour and form; the open Ocean thrummed to the pulse of mega-schools ofbaitfish, hunting tuna, sailfish and sharks, one and all supported by theuncountable,microscopic descendents of those first intrepid explorers of life’spotential. The old and the new enmeshed in an evolutionary expression ofcomplex vibrancy nearly four billion years in themaking and still in progresstoday.ThisisthelivingOceanthatgreetedourancestorsastheyspreadoutfromthesavannahanddiscoveredtheboundlessshoreabout130,000yearsago28.

PhysicalTransformationButwhatoftheOcean’sliquidbody?Overallthistime,stretchingbackalmostto theverybeginningofPlanetEarth, theOceanhasbeenaconstantpresence.Andyet,justlikeherever-changingsurface,herliquidbodyseemstohavebeeninastateofconstant,slowmotionchange.We’veseenthatshemayhavestartedwithasmuchastwicethevolumeshehasnow.Inherearlyyearstherewerenocontinents to interrupthercontinuity,noshores tobreakherwind-bornwaves,exceptonthosefewvolcanicislands.ShehadtobidehertimewhiledeepbelowhersurfacetheEarth’smolteninteriorslowlyformedcontinentallandmassestokeephercompany.

For the past 2.5 billionyears these landmasses havebeenon a ponderousjourneyof theirown,comingtogetherassupercontinents,onlytoslowlybreakapart time and again.Themost recent of these great supercontinents (Pangea)formed around 270 million years ago with the coming together of ancientGondwanaland–Antarctica,AustraliaandtheIndiansub-continent–andmostofwhatisnowEurope,theAmericasandAfrica.ButalmostassoonasPangeahad formed, the ever-moving tectonic plates forced a slow, inexorableseparation.

FirstAfricaandtheAmericasmovedapart, formingwhatwenowcall theSouthAtlanticaround180to140millionyearsago.Notlongafter,Indiadriftedaway fromAntarctica and Australia, creating the Indian Ocean. Between 100and80millionyearsagoNorthAmericaandEuropeseparatedtoformtheNorthAtlantic, while at about the same timeAustralia drifted north, andAntarcticaheaded south, putting the finishing touches towhatwe now call the SouthernOcean. Of course the continental movements didn’t stop there. A mere 50million years ago India, having broken her long embrace with Madagascar,collided head-on with Eurasia with such force that the Himalayan mountainswere thrust skyward. The vast expanse of the Ocean’s body not bounded bythesenewlyformedcontinentsisofcoursethegreatPacific.

And still the tectonic plates continue their water-lubricated, sliding dancewith each other. Today the continents are coming together again.Already thecontinental slopesofNorthAfrica andSouthernEuropehavebegun to collideandtheAustralianplateiscollidingwithSouthEastAsia.Inanother50millionyearsorso,Africa,AustraliaandEurasiawillbecomethenextsupercontinent.29

Whileallthiscontinentaldramawasplayingout,theOceanwascontinuallyadjusting her response to the ever-changing landscape. Her never ending

sculptingofemergingshorelines,eithermovingfurtherinlandorrecedingdowncontinentalshelves,dependedonhowmuchherliquidbodywaswarmedbythesun, or morphed into solid ice during the numerous glacial and interglacialperiods.Whatwecallsealevelhasalwaysbeenafluiddancebetweenlandandsea,whichatleastinpart,ischoreographedbytheclimate-controllinginfluenceof the Ocean’s own abundant life-force. Of course, human induced climatechangeisnowplayinganotinsignificantroleinthissealeveldance,butwe’llleavethatforalaterdiscussion.

OfmostinteresttoourlivingOceanstorynow,ishowhergreatbodymovesaround the various landmasses, and indeed how she circulates, distributes andregulates all the vital ingredients for life throughout her vast expanse.Respiration, circulation andmetabolism are key processes in any living body.Theyarefundamentalaspectsofphysiology,commontoalllivingbeingssoit’sentirely appropriate (although perhaps unconventional) to consider theseprocessesof the livingOcean in thesameway.This isnot todeny thecriticalimportanceofexternalphysicalandgeologicalprocesses.Butasweshallseeinthe coming chapters, life weaves its influential way through these primarilygeophysical processes, transforming them into the dynamic, responsive, self-regulatingandself-sustainingphysiologyofthelivingOcean.So,let’snowturnourattentiontoOceanphysiology.

3

Respiration:TheOcean’sBreathWith every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’reconnectedtothesea.NomatterwhereonEarthyoulive.

–SylviaEarleTheOcean’sbreath.Howcanweimaginesuchavastprocess?Perhapswecanstartbyfocusingonourownbreathingforamoment.Asyoubreathein,imaginethelife-givingoxygenflowingintoyourbodyfromeverypartofGaia’satmosphere.Pauseforamoment.SavourthefeelingofGaia’spresencewithinyou.Asyoubreatheout,imagineyourbreathreachingoutintohervastness,connectingyouwithallotherlife.Youarenolongerapartfromthislivingatmosphere,butratheryouareapartofit,youareinitjustasitisin

you.

TheOcean and the atmosphere enjoy the samekind of relationship.Theyareineachother,theirbreathminglinginabondofperpetualrenewal.Aswe’llsee,theboundarybetweenthesurfaceandtheatmosphereaboveisonlyaverysmall part of the story. In truth, the Ocean’s watery breath permeates theatmosphere for thousands of metres, while the atmosphere can’t resist theOcean’s invitation to spread its molecular consciousness throughout her vastbody.It’sthisminglingofbreaththatwearegoingtoexplore.

TheOcean’sbreath is the storyof the relationshipbetweenwater andair,liquidandgas.Butit’smuchmorethanjustastoryaboutchemistryandphysics;rather, it’s the storyofhow life interactswith thesechemo-physicalprocesses,workingwiththem,sothatlikeaskilledcraftsmanworkinginharmonywiththerawmaterial, something beautiful, functional and life enhancing emerges. It’sworth reminding ourselves that the Ocean and atmosphere only exist in theircurrentstatebecausetheyareasingle,interconnectedlivingprocess,ratherthanjustthebackdroptolife.

Before we start our journey it’s important to acknowledge and clarify acommonmisunderstandingaboutthetermrespiration.Eventhoughwethinkofbreathingasrespiration,thetermonlyreferstothechemicalprocessofreleasingthestoredglucoseenergyinanorganism’scells.Breathingisinfacta‘threeact

play’:inhalation,respirationandexhalation.Theinhalationsimplyprovidestheoxygennecessarytofacilitatetherespirationprocess,andtheexhalationreleasestheresultingcarbondioxideandwatervapour-weonlyhavetobreathoutonacolddaytoseethewatervapourinourbreath.Sointhischapterwearegoingtostretch our use of the term respiration even further as we celebrate the‘breathing’Ocean.

AirAir:21percentoxygen,78percentnitrogen-andabout1percentcomprisedofothertraceelements,includingamere0.04percentcarbondioxide.Howeasilywecanreducethebreathoflifetoafewdispassionatenumbers,andyet,hiddenbehindthosenumbers isavastlycomplexsymphonyof livinginteractions thatarequitesimply‘breathtaking’.Let’sexplorealittleofhowtheOceanbreathesnewlifeintotheairaroundus.

TodaytheOceanprovidesabouthalftheoxygenintheatmospherethroughthe respiration of countless photosynthetic beings. As we learned in the lastchapter, photosynthesis was first championed long ago by ancestralcyanobacteria,andeventodaytheyaccountforasignificantpercentageoftheairwe breathe. Over time, they were joined by the protoctists who eventuallyevolvedintothemicroscopicfloatingalgae–thephytoplankton–aswellasthekelpsandseaweeds.Together theyare the lungsof theOcean’s sunlit surface,inhaling carbon dioxide (CO2) and exhaling oxygen gas (O2) through themiraculousbiochemicalalchemythatisphotosynthesis.

Let’s just take a moment to pay homage to this gift of life the Oceanbestowsuponus,byjoiningoneofherphotosynthesisingchampionsasitgoesaboutitsdailyroutine.AllowmetointroduceThalassiosiraferelineata,justoneof the many thousands of marine diatom species (Figure 3.1). Thalassiosiraferelineata is a microscopic, single-celled algal being with an exquisite silicaskeleton protecting its internal organelles. One of these organelles - thechloroplast - itselfadescendantofoncefreeswimmingcyanobacteria, iswhatactuallydoesthephotosynthesising.

Figure3.1Thalassiosiraferelineata.Size:30microns,(ImagecourtesyofUniversityCollege,London.http://www.ucl.ac.uk/GeolSci/micropal/diatom.html)

Withinthechloroplastresideamultitudeofgreenchlorophyllmolecules,alongwith some golden brown carotenoids, cousins to the orange beta carotene,whichgivescarrotsandpumpkinstheirvibrantcolour.Together,it’stheirjobtoabsorb photons from the sunlight and use that light energy to fuel thephotosynthesis process. Firstly, they split the passionatemarriage between thetwo hydrogen atoms and their oxygen lover in the water molecules flowingthrough the diatom’s latticed body.The bereft oxygen atom consoles itself bybonding to a fellow divorcee to create oxygen gas (O2), which the diatomreleases into theOcean.TheOceanof course, thenhappily shares her oxygenstorewiththeatmosphereabove.Thisisthephotopartofphotosynthesis.

The remaining light energy is used in the synthesising phase, a complexprocess in which carbon dioxide and the newly acquired hydrogen atoms areprocessedandtransformedintocarbohydrates,whicharethencombinedtomakeenergy-richglucosemolecules.Ourdynamicdiatomusesthissugaryglucosetofuel all themetabolic processeswithin its intricate silica body.1 It takes sixofthesecarbondioxide/hydrogenprocessestomakeasingleglucosemolecule,sofor every glucose molecule our tiny diatom produces, it releases six oxygenmoleculesintothesurroundingOcean.

Without them, and all the other phytoplankton, not only would we beseverely short of oxygen, but we’d also be in grave danger of overheatingthroughexcesscarbondioxideintheatmosphere.AndtheOceanherselfwouldalso be bereft of themost fundamental part of her entiremetabolism becausephytoplanktonare theprimaryproducersonwhich thewholeOcean foodwebdepends.As if that isn’t enough, they’re also responsible for processing hugequantities of other essential life ingredients such as nitrogen, sulphur,phosphorousand iron.We’ll explore this furtherwhenwe lookat theOcean’smetabolism, but for now let’s just breathe and give thanks to the humblephotosynthesisersofthelivingOcean.

And as you breathe in remember that respiration is a two-way action.Without the in-breath there can be no out-breath. Without the rest of life’scombinedexhalationofcarbondioxidetherewouldbeagraveshortageofCO2

for the phytoplankton to ‘inhale’. Respiration is in essence, recycling. Tomaintain a healthy balance, more or less the same amount of CO2 must beexhaledbackintothebreathingcycle.2Andthisisexactlywhat’sachieved,onamassivescale.Butofcourse it’smuchmorecomplex thansimplybreathing inandout.

The Ocean, through all of her respiring animals, ‘breathes out’ hugequantities ofCO2,which helps to keep thewhole system in balance, ensuring

thatboththeOceanandatmospheredon’tbecomedepleted.However,there’satwist to this gassy tale. Every year about 500million tonnes of new carbondioxide is introduced into the system from volcanoes, organic decompositionandvariousothersources,excludinghuman-inducedones.SomehowthisextraCO2needstoberemovedfromthesystemtokeepitinbalance.TheOceanandher phytoplankton play a vital role in this balancing act, which has helped tokeepcarbondioxidelevelssteadyformillionsofyears.3

Wecannowseehowfundamentaltherespirationofcarbondioxideistothewholelifeprocess.WecanalsoseethatkeepingCO2levelsinadynamicsteadystateisalivingprocess.Ourownphysiologicalresponsetoabuildupofcarbondioxide in our body is to take a deep breath of the oxygen rich air. Thephotosynthesising Ocean responds by breathing more deeply of the CO2

dissolvedwithinherbody.Butlikeus,therearesomemetaboliclimitationsastohowdeeplyshecanbreathe.

WaterNow let’s turn our attention to the Ocean’s other respiratory medium: water.Perhaps thisconjuresup imagesof fish ‘breathing’ thewater,buteven thoughtheymightappeartobe,theyareofcourse,extractingtheoxygengasdissolvedinthewater.ButwhatwearereallyinterestedinhereistheroleoftheOcean’sbreathintheplanetarywatercycle,otherwiseknownasthehydrologicalcycle.

The hydrological cycle represents the movement of water between thevariouswater reservoirsofGaia: theocean;atmosphere; surfacewater; (in theformofrivers, lakesandgroundwater),alongwithall thefrozenwater lockedupinglaciersandicecaps.Asawayofconnectingtothewatercycle,justthinkofthewatervapourthatcondensesfromyourownout-breathoncoldmornings.Witheverybreath,weareallofus,involvedintheplanet’swatercycle,butit’sthelivingOceanthatdominatestheprocess.

BeforeweexploretheOcean’sphysiologyasitapplies to thewatercycle,it’sworthwhilegivingsomecontexttothescaleofherinvolvement.TheOceancontains a staggering 1.33 billion cubic kilometres (km3) of water, which isabout97percentofallthewateron,ornear,thesurfaceoftheplanet.Toputthatintosomesortofperspective,considerthatitwouldtakeapproximately400,000Olympicsizedswimmingpoolsjusttofillasinglecubickilometre!

Gaia’s freshwater reservesamount toaround38millioncubickilometres,almostallofiteitherfrozeninglaciersandicecaps,ordeepunderground,withless than 1 percent in lakes, rivers, swamps and soil. The atmosphere holdsaround13,000 to 15,000 cubic kilometres aswater vapour, at any given time.This is a tiny, but critical percentage ofGaia’s totalwater,whenwe considerhowimportantwatervapourisasagreenhousegas.

Nowlet’sconsiderthemovementofwaterbetweentheOcean,atmosphereandland.Inpurelyphysicalterms,thewatercycleispoweredbyheatfromthesun.As surfacewaterwarms, hugequantities evaporate into the atmosphere–around 500,000km3 annually.As thiswater vapour cools it condenses to formclouds and is then precipitated back to the surface as rain or snow.4 The vastmajorityofevaporationandprecipitationhappensover theOcean(Figure3.2),which isn’t surprising considering the Ocean covers so much of the planet’ssurface.Onlyabouttenpercentofherevaporatedbodymakeslandfall,butthat’senoughtoaccountfornearlyhalfoftheoverallprecipitationovertheland.Thiswater subsequently cycles through rivers, lakes, soil and groundwater until iteventually returns to theOceanas run-off.But the livingOceanplays amuchbigger role than this. In factwithouther influence, alongwith substantialhelp

fromallthegreenlifeonland,thewatercyclewouldbebutatrickle,andmostofGaia’slandmasseswouldbedeserts.

Figure3.2Thehydrologicalcycleincludesprecipitation,vapourtransport,evaporation,evapo-transpiration,infiltration,groundwaterflowandrun-off,butasthegraphicshows,theOceaninfluencesthevastmajorityofthecycle.Imagecredit:PhilippeRekacewicz,UNEP/GRID-Arendal.http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/the-water-cycle_171f

How does the living Ocean influence the water cycle? Well, initially bysupportingsuitableclimateconditionsinthefirstplace.Iftoomuchofthesun’sheatgetsthroughtotheOcean’ssurface,morewaterwouldbeevaporatedintotheatmosphere.Watervapourisapowerfulgreenhousegasinitsownright,sotoomuch of it in the atmosphere could lead to runaway global heating – thesame positive feedback loop that probably occurred on Venus. Conversely, iftherearen’tenoughothergreenhousegases tokeep thewarmth in,notenoughwaterwillevaporate,leadingtolessrainfall.We’vealreadytouchedonhowthelivingOceancontributestomaintainingcarbondioxideatoptimallevelsthroughher respiration, aswell as the biological carbonate pump, thatwe explored inChapter1.

Butthere’sanevenmoretantalisingrelationshipbetweentheOceanandtheatmosphere that really evokes the sense of life as one great interconnectedprocess,oneinwhichwecanliterallyseetheOceanbreathing itswaterybodyinto the atmosphere. All we need do to experience this, is to look up at thebillowingclouds,risingingreatcolumnsabovetheOcean.

Clouds are critical to maintaining global temperatures. High up in theatmosphere cirrus clouds restrict the loss of heat radiating from the planet’s

surface. Lower down, the cumulus and marine stratus use their dense whiteupper-sides to reflect enoughof the sun’s light back into space tokeep thingscomfortably cool. This reflective trick affects the albedo – reflectivity ofsurfaces–ofthewholeplanet,keepingtheglobalaveragetemperatureamassive4°centigrade cooler.5 But what has the living Ocean got to do with cloudformation,apartfromsupplyingthewatervapourinthefirstplace?

We know that water vapour rising off the sun-warmed Ocean condensesonceitreachesthecoolerair,hundredsofmetresabove.Butmeetingthecoldairaloneisn’tenoughforcloudstoform,asthewatermoleculesneedsomethingtocondense around.Wind-blown salt spray, surface organic particles, aswell asdustparticlesfromthelandprovideasubstantialpercentageofthesenucleatingparticles,butourhumblephytoplanktonalsoplayaroleinformingthebillowingcloudsthatriseabovetheOcean.Theyprovideanessentialingredient,thatnotonly contributes to the water cycle, rainfall and albedo, but also plays thestarringroleinoneoflife’sotheressentialprocesses;thesulphurcycle.

Themagic ingredient is an aromatic gas calleddimethyl sulphide (DMS);thetangyseaweedsmell,sofamiliartouswhenwevisitthebeachatlowtide,isthankstothesulphurinthisgas.DMSisproducedinhugequantitiesbyawiderange of algae, including the large seaweeds, but especially the very tinyphytoplanktonthatcongregateinmassivebloomsnearthesunlitsurface.Risinginto the air like an aromatic sigh,DMS is immediately seduced by that othergreat exhalation from the Ocean’s surface: oxygen. The resulting sulphateaerosolparticlesareirresistibletothesurroundingwatervapourmolecules,whocluster around them eagerly, and before long, dense marine stratus cloudsliterallymaterialiseoutofthinair!6

Butthisisjustthebeginningofwhatwemightcallalivingcloudstory.Aswatervapourcondensesintoclouds,itgiftssomeofitsaccumulatedwarmthintothesurroundingair.Thisactslikeaboosterpump,liftingthecloudsevenhigherinto the cold air above, where they ride the atmospheric thermal currents,sometimesforhundredsofkilometres.Eventuallythecondensedwatervapourinthecloudscoolstothepointwhereitbecomestooheavytoremainaloftandfallsbackthroughtheatmosphereasrain.

Thetenpercentofthesecloudsthatreleasetheirwateryloadovertheland,alsodepositthesulphurthathelpedthemforminthefirstplace.Thisisthemainsource of sulphur essential for terrestrial life,withoutwhichwe can’t producetheaminoacidsthatbuildproteinsinourcells.Wegetmostofoursulphurfromtheplantsweeat;theygetitfromtheraindeliveredbythecloudsthatbroughtitfrom the Ocean, via the combined effort of countless microscopic algae. TheOcean is a storehouse for sulphur and is continually resupplied by rivers,

deliveringfreshlyliberatedsulphurfromrockweathering,whichinturnreliesonthedissolvedcarbondioxidewithintheraindropsfallingfromthoseverysameclouds.

Let’sjustponderthisremarkableflowofinterconnectedrelationshipsforamoment.Without the cloud-forming, chemical artistry of phytoplankton in theOcean,terrestriallifeasweknowitwouldbeimpossible.Thewatercyclewouldbeseverelydisruptedandglobalclimatewouldberadicallyaffected.Thisisbutone,verysimplified,exampleofthecomplexwebofrelationshipsthatkeepourlivingplanetfunctioning.7Hopefullybynowit’sbecomingclearthatGaiaistheemergentevolutionarysynthesisofall theserelationships;alivingwholethat’smorethanjustthesumofherpartsandtheOceanasthelargestpart,isherselfanemergentwholewithinthegreaterwhole.

But why do the phytoplankton produce DMS in the first place? Whatpurposedoesitservethem?Surelythey’renotexpendingallthatenergyjustforthegreatergoodof thewholeplanet? Initial researchpointed toDMSbeingamere by-product of a more complex molecule dimethylsulphoniopropionate(DMSP) thatprotects the tinyalgae from thedehydratingeffectsof their saltyrealm.FurtherresearchshowedthatthealgaealsouseanenzymetobreakdownDMSP into DMS and acrylic acid, which acts as a foul tasting deterrent topredators.8 Both of these processes are obviously beneficial to the algae, butevolutionarybiologistskeptsearchingforanycluesthatwouldpointtoadirectbenefitfromDMSgasitself.Well,itturnsoutthattheremaybeadirectbenefittoourtinyunicellularalgae,andit’ssofantasticthatwecanbutwonderattheexquisitecreativityoflife.

For reasons thatwillbecomeclear in thenext twochapters,ourhordesofoxygen-producing, cloud-seeding, albedo-influencing phytoplankton canbecome victims of their own success. When conditions are right – plenty ofsunshine and abundant nutrients – they undergo phenomenal populationexplosions,resultinginmassivebloomscoveringhundredsofsquarekilometresof ocean. Unfortunately though, unless there is a continual supply of freshnutrients,theseenormousbloomsofproductivitycanquicklyturnintoa‘bloomandbust’forourintrepidheroes.

But like true heroes, instead of just giving up they takematters into theirownhands.Ifthenutrientswon’tcometothem,they’lljustcreatesomeclouds,hitcharideandsurftheskiesinsearchofricherwaters!Asimplausibleasthissounds,itseemsthatthismayindeedbeareality.

Whennutrientsreachacriticallevel,abloom-widechemicalconversionofDMSP into acrylic acid andDMS is triggered, resulting in a rapid release ofhuge plumes of DMS into the air above the bloom. Water vapour quickly

condenses around the resulting sulphate particles, creating massive, denseclouds. Remember that as water vapour condenses it gifts some of its storedenergyasheat,causingthecloudstorise.Airbeneaththecloudsissuckedup,creatinganupdraftstrongenoughtocarrythetinyphytoplanktonwithit.

Onceintheclouds,theanti-freezepropertiesoftheremainingDMSPwithinthealgae’scellprotectsitfromtheintensecold,sothattheycanremainaloftfordays.Eventually thewater vapour condenses back into a liquid phase and thealgaearereturnedtotheOceanwithinfallingraindrops.Ifthey’reluckythey’llendupinapatchofOceanwithabundantnutrientsandbeabletocarryontheirheroicwork.9

Consideringthatthereareatleast600millionyearsofevolutionaryhistorybehind many of today’s phytoplankton species, it would appear that it’s astrategy thatworks.And it seems they can successfully travel great distances.Scientists working in Antarctica collected algae from an air mass that hadtravelled1,500kmfromSouthAmerica.10

Next time you’re out on the Ocean or near the coast, look up at thebillowingcloudsandgivethankstothehumblephytoplankton.Theymightjustbe‘lookingdown’onyoufromwithintheOcean’svisible‘breathinthesky’.

Nowlet’s finishourexplorationof theOcean’s respiration,by joiningouralgalheroes,thecoccolithophores,onajourneyintotheclouds.

BreathingtheOceanImagineyourselfasatinycoccolithophore,floatingserenelyinthesunlitOcean. Inside your single cell’s chloroplast, the alchemy ofphotosynthesisistransformingthesun’slightintoenergytopoweryourmetabolism. Oxygen molecules flow from your minute body into thesurroundingOcean and in return she supplies youwith a rich soup ofessential nutrient – carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur and iron, aswell as calcium – that you transform into the exquisite calcite discssurroundingyourdelicatecellmembrane.

Allaroundyoutrillionsofyourbrothersandsistersarefeastingonthe nutrient bonanza brought to the surface by the springtime coastalupwelling of deepOceanwater. You are happily producing everythingyouneed to satisfy your life’s purpose, includingDMSP to protect youfromthedehydratingeffectofyoursaltyhome.AcomplimentaryenzymetransformssomeofyourDMSPintoacrylicacid towardoffpredators.DMSslowlywaftsfromyouintothesurroundingwaterandthenintotheair above, enablingwater vapour to formgently billowing clouds as itrises.

For several days the feasting continues and you are amazed anddelightedbytheincrediblediversityoflifeformsbeingsupportedbythemassivebloomyouareapartof. Youbecomelost inreverencefor thepowerful continuity of life, until your reverie is interrupted by anuncomfortable feeling within your organelles: a growing ache yourecogniseashungerpangs,andwithdismayyourealisethatthenutrientswhichbroughtyoualltogetherarerunningout.

A ripple of unease runs through the bloom, quickly followed by acollective sense of urgency and purpose. You realise that together youhavetheabilitytorespondtothislife-threateningsituation.YoustarttofeeltheresponseinyourownbodyasyourDMSPdigestingenzymesgointo overdrive and start producing large quantities ofDMSgas,whichimmediatelygetspropelled into thesurroundingOcean.Allaroundyoubillionsofothersaredoingthesame,causinganintensepulseofDMStorise from the Ocean, triggering a condensation of dense white cloudsaboveyou.

The rising clouds draw up warm air, creating a breeze that soonstirstheOcean’ssurfaceintomotion.Beforelongyoufeelyourselfbeing

jostledtowardsthechoppysurfaceandthenquitesuddenlyyouareair-born,ridinganupdraftintotheverycloudyouhelpedcreate.Millionsofyour kin are already here and as more arrive you all release anotherpulseofDMSgas,liftingeveryonehigheruntilyouaredriftingenmasse,adenselivingcloud,highaboveyourOceanhome.

Fordaysyoufloatsuspendedwithinthewatervapourofyourcloud,protected from the intensecoldbyyourpersonal reservesofantifreeze.Asyourcloudmergeswithothers,yougetasenseofhowyou’rehelpingtoreflectenoughof thesun’s lightback intospace tokeepyourOceanhomecomfortablycool.

Finally, just as your energy reserves are running out, you feel thewatervapouraroundyoucondensingbackintoliquidform,encasingyouin a protective raindrop,which carries you safely back into theOceanbelow.AsyourraindropmergeswiththeOcean’ssurface,youtastethefamiliar saltiness of your surroundings and gratefully join your fellowtravellers in feasting on the abundant nutrients you have been luckyenoughtolandin.

4

CirculationThirty metres from the shoreline of Manado Tua Island, Indonesia, the reefplummets almost vertically for 2000metres.Descending onto this underwaterclifffaceI’mimmediatelycaughtinaflowing‘river’ofwaterrushingalongthewall. It’s like being on a transparent conveyor belt with the kaleidoscopiccolours of the reef passing by me. I’m gliding in liquid space, effortless andserene. Four hundredmetres belowme I can visualisemetre long coelacanthslurkingunderdark ledges.ManadoTua isoneofonly twoplaces in theworldwheretheselivingfossilfishhavebeenfilmed.

Suddenly I’m jerked out of my daydreaming. There’s danger ahead. Thewalljutsoutintothecurrent,disturbingitsflow.Icanseefishswimminghardtowardsthesurface,butthey’renotmakingmuchprogress;they’recaughtinadownwelling,causedbytheconvergenceofdifferentwaterflowsatthepoint.

The island and its siblings sit on an Ocean plateau that rises from theabyssaldepths.DeepOceanwater risinguponto theplateau is forced throughnarrowchannelswindingtheirwaybetweentheislands.Colderanddenserthanthesurfacewaters,thisdeepwaterrushesthroughthenarrowchannels,creatingvortices of swirling currents as it displaces the warmer surface water. Tidalflows add to the mix to form complex and unpredictable currents, like thedownwellingonthepoint.DriftingcloserIseethetelltaleshimmeringwherethecold and warm water is mixing, creating a thermocline. Sometimes thesedownwellingscandescendahundredmetres,wellbeyondsafedivinglimits,soit’simportanttonegotiatethemcarefully.Despitetherisksthough,it’saspecialprivilege to dive here amongst these currents and physically experience thecomingtogetherofthesedifferentaspectsofOceancirculation.

Several processes are involved inmaintaining theOcean’s circulation: thethermohaline and the major surface currents (we can think of these as theOcean’s large-scale circulation); the daily ebb and flow of the tides, ensuringlocalised circulation of essential life processes; and finally, the strangephenomenon of the Ocean’s thermocline. Let’s take a ‘ride’ through theseprocesses and get a sense of how they all interconnect to keep the Ocean

circulating.

ThermohalineIf there’s any phenomenon that truly illustrates the living Ocean as oneinterconnected being it has to be the thermohaline, also known as the Oceanconveyor belt. It weaves its way from pole to pole, from surface to abyssaldepthsandbacktothesurfaceagain.It’sthelifebloodoftheOcean,flowingtothepulseofgeologicaltimeanddrivenbytheultimatesourceofthelifeprocessitself, the sun. At its core is the sun’s heat, warming the surface waters intropicallatitudes,andinfusingtheverywatermoleculeswithlightenergysothatthey literally expand, becoming less dense, lighter and warmer. This lighter,warmerwaterfloatsontopofthecolder,densewaterbelow,creatingathermalbarrier (thermocline)between the two layers.Over time,surfacecurrentscarrythiswarmerwaterawayfromthe tropics towards thepoles. In theAtlantic it’scarried by the Gulf Stream as it flows up the east coast of the United StatesbeforecrossingtheAtlantictocaressthewesternshoresoftheUnitedKingdomandnorthernEurope.

On its journey from the tropics,much of itswarmth is gifted back to theatmosphere through evaporation, keeping the above coastlines substantiallywarmer than theywouldotherwisebe.Thisalsomakes itsaltier thanNorthernwaters,wherethereismorefreshwatermixingfromriversandicemelt.Bythetime the Gulf Stream delivers this tropical water to the Arctic Ocean aroundGreenland, it’s so much denser and saltier than the surrounding water that itplunges towards theOcean floor as powerful downwellings. Our ‘ex-tropical’waterisjoinedbydensecoldwater,producedlocallywhenseaiceformsatthesurface releasing dissolved salts andmaking thewater underneath denser andsaltier, so that it too sinks. Just togiveyou some ideaof thevolumeofwaterinvolved– imagine ifall the riversof theworld flowed into thesamebasin, itwouldstillonlybeonetwelfthoftheArcticdownwelling.1

Meanwhile, a similar pattern plays out in the Ross andWeddell Seas inAntarctica,althoughhere it’s the intensecoldof localconditions thatproducesthebulkofthedownwellingwater.Inbothcasesthesinkingwaterjoinsaslowandsteadyflowofcold,densewateronajourneythatspansmanythousandsofkilometres, across entire Ocean basins, overmid-Ocean ridges, abyssal plainsanddeepOceantrenches.Eventually, theNorthAtlanticdeepwaterflows intotheAntarctic basin,where it streams along just above the slightlymore denseAntarctic deep water. Both slowly wend their way back into tropical climes,where they eventually re-surface to bewarmed by the sun oncemore (Figure

4.1).2

Figure4.1TheOcean’sthermohalinecirculation.NotethestoredheatreleasedtotheatmosphereinthenorthAltlantic,ArcticandAntarcticregions.Graphiccredit:HugoAhlenius,UNEP/GRID-Arendalhttp://www.grida.no/graphicslib/detail/world-ocean-thermohaline-circulation_79a9

The thermohalinenotonlymoveswateraround theOcean,butalsodistributesheat from thesunaround theplanet, from theequator to thepolar-regionsanddelivers a refreshing coolness back to tropical waters. It is perhaps the mostimportant circulatory process inmaintaining a global temperature balance thatprevents large areas of the northern hemisphere from freezing overpermanently.3

Butthethermohalinedoesmuchmorethanjustactasaglobal thermostat.It’s also the primary distributor of oxygen to the deep Ocean. The Ocean’ssurface waters gladly receive the gifts of oxygen exhaled directly from themultitudinous photosynthesising beings near her surface, as well as absorbingoxygengas(O2)fromtheatmosphere.AssurfacewaterdescendsintothedepthsitsharessomeofitsO2withmid-Oceanwater,butstillhasenoughtoreplenishthe deep Ocean so it can support all the oxygen dependant beings living farbelowthesurface.

The thermohaline performs the same physiological trick with carbondioxide: transporting dissolved CO2 directly from the atmosphere as well ascarrying uncountable carbon-rich planktonic corpses to the Ocean floor. Thisphysicalpump temporarily removesvastquantitiesof carbondioxide from theatmosphere, which in turn contributes to maintaining the right balance ofgreenhousegasesintheatmosphere.Withoutthethermohalinemuchlesscarbonwould be transported to the chill of the deep Ocean, leading to a positivefeedbackloopofhotteratmosphereandwarmersurfacetemperatures,reducing

her CO2 absorbing ability and leading to even more CO2 remaining in theatmosphere.4

So,farfrombeingjustageo-physicalphenomenon,thethermohalineisalsoaphysiologicalprocess. Just like the arteries andveinsofourowncirculatorysystem,thethermohalineisthepulsingflowof‘plasma’,distributinglife-givingoxygen,nutrientsandheataroundthecoreoftheOcean’sbody.Butwherewemeasure thepulseof our circulation inminutes, the thermohaline’s circulationtakesmorethanathousandyears.

Just like our own circulatory system though, it is in a continual state ofdynamic relationship with all other physiological processes, responding tochanging needs, influencing and being influenced by internal and externalconditions. Our pulse quickens or slows, our blood surges or meanders,depending on our needs. So too the thermohaline, and just like us, there arelimitstotheextremesthesystemcanhandle.

Analysis of historical data has led climate scientists to generalise thethermohalineashavingthreeprimarystates,cold,warmandoff.Inthecoldandwarmpositions,thethermohalineisinastateofdynamic,non-linearrelationshipwiththeprevailingclimaticconditions,inwhichthelocationofthedownwellingmovesbetweennorthandsouthpositions.Theoffstateseemstobetriggeredbyrapidchangessuchasdramaticwarmingoverarelativelyshortperiod.5

Scientists debate the often confusing and sometimes contradictory data astheystrivetounravelthenon-linearcomplexitiesofthethermohaline.Butifweagain invoke theanalogyofourowncirculatorysystem,wecanperhapsseeasimilar pattern in the way it responds to extremes. When we becomehypothermic our circulatory system retracts to our core, protecting our vitalorganswithanyremainingheatitcanmuster.Conversely,whenweoverheatoursystemopensitselftoallowheattoescape.Inbothcasesthereisathreshold–atipping point – beyond which our system switches to the off state. Thethermohaline,whenviewedfromthisperspective,seemstorespondinasimilarway.

But the thermohaline doesn’t operate in isolation; it needs away to bringdeepwaterbacktothesunlitsurface,tobere-energisedandkeepthecirculationmoving.Inthetropicssomeofthisdeepwatergentlyrisestoreplacethesurfacewater as it starts its journey toward the poles. The rest is thrust towards thesurfaceaspowerfulupwellings,butthisonlyhappensinafewspecialplacesandislargelydependentonthecirculationoftheOcean’ssurfacecurrents.

SurfaceCurrents,GyresandDeepWaterUpwellingsThe Ocean’s surface is her most familiar aspect to us. We experience ourrelationshipwithherprimarilythroughourinteractionwiththefirstfewmetresofhergreatdepthsand theoverridingsenseweexperience isoneofperpetualmovement. It’snever still, evenon thecalmestofdays there’salwaysmotion,and that motion is nothing less than the physical expression of the intimaterelationshipbetweentheOceanandherGaianpartner,theatmosphere.

AssoonaseventhegentlestbreezeblowsacrosshersurfacewecanseetheOceanrespondwithripplingexcitement.ItmaybehardforustoequatethistoOcean-wide circulation, but it is exactly the combined effect of all the gentlebreezes, tradewindsandhowlinggalesacrossher surface thatdrive themajorsurface currents. To understand even a little of this complex relationship weneedtoexplore,inverybasicform,howthewindblowsinthefirstplace.

Wind is the sun’s energy manifest as movement. This movement beginsimperceptibly as the equatorial Ocean warms under the sun’s gaze and watermolecules aredrawnup into the air aswatervapour.Air andwatermoleculesmixhappilytogether,creatingthehumidtropicalairfamiliartoanyonewhohasspenttimeinthetropics.Thiswarmhumidairislessdenseandsocreatesalow-pressure area known as the equatorial low. As this tropical air rises into theatmosphereitstarts tocool,allowingthewatervapourtocondenseandreleaseitsownstoredheatasapartinggifttotherapidlycoolingair.Thisextraenergyboost helps our tropical air reach new heights, until it finds a satisfyingequilibrium with the surrounding atmosphere. Finding itself sandwichedbetweenevenlessdenseairaboveandmoredenseairbelow,theonlydirectionitcantravelissideways.

As our tropical air flows outwards from the equator towards the poles, itcontinuestoreleaseheatuntil,atapproximately30°latitudenorthandsouth,itbecomestoocoldandheavytoremainaloftandsosinksbacktowardthesurfaceasadensedown-draft, therebycreatingthesubtropicalhighpressurearea.Air,likeallgases,justcan’tabideinequalityandsoourdensehigh-pressureairnowrushesbacktowardstheequatoriallow-pressureareaitstartedfrom.Theresultis amore or less continuous circular flow of air between the equator and thesubtropicalregionsofbothhemispheresinwhatwecalltheeasterlytradewinds.Asimilarpatternoperatesbetween latitudes30°and60°,except the flowis inthe reversedirection, resulting in themid-latitudewesterlies.Between60°and90°theflowreversesagaintocreatethepolareasterlies(Figure4.2).6

Figure4.2Globalatmosphericcirculation is intimatelyconnected to theOcean throughherability toabsorb and store heat from the sun, then release it back into the atmosphere through evaporation,creatingupdraftsandpressuregradients.Image:dreamstime_m_53769579.

This is of course a very simplified picture. There are seasonal variations,complex, localisedweathersystems,winterstorms, tropicalcyclones, typhoonsandhurricanes, evendecadal oscillations such asElNino andLaNina, not tomentiontheenormousimpact lifehasontheseclimaticprocesses.Butperhapsthis is enough toenableus toexplorehow theOcean’smajor surfacecurrentswork.Beforewedo though, thereare twoothervery importantcomponents toconsider:theCorioliseffectandthecontinentalboundaries.

NamedafterthenineteenthcenturyFrenchmathematician,GaspardGustavedeCoriolis,whowasfirsttocalculatetheforcesactingonrotatingobjects.TheCorioliseffectexplainshowtheEarth’srotationaffectsboththeatmosphereandtheOcean.Astheplanetrotatesitexertsadeflectingforceonanymovingbody,onor near its surface.At the equator this force is zero, but gets progressivelystronger towards thepoles.Thedeflection in thenorthernhemisphere is to therightandtotheleftinthesouthernhemisphere(Figure4.3).WithouttheCorioliseffectthenorthernhemispheretradewindswouldflowfromnorthtosouth,butunderitsinfluencetheyflowfromnortheasttosouthwest,whileinthesouthernhemisphere they blow from southeast to northwest.7 This has profoundimplicationsfortheOcean’ssurfacecurrents,asweshallsee.

Figure4.3TheCorioliseffectexplainshowtheEarth’srotationaffectsboththeOceanandtheatmosphere.(ImagecourtesyofNOAA)

Continental boundaries also play a vital role in Ocean circulation. ThemajorOceanbasins – thePacific,Atlantic and Indian – are separated by continentallandmasses, which form barriers to the east-west/west-east flow of the winddrivencurrents,effectivelyforcingthemintobasinwidecircularmovement.Wenow have all the physical ingredients for understanding the Ocean’s surfacecurrents.

Aswindblowsacross the surfaceof theOcean it creates frictionbetweentheairmoleculesandthesurfacewatermolecules,whoareliterallypulledalongfortheride.Thestrongerthewindblowsthegreaterthefrictionandthethickerthe layerofwaterbeingmoved.As thedepthof thecurrent increases, frictionbetween the layers ofwatermolecules slows it down until it eventually fadesout,usuallylessthan100mbelowthesurface.

TheCorioliseffect,alreadyinfluencingthewinddirection,nowweavesitsdeflecting spell on the moving water so that surface currents actually moveperpendicular(90°)tothewinddirection.ThisisknownastheEkmantransportand is critical to Ocean circulation (Figure 4.4).8 The Coriolis effect andassociatedEkman transport, combinewith the continental boundaries to createthe circular movement of the surface currents, which in turn form the greatOcean gyres. You may have heard of the Ocean gyres in relation to plasticpollutionintheOcean–we’llrevisitthisinChapter10–butfornow,let’slookattheveryimportantrolethegyresplayinOceancirculation.

Figure4.4TheEkmantransportresultsfromtheCorioliseffectanddeflectssurfacewaterawayfromthe wind direction in a spiral, causing surface currents to run perpendicular to the wind direction.(ImagecourtesyofNOAA)

Therearefivesubtropicalgyres,twointhePacific,northandsouth,likewiseintheAtlanticandoneintheIndianOcean.TherearealsopolargyresintheArcticandAntarctica,whicharehugelyinfluential toglobalclimatebalance.9Asyoucan see from Figure 4.5, the Ocean’s surface currents flow in a clockwisedirection in the northern hemisphere, while those in the southern hemisphererotate counter clockwise. Under the Coriolis influence, the western boundarycurrents flow faster thaneasternboundarycurrents,while theEkman transportresults in a general flow towards the centre of the gyres. There’s a surprisingtwist to this story though– theCoriolis effect increases the faster anobject ismoving–whichmeansthefasterflowingwesternboundarycurrentstendtoveermoresharplythantheireasterncounterparts,resultinginthecentreofthegyresbeingmuchfurtherwestthantheactualcentreoftheOceanbasin.

As thewinddrivenboundary currents of the subtropical gyres flowalongcontinental coastlines, the Coriolis effect and the Ekman transport encouragesurfacewater tomove seawardaway from the coast.DeepOceanwater that’sfounditswaytothecontinentalslopescan’tresisttheinvitationtotakeitsplace,and is pulled towards the surface as upwelling. For reasons that will becomeclearwhenwemeetthethermocline,theeasternboundaryupwellingsareoftenricherinlife-enhancingnutrientsthantheirfasterflowingwesterncounterparts.Consequentlythey’realsosomeofthemostproductiveandbusiestpartsofthelivingOcean. They include the year round coastal upwellings off the coast ofPeruinSouthAmericaandthewestcoastofAfrica.

Other coastal upwellings aremore seasonal, usually only occurring in thespring and summer, when prevailing offshore winds flow in unison with theboundarycurrents,thusenhancingtheupwellingeffect.Mosttemperatecoastalareas, like New Zealand and the west coast of the United States, experienceseasonalupwellings.We’lldelveintothisphenomenonfurtherwhenweexplore

OceanmetabolisminChapter5.Beforeturningourattentiontothetides,therearetwootherveryimportant

upwellings relevant to Ocean-wide circulation, which need mentioning. Oneoperates near the equator andhelps bringdeepOceanwater back to the sun’swarmth.Theother occurs inAntarctica and involves two surface currents: theAntarcticcircumpolarcurrent,flowingwesttoeastandthePolarcurrentflowingin the opposite direction. In this latter case it’s nutrient rich water that hastravelled all the way from the Arctic that is pulled to the surface. However,insteadofbeingwarmedbythesun,itactuallygetsevencolderinthefreezingAntarcticconditionsandsinksbacktotheOceanflooroncemore,butnotbeforedepositingitsnutrientloadatthesurface.10

TidalCurrentsTheebbandflowofthetides…whatcouldbemorepeacefulthansittingbyatidal harbour in meditative silence, witnessing the slow inward and outwardmovementof theOceanas it caresses the ripplingsand flats,playinghideandseekwithfieldsofseaweedandbarnacle-encrustedrocks?It’seasy to imaginethismovementastheOcean’sslow,rhythmicbreathingandinawayitis.Witheveryfloodtidefreshsuppliesofoxygenatedwaterreplenishshallowrockpools,mangrove forests and mudflats, while the ebb carries nutrients from the landbacktotheOcean.

Tidalcurrentssupportvastcommunitiesofstationaryfilter-feedingbeings,who rely on the current-borne smorgasbord of nutrients and tiny planktonicorganismsstreamingpasttheiropenmouths.Byflowinginandoutofharboursandestuaries,inletsandbays,thetidalcurrentsarethe‘publictransport’systemof the coastal Ocean, connecting diverse living communities and creatingbustling, energetic hotspots of activity around prominent headlands andunderwaterlandmarks.

The tide’spart inOceancirculation though ismore than just a supportingrole.Thesurfaceturbulencecausedbytheflowingtidalcurrentsvastlyenhancesthermalmixingofshallowcoastalwaters,whichinturncontributesenormouslyto the wind-driven upwellings of the boundary currents, and therefore to theoverallproductivityofcoastalregions.

Thermal mixing, as the name suggests, is the mixing of surface waterwarmed by the sun, and the layer of colder water beneath. As we’ve alreadylearnt,warmwater is less dense and floats on top of the denser, colderwaterbelow. It’s this temperature-derived density difference, along with salinityvariances,thatdrivesthethermohaline.It’salsowhatcausesathermocline.Andas we’re about to learn, the Ocean’s thermocline performs an intricate andcomplex balancing act, not only in terms of circulation but also, and perhapsmostimportantly,intheOcean’soverallmetabolism.

ThermoclineAnyonewho’sdivedorsnorkelledintemperateseasinthelatespringorsummerwillhaveprobablyexperienced thechilly realityofa thermocline.Descendingthrough the comparatively warm surface layer the first sign of the loomingthermoclineisusuallyavisualshimmering,muchlikethehazyheatwavesrisingfromaroad,roastinginthesummersun.Assoonasyouenterthisshimmeringfield you feel an abrupt temperature change, like stepping from the heat of aswelteringsummer’sdayintoanair-conditionedroom.

The thermoclinemaynotbesocomfortable forus,unlessofcoursewe’recocooned in a thickwetsuit or drysuit, but without it theOcean’s physiologywould be entirely different, with potentially disastrous results. To understandwhy,let’sfirsttakeacloserlookathowthethermoclineformsandhowitvariesin different parts of the Ocean. As we’ve already learnt, the thermoclineseparates warm surface water from the cold, dense, saltier water below.Scientists call this the two-layered Ocean and across vast areas of the openOceanthereisverylittlemixingbetweenthetwolayers.

ItseemsprettyobviousthatthetropicalareasoftheOcean,exposedastheyaretoyearroundwarmingbythesun,wouldhaveathickerlayerofwarmwater,resulting in the thermoclinebeingdeeper than it is incolderclimes. Ingeneralthisisthecase.InthetropicalOceanitmaybeasdeepas200metresormore,whileinseasonalseasitrangesfromabout30to100metres.Buttheseareonlyaverages and don’t tell us much about the complex relationship between theOcean’s other circulatory processes. This isn’t the place to go into a detailedexplanation,but let’s lookatacoupleofexamplesof thiscomplexityfromtheperspectiveofOcean-widecirculation.

We already know that the thermohaline, with the help of the surfacecurrents, transports the sun’s warmth around the Ocean, ensuring the tropicsdon’toverheatandthepolarregionsdon’tfreezeoverpermanently.ThroughthisinterplaytheOcean-widethermoclineemergesasthemechanismthatmaintainsthedensityandsalinitydifferencesnecessarytokeepthecirculationfunctioning.

Averyimportant‘emergentproperty’ofthethermocline’sroleisknownasthebasin-wide tilt.11Asyoucansee inFigure4.5 thewind-drivencurrentsallflowtothewestneartheequator,whichresultsinwarmwateraccumulatingonthe western boundaries of the Atlantic and Pacific basins. The thermoclinedescendstoabout200metresheretoaccommodatethese‘warmpools’,whichinturn provides a greater volume of warm water for the fast flowing western

boundarycurrentstocarrytowardsthepoles.Theoppositeeffecthappensontheeasternboundarieswhere the thermocline is closer to surface, thanks tocolderwaterbeingdeliveredbythesurfacecurrents.

Figure4.5ThemajorOceansurfacecurrentsflowinaclockwisedirectioninthenorthernhemisphere,while in the southernhemisphere they flowcounter clockwise.Continental boundaries combinewiththeCorioliseffectandtheEkmantransport,causingthesurfacecurrentstomoveinacirculardirectionandcreatingthegreatOceangyres.(Image:dreamstime)

It’s easy to see how the basin-wide tilt of the thermocline enhances thecirculationof thesun’swarmtharoundtheOcean.What’s lessobvious,butnolessimportant,istheroleitplaysintheOcean’smetabolism.Asyoumayrecall,upwellingsoccuralongthecontinentalboundarieswheresurfacewaterisdrawnoffshore by the combined influence of the Coriolis effect and the associatedEkman transport, making room for the underlying water to take its place. InwesternOceanboundaries,becausethethermoclineisdeeper,quitealotoftheupwelling actually occurs above the thermocline and only a relatively smallamountofnutrient-rich,deepOceanwater isdrawnup towards thesurface. Intheeast,wherethethermoclineismuchclosertothesurface,alotmorenutrient-richdeepwaterisdrawnup–explainingwhytheeasternboundaryupwellingssupportsomeofthemostintenselyproductiveareasoftheOcean.

In temperate coastal regions, the seasonal upwellings coincide withrelatively shallow thermoclinepositions,oftenonly30 to50metresbelow thesurface,sometimesevenshallower.Theresult isreallywellmixedwaterthat’snutrient-rich,which is further enhanced by tidal currents. In polar regions thecombination of cold surface temperatures and strong turbulent mixing oftenresultsinanalmostcompleteabsenceofthethermocline.Whenthelongerdaysofspringandsummerbathethesenutrient-richwaters in light,everythingis inplaceforanexuberantcelebrationoftheOcean’slifeprocess.

Aquestionyoumaybeaskingatthispoint,iswhythedeepwaterbelowthe

thermocline is so nutrient-rich, while the surface water above appears to belackinginessentiallife-givingnutrients?Theveryshortanswer,whichwewillexpandoninthenextchapter,isthattheuncountableorganismslivingnearthesurfaceconsumethenutrientsandthethermoclinerestrictstheirreplenishment.Thisbeingthecaseitwouldseemthatthethermocline,farfrombeinghelpful,isactuallyahindrancetolifeintheOcean.

Many oceanographers and marine biologists do indeed consider thethermoclinetobeamajorbarriertoproductivityintheOcean.Somecallit,‘thedilemmaofthetwolayeredocean’andevengoasfarasdescribingtheOceanas‘…areallylousysystemforsupportinglife’.12Thisisaperfectlyunderstandableresponse if the thermocline is viewed in isolation, but when we embrace theOceanasalivingsystemwecaninsteadseethethermoclineasanessentialpartofacomplexphysiology,activelyrespondingtochangingconditionsandneeds,whilemaintainingthedynamicbalanceofthewholesystem.

*

RidingtheOcean’sCirculationIf youcan, find somewhere to sit comfortablyand look into theOcean.Begin by focusing on awide view, noticing in particular the continualmovementoftheOcean’ssurface.Slowlybringyourattentiondownintoa smaller area and now notice how this continual movement changesfrommomenttomoment;eachmomentacompletelyuniqueexpressionoftheOcean’slifeprocess.

Asyoucontemplate thismovement, imagine thewatermolecules inyourownbody joiningwith theirbrothersandsisters in theOceanandbecomingpartofthisdynamic,ever-changingmovement.Allowyourself,in your wholeness, to become one of those water molecules, nestledamongstyourkinand feeling the flowof lifemoving throughyou.Feelthe presence of other elemental beings: dissolved carbon, oxygen,calcium,magnesium, sodium,nitrogen, ironandmanyothers.Togetheryouexperiencethemasasaltypresencewithinyourverybeing.

Asyoufloatnearthesurfaceyoufeelthesun’swarmthinfusingyouwithlight-heartedenergy.Youfeelexpandedandfree.Someofyourkinfloatingjustaboveyouabandontheirliquidformandfloatintotheairasvapour,butyouremaininyourfluidembrace.Slowlyyoustarttofeelachange in the movement around you. There is a gentle but irresistiblepull fromthe tradewindswhisperingaboveandanequallygentlepushfrombelow,urgingyouforward,sothatyoustarttofeelyourselfapartofaflowingriverofmovement,alivewithpurpose.

As this sense of purpose builds you’re joined by other watermolecules, energised by the tropical sun, eager to contribute theirexuberance and anticipation for the journey ahead. You feel the pacequickenasyouleavetheIndianOceanbehindandjointhejostlingtidalracearoundtheCapeofGoodHopeandintotheSouthAtlanticOcean.Your journey is measured, not by time, but rather the timelessness ofexperiencingyourselfasintegraltotheflowoflife.

Younowjoin themightyGulfStreamas it surgespowerfullyalongthecoastofNorthAmerica.Youstarttofeelsomeofyourpent-upenergydissipatingaswarmthinto thesurroundingOceanandairabove,but itfeelsmorelikeagiftratherthanaloss.Yoursenseoflife’scircularityisheightenedasyoufeeltheEarth’srotationbendingtheGulfStreamawayfromthecoastofNorthAmericatowardsEurope.

Continuing your northward flow you feel even more warmthdissipatingandthefirstchilloftheArcticOceanstartstopermeateyourconsciousness. The cold allows you to absorb much more oxygen, butnevertheless you feel sluggish and heavy, as you taste the saltinessbecomingmoreconcentratedinyourliquidbody.BythetimeyoureachthefrozenshoresofGreenland,youfeelsodenseandheavythatyoucanstayafloatnolongerandsinkintothepowerfuldown-wellingthatsignalsthestartofyourreturnjourney.

Descendingintodarkness,youfeeltheimmensepressureofallyourwaterykinabovedrivingyouon.Continuingdownwardsyoucontributesomeof theoxygenwithinyourbody to sustain themyriad luminescentlifeformsflashingaroundyou,andinreturnreceiveastorehouseoflife-giving nutrients. Reaching the Ocean floor, you feel a sense of deepawarenessandwisdomasancientaslifeitself,andexperiencewavesofpeaceful continuity as you join the silent pilgrimage across abyssalplains,mountainousridgesandplungingdepths.

Deep in theSouthernOceananevenmore intense riverofdenselycold water flows below you, pushing you towards the surface, wherewind-borne fingers of upwellingmomentum reach down and draw youeverupwarduntilyoufindyourselfamongstmassivebloomsofplankton,eager to consume your reservoir of essential nutrients. Before longthough, the irresistible force of the Antarctic down-welling takes holdandplungesyoudownwardtowardsthelastlegofyourglobaljourney.

Once again you experience the oxygen/nutrient exchange as younegotiate the undulating PacificOceanBasin. As your pace slows youhave time to ponder the continual renewal of the Earth’s crust alongoceanic ridges and wonder at life’s beginnings where plumes ofsuperheatedwaterspewforthfrommineralrichvents.Graduallyadeeplonging for the warmth and light of the sun builds within your fluidconsciousness,andyousensethesameanticipationamongstyourkin.

Youstarttoexperienceagentlepullfromabove,reminiscentofyourjourney’s beginning, even as those below urge you on. Finally, after aone thousand year odyssey, you emerge into the sunlit surface of thetropical Ocean once more. As you float basking in the warmth, youreflect on the deep sense of connection and participation in this vastcirculationofthelifeprocess.Evenasyouponderthisdeepconnection,you start to feel that light, energetic expansiveness once more, and atingle of excitement runs through you with the invitation of that firstgentle,butirresistiblepullfromthetradewindsandthatflowingriverof

movementbringingyoualivewithpurpose.

5

MetabolismThePoorKnightsMarineReserve on the east coast of theNorth Island,NewZealand,isoneofmyfavouriteplacesontheplanet.Snorkellingtenmetresoutfromtheverticalcliffs Ican lookdowninto thebluedepthsof theseprotectedwatersandwitnessanentirefoodchaininprogress.Myimaginationmustsupplythedetailsoftheplanktonicscene,toomicroscopicformyeyestodiscern,butitsrealityisprovenbytheintenseactivityofmyriadlargerforms.

Directly below me, a shaft of sunlight reflects off the iridescent bluecarapaceof a tinycopepod as it scurries through thewater columngrazingonphytoplankton;combjelliesandsalpssievethewaterthroughtranslucentbodies;cloudsoftwo-spotdemoisellespirouettewithoutstretchedpectoralfinsastheydelicatelyplucktinyzooplanktonmorsels;aschoolofkoheru,mouthsagape,siftthe planktonic soup in perfect unison.Against the cliff-face a swarmof pink-fleshedkrillarecorralledintoacorneranddevouredbyhungrysnapper;belowthemreeffishmoveawayfromtherocksandkelptofeastonthemorselsrainingdown from the orgy above.Nearer the surface amixed school of trevally andblue maomao form a wall of mouths, driving swarms of tiny shrimps beforethem. Prowling amongst them all are the predators: kingfish, kahawai andoccasionally sharks,watchful andpatient,biding their timeand secure in theirapexrole.

While my classifying brain attempts to dissect the scene into ecologicalniches, my sensing body is filled with great joy at being immersed in suchvibrancy!Eventuallymy senseswin out and the niches dissolve into a deeperunderstandingof life asprocess; the individualsbeforemyeyes resolving intothemoving parts of a larger being, the ecosystem itself. Themechanistic andlinearconceptoffoodchainisreplacedbythereciprocityofaninterconnectedwebofrelationshipswithinthislargerecologicalbeing.

The Poor Knights ecosystem is the living whole, emerging from all themyriadlives,beinglivedinrelationshipwitheachotherandthephysicalbodyofthe reef. It is a local example of what happens on an Ocean-wide scale. ThelivingOceancoheresasanemergentwholethroughallthevariousecosystems–

largeandsmall,deepandshallow,Oceanicandcoastal,tropicalandsub-polar–allcontributingtheiruniquequalities.

LifeintheBalanceSo far we’ve seen how the Ocean’s respiration balances two of life’s mostfundamental elements – carbon and oxygen.We’ve also touched on how shecirculates both throughout her vast body.We can appreciate the vital role sheplaysinglobalclimate,influencingtheamountofsunlightreachinghersurfacethrough cloud formation and maintaining the delicate balance of greenhousegases so that both the atmosphere, and her own body, remain at comfortabletemperaturesforlifetoflourish.

We’vefollowedhercirculationasshetransportsmuch-neededheatfromthetropics to the poles and returns with refreshing coolness to equatorial seas.Along the way we’ve learned that maintaining a balance between energyproductionandnutrientflowisadynamicprocessinvolvingbothrespirationandcirculation;andit’sthisbalancethatweshouldkeepinmindaswelookattheOcean’s metabolism of life’s nutrients, because it too plays a crucial role inbalancingthewholeGaiansystem.

In Chapter 3 we discovered how phytoplankton use photosynthesis tocombine hydrogen and carbon dioxide into carbohydrate molecules of sugaryglucose,someofthewhichisusedtofixotheressentialnutrients(phosphorous,nitrogen,ironandsulphur)intouseableorganiccompounds.Organiccompoundsare thebuildingblocksof lifeandphytoplanktonare theprimaryproducersoforganiccompounds in theOcean.The limitingfactor in theirproduction is theavailabilityofnutrients;inparticularphosphorous,nitrogenandiron.Thesearecritical to phytoplankton growth and reproduction, and their finely tunedavailabilityensuresthatjusttherightamountofphytoplanktonexisttobreatheasuitablebalanceofcarbondioxideandoxygen.

Everyyeartheircarbon-richbodiesprovidearound45to50billiontonsofnutritiousfoodforallotherOceanlife.1ThelivingOcean’sdigestivesystemthatmetabolisesallthisfoodisnothinglessthanthecombinedlivelihoodsofallhermyriad organisms; and it’s this metabolic process that fine-tunes the wholephysiological system, tweaking the flow of nutrients as they’re needed tomaintainadynamiclivingbalance.TheabilityofthelivingOceantorecycleallthese nutrients is critical; for even though a steady supply of fresh nutrientsarrivesviaflowingriversanddeep-seavents,they’reonlyatricklecomparedtowhatisrequiredtokeepherwholesysteminbalance.2

Thevastmajorityofthisrecyclingoccursinthesunlitsurfacelayer,wherethe primary producing phytoplankton and myriad consumers perform their

perpetual nutrient dance. In fact about 85 to 90 percent of the Ocean’smetabolismhappenshere,especiallyaroundupwellinghotspots.Theother10to15percenthappensinthevastnessbelowthethermocline.3Justaswiththewatercycle, and the tinybut criticalpercentageofwater residing in the atmosphere,the metabolic processes of the deep Ocean are pivotal to maintaining overallbalance.

It would take volumes to describe the many and varied ecosystems thatcontributetoOceanmetabolismasawhole,sowe’llconfineourexplorationtoamoregeneraloverview.Thiswillneverthelessgiveusatasteofthebeautifullycomplexwebof relationships inherent insuchadynamicandvastbodyas thelivingOcean.Let’sstartwithabriefexplanationoftheecologicaltheorybehindtheflowofenergyandnutrientswithinalivingsystem.

Traditional studies of ecological systems usually revolve around the foodchain.Often these arepyramid shaped,with theprimaryproducersmakingupthebroadbase; theprimaryconsumers, thoseanimalswhofeeddirectlyontheprimaryproducers,formthenext layer,andtheremaininglayersarepopulatedbyallthecarnivores.Eachlayerrepresentsanecologicalnichethatgetssmallerandsmalleruntilwereachtheapexpredatorsrightatthetopofthepyramid.Inecologytheseareknownastrophiclevels,andthereareseldommorethanfivetrophiclevelsinanygivenecosystem.Eachlevelrepresentsastepinthetransferofenergyandnutrientswithbothdecreasingfrombasetotop,hencethepyramidshape.4

Theusefulaspectof theseecologicalpyramids is thevisual representationthis gives us of the energetic biomass at the different levels.Unfortunately, italso has a tendency to lead us into a linear way of viewing the relativeimportanceofeachlayer,andgivestheimpressionthattherelationshipsbetweenthe layers aremore or less oneway.The reality is that these relationships arenon-linearandreciprocal.Whileenergy is indeedaone-way transfer,nutrientsactuallyflowbackandforthincomplexandsurprisingwaysthatultimatelyformacontinualcycle(theessenceofrecycling).Energyiscontinuallyinjectedintothecyclethroughtheprocessofphotosynthesis,butwithoutthereciprocityofallthebeingsinvolvedinthenutrientflow,thewholelivingsystemwouldquicklybreakdown.

On an Ocean-wide and deep scale, this nutrient flow encompasses thebiologicalorganicpump,whichworksalongsidethebiologicalcarbonatepumpandthephysicalpumptokeepatmosphericcarbondioxidelevelsstable(Figure5.1).The concept of thebiological pump is a usefulway to get a feel for theOcean’smetaboliccycle,butitwouldbeeasytogetlostinan‘ocean’ofdetailandlosesightoftheherasalivingwhole.Solet’sjust‘swim’withthegeneral

flowof thecycle, stoppingoffhereand there for a closer lookat someof themanyintriguingandsurprisingcomplexitiesthatcontributetoitscontinuity.

Figure5.1TheBiologicalorganicpump,whichworksalongsidethephysicalpumpandthebiologicalcarbonatepumptokeepatmosphericcarbondioxidelevelsstable.(ImagecourtesyofNASA,www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov)

Phytoplankton:ThePrimaryProducersFewsightscanfillthesoulwithsuchasenseofexpansivefreedomasstandingonacoastalclifftopstaringouttothehorizon.Oncalm,clearsummerdaysthehorizonappearsendless,themirroredblueofOceanandskymergingseamlesslyintoeachother;theairseemscompletelystill,yetsomeunfeltbreezerufflestheOcean’ssurfacewithbarelydiscernableripples,creatingadappledtexturetohersun-drenchedskin.

On days like this a mosaic of tendrilled patterns snake lazily across hersurface, defining otherwise imperceptible currents with an oily smoothness,hinting at a kind of bodily coherence, reminiscent of the fractal branching ofcapillaries visible beneath our own skin. The mesmerising tranquillity of thescene belies the intense activity of countless microscopic phytoplanktontransformingsunlightintoenergy,buttheoilycurrentlinesareavisualcluethatthere’smoregoingonthanjustphotosynthesis!

Astinyasphytoplanktonare,they’restillheavierthantheirsaltyhome,andareinconstantdangerofsinkingbelowthesurfacelayerbeyondthereachofthesun’s light energy. Not being good swimmers, they must employ cleverstrategies to buoy themselves up. Some cyanobacteria alter their buoyancy bycreatinganinternalgasbubble,butmanyofthelargerphytoplanktonproduceoildroplets thataccumulate inside theircells.Asoil is lessdense thanwater, thisenablesthemtofloathappilyinthelightzone.Thecurrentlinesweseeonthesurfacearemadevisibleasexcessoil leaks fromtheirbodies,especiallywhentheydieorgeteaten.5ThisoilyresiduesignalsthebeginningofanothercycleinthecontinualflowofnutrientsthroughtheOcean’sbody.

ThePrimaryConsumers:OceanVegetariansThe exquisite microscopic world of phytoplankton is matched by an equallyfantastical plethora of single-celled consumers, from the microscopic to thecomparativelymassive.With tinyvibratinghairscalledcilia,armiesofciliatesfilter cyanobacteria from the water with ruthless efficiency. Non-photosynthesising dinoflagellates swarm amongst their sun-loving cousinsscoopingupvastquantitiesintheirwildlyswingingflagellaarms.Shell-buildingforaminifera and radiolarians extend amoeba-like psuedopods beyond theirshellstoentrappassingdiatomsandcoccolithophores.

All of these single-celled consumers have the ability to reproducethemselves in a matter of hours, or days, to match their equally prolific sun-loving prey. Some of them even become minute farmers, housing smallerphotosynthesisingbeingswithin theirbodies,providingshelterandtransport inexchangeforashareoftheirsugaryglucoseproduction.6

But more than just single-celled vegetarians feast on the sun-lovingphytoplankton. Multi-cellular beings abound, tiny to our squinting eyes, butgiants compared to their prey.They are the zooplankton, an all encompassingtermthatincludesanimalswhospendtheirentirelivesintheplanktonlayer,aswellasthecountlessspeciesoffishandinvertebrateswhospendonlytheirfirstdaysorweeksfloatingwiththecurrents.Duringtheirbriefstayintheplanktonlayer these visitors are omnivores, feasting on both phytoplankton and otherzooplankton,whereasmanyofthepermanentresidentsareprimarilyherbivores,onlyoccasionallysnackingonotherconsumers.

Mostabundantamongstthemarethecopepods,minisculecrustaceansonlya few millimetres long (Figure 5.2). These tear-drop shaped, armour-platedcousins toshrimpsand lobsterspropel themselves through thewaterwith theirjointedlegs.Longantennaesensethesurroundingwaterforprey,butalsowarnofapproachingpredators,whichthecopepodcanavoidwithsurprisingburstsofspeed.Mostcopepodspeciesarediurnal,takingadvantageofthecoverdarknessoffers,feedingnearthesurfaceatnightthendescendingintotherelativesafetyofdeeperwaterduringtheday.

Figure5.2CopepodsarethemostnumerousandarguablytheecologicallymostimportantmembersofthezooplanktonprimaryconsumersOcean-wide.(ImagecourtesyofR.Hopcroft,UAF).http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12arctic/background/biodiversity/media/copepod.htmlAnothergroupofcrustaceansthatoftentakepartindailyverticalmigrationsarekrill(Figure5.3).Muchlargerthancopepods,theyareneverthelessprimarilyvegetarianssievingthewaterforphytoplanktonwiththeirmodifiedfrontlegs.KrillareacommonspeciesinmanypartsoftheOcean,butareparticularlyabundantandimportantaroundAntarcticawheretheyaretheprimaryfoodsourceforeverythingfromfish,topenguins,sealsandwhales(we’llcomebacktothiswhenwelookatsomeofthewaysnutrientsarerecycledintheOcean).

Figure5.3Antarctickrill,EuphausiasuperbaaretheprimaryfoodsourceformanyspeciesandarethekeystonespeciesfortheentireAntarcticfoodweb.(PhotocourtesyofNOAA,photoCredit:WayneTrivelpiece),https://swfsc.noaa.gov/ImageGallery/?moid=3437

An equally important and abundant species of primary consumers are thepteropods – commonly known as sea butterflies. These tiny planktonic snailsswim through the water column by flapping their wing-like foot, dragging amucusmembranebehindthemtocatchtheirlunch(Figure5.4).Soabundantarethey in some areas thatwhen they die their fragile calcite shellmakes up thebulkofthesedimentlayerontheOceanfloor.

Thisisjusta‘taste’oftherichanddiverseworldoftheplanktonlayer.

Figure5.4Pterapods,commonlyknownasseabutterflies,aretinyplanktonicsnailsswimthroughthewatercolumnbyflappingtheirwing-likefoot,draggingamucusmembranebehindthemtocatchtheirfood.(PhotocourtesyofNOAA)

SecondaryConsumers:FilteringthePlanktonSoupSuch a rich plankton soup provides a veritable feast for our second level ofconsumers,manyofwhomuseavarietyoftechniquestofilterhugequantitiesofwater through their bodies as they feed.7 Allmanner of soft-bodied, jelly-likecreatureswaft through thewater sievingalgaeandanimalalike;colonial salpsband together into pink funnels, sometimesmanymetres long, and capable ofsieving hundreds of litres ofwater per hour; stunningly beautiful comb jelliescreate iridescent light-shows with their eight rows of beating cilia, catchingzooplanktonas theygo; jellyfishpulse through thewater trailingdeadly ‘nets’ready to ensnare any unwary prey. Of course there are also all the stationarycreatures, shellfish, corals, spongesandahostofotherswhomake theirhomewherever theOceanprovidesasuitablebase fromwhich theycanextend theirfilteringbodiesintothenutrientflow.

It’s here also that fish enter our metabolic story, firstly as floatingmembrane-encased eggs – themselves a tasty feast for others – then as tinytranslucent fry, filtering the riches around them until they’re big enough toventure beyond the plankton layer.A surprisinglywidevariety of fish speciesmake their fulltime living by filtering the plankton soup. They feed byswimming,mouthagape,forcingwaterthroughsieve-likegill-rakers thatcatchtheirtinypreyanddirectitstraighttotheirgullet,atthesametimeasextractingoxygenfromthewaterasitpassesthrough.Somespecies,herringandmenhadenamong them, have very fine gill-rakers, allowing them to feed directly onphytoplankton. Others like sardines, mackerel, pilchards and anchovies dinesolelyonzooplankton.AllofthemarepivotalspecieswithinOceanfoodwebs,especiallywhereseasonalupwellingscreatemassiveplanktonblooms.

Butit’snotjustthesediminutivefishthatenjoytheplanktonriches.Whalesharksandbaskingsharks,upto15mand12mlongrespectively,arethelargestand second largest fish in the Ocean. They shortcut the usual ascending sizescaleofthetrophiclevelsbyfeedingdirectlyontheprimaryconsumers,wherethey’rejoinedbygiantmantasanddevilrays.Butnoneof themcomeclosetotherealfilter-feedinggiants.

Theyareofcoursethebaleenwhales, includingthelargestofall: thebluewhale.Baleenwhalesfiltertonsofwateratatimethroughhair-likebaleenplateshangingfromtheirupperjaw.Astheyclosetheirmouthsthewaterissqueezedout, leavingtheirpreytobelickedfromtheinsideofthebaleenplates.Baleenwhalesfilteravarietyofpreythisway,butintheAntarctictheirfavouritefood

is krill, which they consume in enormous quantities. However, there’s afascinatingtwisttothisrelationshipthatwe’llexploreshortly.

PredatorsStrictly speaking, many of the beings mentioned above could be calledpredators, as even amongst the primary consumers feeding on passing algae,therearethosethatemploypredatorytechniquestoensnaretheirprey.Tohelpusmake the distinction between those and the truly ‘predatory’ predators,wecanthinkoftheformerasthelargevolumegrazersoftheOcean’ssurface,whilethe following are generally the fast moving and more individually focusedhunters.

AnenormousvarietyofpredatorshaveevolvedastheOcean’smetabolismhasmatured, and they’ve filled every nichewithin the varied ecosystems thatmakeupherbody.Fromopen-Oceanhuntersliketuna,sharksandmarlintothebottom-stalkingmorayeelsandgrouper,aplethoraoffishspeciesmakealivingbyeatingeachother.Joining the feast isahostofotherbeings,suchassquid,octopus and cuttlefish,who use their dextrous arms to engulf the unwary.Allsortsofothermobileinvertebrates,fromlobstersandcrabstostarfish,roamtheOcean’sreefsinsearchofprey.

Marinemammalsplaytheirpartaswell.Tiedtothesurfaceforbreaththeymaybe,butthatdoesn’tstopthemroamingfar,wideanddeepinsearchoftheirfavouritemeal.Sealsandotherpinipedsmostly stayclose to thecoast so theycanhaul-out tobreed,but the toothedwhales, including the smalldolphinandporpoise species, are found throughout the Ocean. Individual groups oftenspecialise inhighly refinedhunting techniques that requireastuteplanningandcoordination. Inmanycases toothedwhalesare theapexpredatorswithin theirownparticularecosystem,withorcaandspermwhalesbeingwithoutdoubttheOcean’stoptwopredators.8

And just to emphasise the intimate relationship between the Ocean andGaia’s other realms – the land and the atmosphere – we must include themassivecontributionofall theseabirds toOceanmetabolism.Whether it’s thestreaking gannet, the diving cormorant, the ubiquitous gull or the majesticalbatross, birds on the wing are indispensable servants to the recycling ofnutrientsacrosstheOcean’ssurface.Theirnitrateandphosphate-packedguanoprovidesaninstantfixforanewgenerationofphytoplankton,whoseenergy-richbodies will eventually contribute to a future meal for the birds themselves.9Likewise with those diving specialists the penguins, whose plankton-seedingguanoisanintegralpartoftheSouthernOcean’snutrientflow.

Intermsoftheflowofnutrientstheroleofthepredatoristofine-tunethe

balance between the primary producing phytoplankton and all the myriadconsumers. Their diversity, mobility and longevity are the key ingredients.They’re likemobile storehouses,moving through theOceandefecatingparcelsofnutrient‘goodies’wherevertheygo.Theirdiversitymeansthatnutrientsarealsocontinuallybeingpassedfromonetoanother,aspredatorbecomespreyandeventually, food for myriad scavenging and decomposing organisms.WithoutthemtheOcean’smetabolismwouldslowtoameretrickle.

ThatSinkingFeelingAndwhatofthevastbodyoftheOceanbelowthesunlitsurface?Howdoesshefeedthemyriadbeingsofherinnerbody?Deepdivingsubmersibleshavegivenus a glimpse of the mindboggling array of creatures living in the blacknessbeyondthetwilightzoneofthesunlight’sreach.Theirstrangenessonlyseemstoemphasis the unfathomable, alien world they inhabit. Below the thermoclinetheirs isanutrient-richworld,butwithout thephotosynthesisingalgae, there isno one to transform those nutrients into useable organic compounds, and theymustinsteadrelyonleftoversfromthesurface.

Imaginefloatinginliquidspace,300metresbelowthesurface.Lookingupthrough the inky twilight you follow the gradual transition fromdark to light,liketheshadedpromiseofsunrise.Asyoureyesadjust,youdiscernthedimlightreflectingofftinyparticlesrainingdownfromabove.Belowyoutheblacknessissparkling with an unparalleled bioluminescent light display as thousands ofstrangebeingsfeastonthismarine‘snow’!

We’ve already learned that of the 45 or so billion tons of carbonphotosynthesised in theOceaneachyear,about85 to90percent is recycled intheeuphoticzoneabovethethermocline.Thisleavesaboutfivebilliontonstobesharedoutamongstthedenizensofthedeep,mostofwhichneedstoeventuallyfinditswaybacktothesurface,inordertoclosethecarboncycleandensurethecontinuityofthewholesystem.

Asizeableproportionofthisfivebilliontonsisalreadysecondhandintheformof faecalpellets–apolite term forplanktonicpoo–or lockedup in thedeadbodiesofplanktonicbeingsthatslipthroughthenetofhungrymouthsnearthesurfaceandsink through the thermocline.Thispartof thebiologicalpumprelies on gravity to carry the faecal feast into the depths, and the larger theparticlesarethefastertheywillsink.Waitingforthemisaplethoraoftalentedrecyclers,readytoextracttheleftovernutrientgoodness.

Soefficientarethey,thatonlyaboutonepercentmakesittothedeepOceanfloorwhereanotherarmyofrecyclingorganismsisreadytominethelastscrapsof goodness.By the time they’re finished less than0.1 percent of the originalcarbongetsburied in thesediment layeraspartof the long-termcarboncycle.The result of all this recycling is the release of dissolved carbon dioxide andother life-giving nutrients into the water, where they either join the slowprocession of the thermohaline, which eventually delivers them back to thesurface,ortheyfast-tracktheirreturnjourneyviaupwellings.

Verticaldiurnalmigrationsuppliestheremainingcarbonloadtothewaitingmouthsbelowthe thermocline.We’vealreadymet themigratingcopepodsandkrillwho feast onphytoplankton at night, then ride the ‘gravity train’ into thedepthsduringtheday,wherethey’rejoinedbyaprocessionofsecondarygrazersof the fishy kind. The diminutive lanternfish make up the vast bulk of thismigratingmass, and are so prolific that inmany parts of theOcean theymayaccountforupto80percentoffishbiomass(Figure5.5).10

Figure5.5Lanternfisharenamedforthelight-emittingphotophoresalongtheirbodiesthatprovidebioluminescentcounter-shading,makingthemalmostinvisibletopredatorsfrombelow.(PhotocourtesyofNOAA)Lanternfisharenamedforthelight-emittingphotophoresalongtheirbodiesthatprovidebioluminescentcounter-shading,makingthemalmostinvisibletopredatorsfrombelow.Atnighttheyfeastonabanquetofzooplanktonnearthesurface,thendescendintothedepthsjustbeforedawn.Theirfaecalexcretionsatdepthprovidea‘fastfood’servicetoallthewaitingorganismsbelow,whilethelanternfishthemselvesprovideatastymealfordeepOceandwellerssuchassquidanddeepdivingwhales.Evenso,they’resaferinthedarkdepthsthanatthesurface,wherethey’realsoafavouritewithtuna,salmon,sharks,marinemammalsandseabirds.11

Thisverticalmigrationofbeingsrangesfromthesurfacedowntodepthsof1,500m. Below this the really deep Ocean belongs to profoundly strangecreaturesthatsurviveasscavengers,orpredatorsofscavengers.Buttheyallplayvital roles in theOcean’smetabolism, storing and recycling carbon and otheressentialnutrients,eventuallyreturningthemtothesurroundingwater,readyforthereturnjourneytothesurface.

But theOcean has a few tricks up her sleeve that enable her to fine-tunethesecyclicalprocesses.Overeons,herlivingmetabolismhasevolvedintothemostexquisitelydiversecollectionoflifeformsthatenjoyequallyexquisiteandcomplexrelationships.Let’slookatsomeexamplestoillustratetheimportanceofbalanceinahealthy,livingOceansystem.

TheBiologicalPumpinReverseFor decades marine scientists have puzzled over how the Ocean maintainsenough nutrients in the surface layer to support the intense abundance of lifethere. Given the ‘dilemma’ of the two-layered Ocean, most scientists havelooked to the physical processes of surface currents, turbulent mixing andupwellings to explain the nutrient flow back to the surface layer. But newresearch has uncovered some truly remarkable physiological processes thathighlightjusthowimportantthecomplexwebofrelationshipsthatmakeuptheOceanasalivingsystemaretoheroverallwellbeing.

Itappearsthatthebiologicalpumpnotonlytransportscarbonandnutrientsintothedepths,butitalsoplaysacriticallyimportantroleinreturningnutrientstothesurface.Itdoesthisinsuchhighlyrefinedandtargetedwaysthatinmanysituations, it is thekeyplayer in the flowofnutrientsdetermining themakeupand abundance of species within particular ecosystems. The biological pumpworksinthreewaystoreturnnutrientstothesurface:activetransport,biologicalturbulentmixingand targeted recycling.12Ofcourse theyaren’t reallyseparateprocesses at all, but rather the emergent mechanisms by which the Ocean’smetaboliccyclemaintainsdynamicbalance.

Active transport happenswhen animals consume carbon and nutrient-richfood below the thermocline, then swim up towards the surface where theirexcretareturnsmuchneedednutrientstothewater.Itwasalwaysassumedthatanimals involved in diurnal vertical migration were only feeding near thesurface,butitturnsoutthatmanyofthemalsofeedinthedepthsduringthedaythen defecate at the surface at night. For example, krill have been observedfeeding on sedimentary goodies on the Ocean floor 3,500 metres below thesurface.

LargerOcean beings also play an important role in transporting nutrientsbacktothesurface.Inwhatscientistshavecalledthewhalepump,manyspeciesof whales actively feed below the thermocline then return to the surface tobreathe.13Whilerestingonthesurfacetheyurinateanddefecate,releasinghugequantities of highly concentrated nutrients, including nitrogen, iron andphosphorous. In theGulf ofMaine humpbackwhales feed in the rich surfacewatersofStellwagonBankduringtheday,thenasdarknessfallstheydivedowntothebottomforatastysnackofsandlance,asmallbutnumerousfishspecieswhoburythemselvesinthesandybottomatnight.InotherareasoftheGulf,finwhalesdivebelow the thermocline to feastonkrillduring theday,while right

whalesscoopuptastycopepodshidingbelowthethermocline(Figure5.6).

Figure5.6Aconceptualmodelofthewhalepump.Inthecommonconceptofthebiologicalpump,zooplanktonfeedintheeuphoticzoneandexportnutrientsviasinkingfecalpellets,andverticalmigration.Fishtypicallyreleasenutrientsatthesamedepthatwhichtheyfeed.Excretionformarinemammals,tetheredtothesurfaceforrespiration,isexpectedtobeshallowerinthewatercolumnthanwheretheyfeed.(Imageandcaptionfrom:RomanJ,McCarthyJJ(2010)TheWhalePump:MarineMammalsEnhancePrimaryProductivityinaCoastalBasin.PLoSONE5(10):e13255.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013255)

It’s estimated that even today’s remnant population of whales excrete morenutritiousnitrogenbackintothesurfacewatersthanalloftheriversflowingintotheareacombined!Somescientistsbelievethatpriortothedecimationofwhalepopulationsbycommercialwhaling,theGulfofMainemayhavebeentwiceasproductiveasitistoday.14

InAntarctica, baleenwhales aremore likeOcean farmers than predators.Notonlyare they returningnitrogenandphosphorous to the surface layer,buttheir poo contains an enormous storehouse of essential iron. Without iron,phytoplankton can’t grow, and without the phytoplankton there would be nokrill.Asithappens,Antarcticwatersarelowiniron,becausethere’snorun-offfromthelandtoreplacewhatthephytoplanktonconsume.Butovermillionsofyears a naturally amplified, biological recycling system has evolved tocompensate.

Phytoplankton absorb the iron-rich whale poo; krill graze on thephytoplankton, accumulating iron in their muscles; whales then consume vastquantities of iron-rich krill, but because they’re primarily growing a nice fatlayerofblubber,theydon’tneedalltheironsoexcretemostofitbackintothewaterinhighlyconcentratedbursts.InfacttheironinAntarcticwhalepooistenmilliontimesmoreconcentratedthaninthesurroundingwater.Thisprovidestheiron-rich fertiliser phytoplankton need to bloom, which in turn leads to anexplosionofkrill,whichofcoursemeansmorekrillfeastsforthewhales!Over

timethisamplifiedrecyclingboostedthewholemetabolismofAntarcticatothepoint where it was not only supporting millions of whales, but many othermarinemammals, fish andbirds that relyon thevast swarmsof krill for theirsurvival.15

Wemightintuitivelythinkthatalargepopulationofwhaleswouldendupeatingallthekrill.Buttragically,wehaveproofthatthisamplifiedrecyclingofironbyalargepopulationofwhalesactuallyleadtoagreaterabundanceofkrillrather than less.Since the1960’s,whenindustrialscalewhalingdecimated thewhales in their Antarctic feeding grounds, the krill population, rather thanincreasing, has actually plummeted by as much as 80 percent.16 Without thewhales and their iron-rich poo the whole Antarctic metabolism has beenimpoverished(we’llreturntothisdiscussioninChapter10).

It’s not just in iron-poor Antarctica that whales perform this essentialmetabolicservice.Themightyspermwhales,oneofthedeepdivingchampionsofthecetaceanworld,huntiron-richgiantsquidoverathousandmetresbelowthe surface, where the immense pressure of theOcean depths postpones theirbowel and bladder movements until they return to the surface, where theirwhale-sized,iron-ladenpooismostneeded.

Andmorethanthis,witheverythrustoftheirmightytailsthewhalescreatewhirlpools and vortices in the water column. As they pass up through thethermocline this living turbulence actually mixes the two layers of water,literally pulling dissolved gases and nutrients back up into the surface layer,where they can once again nourish the phytoplankton.17 The decline inwhalepopulations may well have had unforseen impacts on the entire Ocean’smetabolism.

Interestingly, it’s not only whales that perform this biological turbulentmixing.Manylargebeings:seals,tuna,sharks,squidandothersaddtothemixastheycrossthethermalthreshold.Infact,scientistsarenowinvestigatingthepossibilitythateventinyorganismslikecopepods,lanternfishandkrillmayhavea significant influence on thermal mixing when they make their daily massverticalmigrations.18

MorethantheSumofitsPartsWecannowseethattheOcean’smetabolismreliesontightlycoupledfeedbackloops involving intricatelycomplex relationships,notonlybetween themyriadlifeformsthatmanifestherlivingessence,butalsowithherotherphysiologicalprocesses. Our journey through the Ocean’s respiration, circulation andmetabolism has given us glimpses of a profound interconnectedness, a vastpresence,whoselifeprocessesevenreachbeyondherownphysical,fluidbodyandpermeateeveryaspectofthislivingplanet.

These are of course bodily functions – the physical manifestation of theflow of energy – familiar concepts adapted for the purpose of presenting theOceanasalivingpresence.Thereareobviouslysignificantdifferencesbetweenthe physiology of a single biological organism, such as you or me, and thevastness of the bodily Ocean; not least of which is the fact that we are opensystemsin termsofnutrientflow.Werequireaconstantsupplyofoxygenandnewnutrients,whichwemetabolise,extractingthestoredenergyandgoodness,thenexcretingthewastethat’sleftover.

TheOceanontheotherhandismoreofasemi-closedsystem.Certainly,shereceives a continual supply of energy from the sun, but the supply of newnutrients is a mere trickle compared to her needs. Instead, she continuallyrecycles what she already has through the combined metabolism of all hermyriad children, which in no way diminishes the hugely important role thetrickle plays in her overall physiology. In fact it’s this very trickle of newnutrientsthatprovestherealityofanOcean-widemetabolism.19

TheOceanisasuper-organism;aglobal,livingecosystem;aself-regulatingwhole, more than the sum of her physiological parts. If this Ocean-widephysiology is theemergentpropertyofa fourbillionyear living journey,whatother life processes should we consider as emergent and universal?We havethankfullymovedonfromthedangerousandconceitedideathathumansaretheonlysentientbeingswithin life’s family,buthowfarareweprepared togo inour reconciliation with our evolutionary brothers and sisters?We can clearlyrecognise kindred spirit amongst the whales and dolphins, our air-breathingmammaliancousins.Butcanwealsoacknowledgesentience,intelligence,self-awareness and community amongst other Ocean dwellers? Indeed, can werecognisethesequalitiesasinherenttotheOceanherself?TherestofourlivingOceanjourneyisdevotedtoexploringthesequestions.

6

SentientOcean(FromtheLatin,sentire:‘toperceiveorfeel’)

Sentient:adjective,‘abilitytofeelorperceive,responsivetoorconsciousofsenseimpressions’–(Merriam-WebsterDictionary)

Sentience:noun,‘thestateorqualityofbeingsentient;awareness’–(CollinsEnglishDictionary)

Looking down through the Ocean’s translucent skin I can see the reef fivemetresbelow.Thehullsofourcatamaranslowlygiveuptheirmomentumtoherviscous insistence as we glide up to the mooring buoy and tie off. This isLafalafa,anundulatingcoralreefplateauthreenauticalmilesfromourbaseonFoa Island. Lafalafa rises from the sand 200 metres below, creating a raisedplatform that brings the Ocean floor within range of the sunlit surface. Itprovidesasolidfoundationforcoralreefcommunitiestoflourish.Tidalcurrentswashdeep,nutrient-richwateracrossitsflanks,continuallynourishingthesun-drenchedreefs.Thereefpinnaclebelowmereachesalmosttothesurface.Ithasbuilt up over tens of thousands of years, its living surface supported byuncountable coral ancestors, whose limestone skeletons provide structure,solidityandcontinuity.

Standingatthesternofthecatamaranscubaequipmentinplace,Ipausetoenjoythatexquisitesenseofanticipationofleavingthegravity-boundterrestrialworldbehindandentering theweightless,multi-dimensionaluniverseof liquidspace. Step out into the momentary heaviness of falling, then almostimmediately the feel of the Ocean’s embrace, immersed, transformed into anOceanversionofmyself.

Breathing in through the regulator’s mouthpiece, I’m comforted by thefamiliar ‘Darth Vader’ sound-effect, as air from the scuba cylinder fills mylungs; then exhaling a streamof carbondioxidebubbles that rush towards thesurfacetomergewiththeirair-bornkin.Ahh,it’sgoodtobeunderwateragain!A temporaryOcean dweller, clumsy and slow compared to the real thing, butweightless and elegant of movement beyond anything I could achieve in the

gravity-boundworldabove.There’salwaysaperiodofsensualadjustment: theinsistent,fluidpressure

pushingagainststretchedair-drums,remindingmybodytogentlyequaliseitselftothisdenserwatersphere;feelingthatviscous,waterycaressonexposedskin;alittletasteremindingmytongueoftheOcean’selementalvibrancy.NowtuningintotheOcean’ssoundscapebeyondmyownnoisybreath,amplifiedsurroundsound, from all directions simultaneously, thanks to the quadrupled speed ofsoundwavestravellingthroughtheOcean’smoredensebody.

ClearingmyfoggedmaskI focuson thisvisible‘watersphere’.Vision toohas a different quality in the Ocean. My analytical brain knows that therefractive qualities of water combine with the flat lens of my mask, makingeverythingappear25percentcloserandathirdlargerthanitactuallyis.Butmysensing body isn’t fooled by this ‘trick of the light’ and automaticallycompensates, tuninginmyspatialawarenesstothephysicalrealityof thereef.Even in this clear, tropical water my horizontal view extends only about 40metresbeforedissolvingintoabluehaze.Butwithinthisvisualfield,lightleapsand dances in exalted union with the watersphere, piercing the depths withshimmering rays, converging into a single point of intensity, or splashing theshallowreefindappledextravagance.

Afterafewminutesmybodyfeelsattuned,transitionedasmuchaspossibleinto a state ofOcean sentience.This transition time’s important, part physicalpart mental, but mostly energetic, a movement from terrestrial consciousnessintoanOceanwayofbeing.Onlandit’seasytoforgetsometimesthatweareinthe world.We often walk through places, unaware of their sensual presence.Underwaterthoughit’simpossiblenottofeelintheOcean!

Gliding closer to the reef I feel its livingpresencepermeatingmy senses,probingmeforaresponse.Thisisabodilycommunion:subtlecommunicationfartoocomplexformybraintocompute.Thisiscommunicationatamolecularlevel,involvingbillionsofchemicalandelectromagneticsignalseverysecond.Iexperience this as a feeling, or more precisely, a whole bunch of feelings atonce.Mybrain follows alongbehind inwhat neuroscientists call the ‘the halfsecondrule’,attemptingtointerpretmeaningfrommyfeltexperience.1Butthisisn’tjustmyexperience;I’malsobeingexperiencedbyindividualorganisms,aswellasthereefasawhole.

Thirty metres away a school of batfish subtly incline their disk-shapedbodies in my direction (Figure 6.1). The whole school shifts in one fluidmovement,fiftybodiesactingasone.Weareawareofeachother,momentarilyconnected, but experience tells me that if I try to fin closer they’ll probablymoveaway,maintainingaconstantdistancebetweenus.But if Ican tune into

theircollectivenetwork,theymayallowmetojointheschoolforashorttime.

Figure6.1BatfishaboveLafalafa.Theschoolmovesasonebody,eachindividualturningorincliningtheirbodiessimultaneouslyinonefluidmovement.

TodothisIneed tofocusallmysenses inadifferentway:moreperipherally,almostslightlyoutoffocus,sothatI’mnottemptedintoanypreoccupationwitha single fish. This singular focus is exactly what a predator does just beforeattacking. But it’s not just the single fish that takes fright. The whole schoolresponds as one body, turning or inclining so that the predator literally losessightofitsintendedtarget.Theschoolissensingtheenergeticintentionsofthepredator,notasindividuals,butasonebody.Ithasitsownsensoryperception,its own sentience, which is more than just the sum of the combined sensoryorgansofeachindividualfishwithinitsbody.Indeed,theschoolisanemergentsuperorganism.

Eveniftheschoolperceivesnothreatfrommethere’snoguaranteeitwillletmegetcloser.Itsresponseisn’tsimplyblindinstinct,‘fightorflight’.There’sdecision-makinginvolvedandthedecisionsarecontextual.There’salwaysalothappeningonthereef;notwomomentsarethesame.Imayhavebenignintent,but the schoolmay also be interactingwith grey reef sharks further down thereef slope, or maybe it’s preoccupied with the school of plankton-grazingfusiliers,twentymetrestotheirright.Anyway,IhavemyowndecisionstomakeandtodayI’mmoreinterestedingettingasense,afeel,forthereefasawhole.

Glidingeffortlesslywith thecurrent I follow thecontoursof the reefas itcascades downwards to thirty metres. Here colonies of billowing soft corals,their bodies engorgedwithwater,waft their tentacled polyps into the flowingcurrent,ensnaringpassingzooplankton.Alargegroupersensesmyapproachandcomesoutofhisdaytime lair tosatisfyhiscuriosity.Furtherdown theslope Iseetheresidentgangofgreyreefsharkspatrollinglazily,theirpresenceelicitinghardly a murmur amongst the reef community: everyone knows it’s not

lunchtime.This‘knowing’isintheverywateritself.It’salivewithinformation,chemical signals, electromagnetic pulses, sounds and vibrational messages –intensely complex but subtle, and virtually all beyond our own sensualcomprehension. And yet every fish, every tiny shrimp, every coral polyp caninstantly discern meaning from this sensual milieu and then make responsivedecisions. Every decision adds yet another piece of information to a never-endingreciprocityoflivedexperience.

Out of this melting pot of interactive and non-linear reciprocity, a self-organisingsystememerges:a livingreefcommunity,whoseemergentpropertyissentience.Justliketheschoolofbatfish,functioningasonesentientbody,sotoothereefbecomesonepulsing,feeling,perceivingbeing.Howcanweexplainthisself-organising,emergentlivingbeing?Therealityis,wecan’t.Wehavenowayofdissectingemergenceintoconstituentparts.It’ssimplynotreducible–itjust,well,emerges.Butthereisapatterntothewaysentientbehaviouremergesinlivingsystems.

ASenseofPlaceToapproachanykindofunderstandingofsentientbehaviourweneedtoremindourselvesaboutoneofthemostfundamentalaspectsoflife:itiscontextual.Tounderstand sentience in any living system, be it a single-celled amoeba, or anentireecosystem,wemustviewitinthecontextoftheever-changingconditions,bothwithinitselfanditsexternalsurroundings.

Let’s use our own sentience as an example. Our living essence emergesfrom the totality of fifty trillion individual cells, each with their own story,within the larger story that is our body.Butwe aremuchmore than just thistotality.Eachandeverycell is inacontinual flowofenergeticcommunicationwith its surroundings, receiving and interpreting electromagnetic, as well aschemical,information.Eachcellissensingitsworldandrespondingtoitandtheworldrespondsback.It’sthecell’sparticipationinthisenergeticcommunicationthat evokes its state of sentience. In other words, the cell is sentient becausethere issomethingother than itself tobeawareof, to interactwith,anddecidehowtorespondto.Thecell’slevelofsentienceiscontextuallyappropriateforitsneeds.

Throughbillionsof these individual interactions every singlemoment,weeachemergeasacoherent,sentientlivingsystemthatismorethanjustthesumofall these individual interactions. Ifwestudyanyof thecells in isolationwecan’t findanythingwecould identify as containingablueprint for this ‘wholebody’sentience,itcomesintoexistenceasaconsequenceofourinteractionwiththeworld,butitalsorequirestheworldtointeractback.Inotherwords,it’snotpossible to be sentient in an insentientworld.2And of course, groups of cellsdifferentiate into our sensory organs, amplifying and refining our sensualexperienceintoahighlypersonalisedperceptualawareness.

SentientBeginningsSo, sentience begins with the ability to sense the world around us. But toglimpse theemergenceof this sentientbehaviourwemust journeyall thewaybacktoourevolutionarybeginnings,tothosefirstoceanic,bacterialadventurers.RememberinChapter2welearnedaboutautopoiesis,theself-makingandself-maintaining process that brought life into being? The very first autopoieticbacterialbeingsmaintainedandrenewedthemselvesbyabsorbingtiny,energy-richfoodmoleculesthroughthemultitudeoftinyporesintheirsemi-permeablecell membrane, then excreting their metabolic waste through the very samepores.

But here our intrepid bacterial ancestors were faced with several life-defining challenges. The first was finding new sources of food to keep theirmetabolism going. Their ingenious response to this challenge was to developchemical sensory receptorson their cellmembranes to ‘smell’ the surroundingOcean for clues as towhere theymight find a new source of tastymoleculartreats.Oncetheyhadlocatedanewfoodsourcetheycouldthenusetheirflagellatomovethemselvestowardsit.

Equally important though,was finding away ofmonitoring their internalprocesses.Unless theycoulddevelopinternalsenses therewouldbenowaytofeel hungry and thereforeno imperative to search for anew food source.Thisinternalsensing,or‘senseofself’,isknownasinteroceptionandisfundamentaltoalllife.Inourownbodies,interoceptionnotonlysignalsuswhenit’stimetoeatbyprovidinguswithhungerpangs,butalsoletsusknowwhenit’stimetobreathe,urinate,defecateandsoon.3

Andhere’swhereweseetheemergenceofsentientbehaviour,becausenotonlywereourancestralbacteriasensingthemselvesandtheworldaroundthem,but they were also discerning meaning from the chemical signals pouring inthroughtheircellmembrane.Theycoulddecidewhetherthesensoryinformationtheywerereceivingmeantatastytreatoranoxiouspoison,andthenchooseanappropriate course of action. The two Chilean biologists who developed thetheory of autopoiesis, HumbertoMaturana and FranciscoVarela, realised thatthese cognitive skills are inseparable from the life process. Without thisfundamental level of cognitive sentience there can be no autopoiesis, andthereforenolife.Astheyputit‘toliveistoknow’.4

Biologistandearlypioneerofsystemsthinking,GregoryBateson,describedthiscognitive sentienceas ‘mentalprocess’ormoredirectly, ‘mind innature’.

LikeMaturanaandVarela,he saw thesementalprocesses as inseparable fromthephysicalstructureoflife.Forhim,mindwastheessentialprocessoflifelongbefore the development of higher nervous systemsor brains. In hiswords ‘…mind is the essence of life’.5 He also emphasised that mind isn’t limited toindividual organisms, but is alsomanifest in social systems as well as wholeecosystems.

Thisleadsusontothenextessentialstepinourunderstandingofsentienceasanemergentpropertyofself-organisingsystems.Life iscommunal,nothinglives in isolationand inorder to livecommunally theremustbea reliableandcontextually appropriate way to communicate with each other.We’re used tothinkingofcommunication inhuman terms,but in fact it’sasoldas life itselfandhasitsorigins,onceagain,intheworldofbacteria.

Bacteria are the ultimate networkers.They are outstandingly successful atlivingincommunitiesbecauselongagotheymasteredtheartofcommunication!Theirlanguageischemical,butfarfrombeingthemindlessautomaticresponsetoexternalstimuli itwasonceconsidered, it turnsout that it’shighlycomplexand entirely contextual. In otherwords, themeaning of a particularmolecularsignaldependsonthecontextinwhicheachbacterialcellreceivesit,andtheirresponseistriggeredbytheirinternalstateaswellasthestateoftheirexternalenvironment.

The result is the emergence of highly coordinated group behaviour, farbeyond anything individual bacteria could achieve. Acting as onesuperorganism, microbial colonies (sometimes made up of many differentspecies)pooltheirsensingskillsintoahigherlevelofsentientabilityknownasquorumsensing.Sosophisticatedisthisemergentsentienceandresultingsocialcohesion,thatsomescientistscompareittothesocialintelligencedisplayedbyanimalssuchasswarminginsects,birds,fishandevenprimates.6

MicrobiologistsfromMITandMontereyBayAquariumusedaningenious,driftingroboticsamplerandcuttingedgegenomictechnologytoobserve‘adayinthelife’ofsurfacebacterialcommunities.Theydiscoveredthatnotonlyweredifferentbacterialcoloniessharinginformation,buttheywerealsocoordinatingdifferentiated gene expression to optimise environmental conditions. In otherwordstheywereworkingco-operativelyasonebody,togetthemostoutoftheirshared home.7 In his ground-breaking bookAnimate Earth, ecologist StephanHarding describes bacteria as ‘…deeply sentient creatures that live in a rich,meaningful, communal world, partially of their own making, to which theyrespondcreativelyandwithexquisitesensitivity.’8

In an unexpectedly emergent way, a team of scientists, led by micro-biologist Yuri Gorgy at the Marine Environmental Biology Department,

UniversityofSouthernCalifornia,are investigating thenetworkingcapabilitiesof marine bacteria and have discovered that they use electrically conductivenanowires to transfer electrons in respiration: communal breathing.9 Gorgyspeculatesthatthesebacterialnanowiresmayalsoactasaglobalcommunicationnetworkinmuchthesamewaythatneuralnetworksworkinanimals,includingus.AvastelectricalnetworkcoveringtheOceanfloor,capableofprocessingandsharinginformationathousandtimesfasterthanourownneuralnetworkscouldbe at work: ‘…an Ocean mind, possibly billions of years in the making andcapableofdeepthoughtradicallydifferentfromourown.’10IfthisisthecaseitcouldhaveprofoundimplicationsforthewayweviewOceansentience.

This also raises some interesting questions as to the role of the Ocean’swatery body in this emergent sentience. We’ve already learned that water’sliquid crystalline fourth phase carries a negative electron charge, while at thesametimegiftingapositiveprotonchargetothesurroundingwater.If,asseemslikely, these bacterial nanowires are surrounded by a skin of electron-packedfourthphasewater, thiscouldactasanaturallyamplifiedconduit inmuch thesamewayas inter-facialwater facilitates instantaneouscellularcommunicationinourbody’sconnectivecollagentissue.

Quantum biologist Mae Wan Ho calls this cellular quantum coherencequantumjazz,anddescribesitasa‘bodyconsciousness’thatprobablyevolvedlongbeforethedevelopmentofacentralnervoussystem.Shebelievesthat,‘…thisbodyconsciousnessisthebasisofsentience,thepre-requisiteforconsciousexperience that involves the participation of the intercommunicatingwhole oftheenergystoragedomain.’11

Thiswater-facilitated body consciousness then represents the fundamentalsentience common to all, from amoeba to jellyfish to humans. As life hasbecomeevermorecomplex,thisfundamentalsentiencehasevolvedintohighlyrefined and contextually appropriate sensory perception, including self-awareness.Our own self-awareness is highlydeveloped andyet, over the pastfew hundred years we’ve been playing out a dangerous ‘thought experiment’that’sresultedinuslosingtouchwiththesentienceoftherestoflife.

Sciencehasonly recentlystarted toembraceamore inclusiveapproach tosentience.Whilethebiologicalscienceshavelongrealisedthesensingabilitiesof other organisms, they are on the whole, still reluctant to acknowledgeconscious,perceptiveawarenessinanybuttheso-called‘higher’lifeformssuchas some primates, dolphins and whales, elephants and perhaps a few cleverparrots. But now,more andmore research is indicating that highly developedperceptual awareness, as well as self-awareness, is the norm rather than theexception. In other words, fully-fledged conscious sentience is not just a gift

bestowed upon humans, like some kind of evolutionary crown, but is insteadwidespread.

It’sfromthisperspectivethatwe’llcontinueourOceanjourney.

7

SentientBeingsinaSentientOceanSo farwe’ve looked at how sentience began, and how it self-organises into acontextuallyappropriatelevelofsentientabilityandsocialcoherence.Nowlet’sturn our attention to the complex and highly evolved way in which some oftoday’sOceandwellerssensetheirwateryworld.Firstthough,it’sworthtakingamomenttoappreciatejusthowdifferenttheOceanisfromtheatmosphereasasensualmedium.

PerhapsthemostimportantandobviousdifferencebetweentheOceanandtheatmosphereisitsdensity,andofcoursewefeelthisdifferenceassoonaswedivethroughherviscoussurface.Densityistheratioofmasstovolume,andatsea-level the atmosphere’s density is approximately 1.2 kilograms per cubicmetre, whereas the Ocean’s surface density is over 1000 kilograms per cubicmetre.TheOcean’sdensitythoughisn’tuniform;it’saffectedbyacombinationof temperature, salinity and pressure. These relationships are complex, but ingeneraldensityincreasesassalinityandpressureincreaseanddecreasesaswatertemperaturerises.

Density profoundly affects the way light, sound and vibrations travelthroughtheOcean.Soundandvibrationsformpressurewavesthattravelmuchfaster and further in the dense Ocean medium than in the air. This not onlymakes theOceananacoustic ‘utopia’,butalsoopensupan intensevibrationalworldforthosewhocantune-in.SoundtravelsapproximatelyfourtimesfasterintheOceanthanintheair.Itsexactvelocitydependsonthedynamicbalancebetweentemperatureanddensity.Inwarmwaterittravelsfasterbutslowsdownas the temperature drops, however it speeds up as thewater becomes denser.Thishasprofoundimplicationsforlongdistanceacousticcommunication,whichwe’llexplorelaterinthechapter.

Lightontheotherhand,asthevisiblepartoftheelectromagneticspectrum,reachesitsmaximumvelocityintheweightlessvacuumofspace.Itslowsonlyimperceptibly as it travels through Earth’s atmosphere, but much moredramatically once it meets the dense Ocean, so much so in fact that we canactuallyseetheeffectasthe‘bending’oflight,knownasrefraction.

TheOceanabsorbsthesun’slightintoherdensebodyassoonitpenetratesbelow her surface. The first wavelengths to be absorbed are ultraviolet andinfrared,hencethefirstcolourstodisappearfromsightonlyafewmetresdownare red,violet andorange, followedsoonafterbyyellow.Only theblue-greenwavelengthspenetratetoanysignificantdepth,whichiswhytheOceanappearsblue or green to us from above, depending on the amount and colour ofsuspendedparticles,phytoplanktonanddissolvedsubstancesreflectingthelightbacktothesurface.Evenincleartropicalwatersonlyaboutonepercentofthesun’s light reaches below 150 metres, and even that meagre illumination hasdisappearedcompletelyby1000metres.

But it’s not only the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum that’saffected by theOcean. Her salty body is also a highly effective conductor ofelectrical impulses – 20 billion times more efficient than the atmosphere –thanks to the dissolved sodium, chloride,magnesium, sulphate and other ionsthatcontributetohersaltiness.TheOceanisawondrousworld,fullofpungentsmells and exotic tastes in the form of chemical signals that can remain‘readable’ even in minute concentrations, due to the viscous connectionsbetweenwatermolecules.

Let’sgeta‘taste’ofwhatit’sliketoliveinthisintenselyaromaticsoup.

ChemoreceptionSmellandtaste–olfactionandgustation–are thesenses thathaveevolvedtoperceive the rich chemical language of life, hence the name, chemoreception.We know from our own experience how closely linked these senses are; howdifferentourfoodtastesforinstance,whenacoldorhayfeverblocksoursinusesanddeadensoursenseofsmell.Theyaretheevolutionaryrefinementsgiftedtous from those early chemoreceptive pores adorning the cell membranes ofArchaenbacteria.Oursenseofsmellnotonlypointsusinthedirectionofatastymeal,butalsoalertsustoawiderangeofchemicalsignpostsrelatedtovirtuallyevery aspect of life, although most of us remain blissfully unaware of thepungent,pheromone-filledworldwelivein!

IntheOceantasteandsmellareevenmoreintertwined,somuchsothatinsome situations it’smore a case of smelling tastes and tasting smells! This isbecausemany of the chemical bio-molecules associated with smells that wafteasily on the breeze to waiting noses are actually hydrophobic,meaning theyaren’t very water-soluble and therefore don’t travel very far in the Ocean.Consequently organisms have to be in very close proximity, if not actuallytouching thesebio-moleculeswith theirolfactory receptors to smell them.Thebio-molecules responsible for the primary tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter andumami(savoury))ontheotherhand,easilyspreadfarandwide.Inotherwords,the saying ‘sniffing out a tasty meal’ takes on a whole new meaning in theOcean.1

Areallygoodexampleofthisisagroupofanimalsknownasnudibranchs(Figure 7.1). These colourful, shell-less sea slugs have two antennae-likerhinophores –meaning ‘nosebearing’–on topof theirheads that theyuse to‘taste’ thesurroundingwater,while theiroral tentaclesare incontinualcontactwiththeodour-richsubstrate.

Figure7.1Tambjaverconisnudibranchshowingtherhinophoresandoraltentacles.Alsonotetheexternalgillsanterioroftherhinophores.

Soimportantistheabilitytotastethewateraroundthemthatfishnotonlyhavetastebuds in theirmouths,butalsohave taste receptorsonotherpartsof theirbodies; inparticular, theoutsideof their lips,gillcavities, flanksandeven tailfins.Somespecies,suchasrockcodandgoatfish,evenhavespecialbarbelsontheundersideoftheirjawsthattheyusetotastethewater-soakedsand.Allthesetastereceptorsareconnectedtothesamethreecranialnervesintheirbrains.Buttherearealsootherindividualchemoreceptorcellsconnecteddirectlytonervesinotherpartsoftheirbodies,suggestingthepossibilitythatit’snotjustthebraininvolvedintaste-relateddecision-making.

Of course this is not to say that smell isn’t important, or is only used forclose-upsensing.Therearemanyotherchemicalsignalsdissolvedinthewaterthatakeensenseofsmellcandetectfromafar.SharkshavesomeofthemostsensitivenosesintheOcean.Somespeciescandetectbloodmoleculesaslowasonepartpermillion,andcanevendeterminethedirectionofitssourcebasedonthesplitseconddifferenceinthetimeittakestoreacheachnostril.Sharksalsohavea‘nose’forthedifferentchemicalsignaturesoffishintestines.

Butit’snotjustthesmelloflunchthat’simportant.ManyOceanbeingsusechemoreception to locate and choosemates, care for their young, identify andavoid predators and even to navigate home. For example, researchers havediscovered that some fish species are able to smell particular genes known asMHC genes, important to the healthy functioning of the immune system.Choosing a mate with differing MHC genes ensures offspring will have astrongerimmunesystem.2Thisisbodilyintelligencewecanbutmarvelat.

Salmon use their extraordinary noses to smell their way home. As theymake their way down their natal stream towards the Ocean, they imprint theuniquechemicalsignaturesofeachtributarytheypassalongthewayuntiltheyreach the river mouth and the open Ocean.When their return journey bringsthemwithin range, they home-in on each signature smell until they reach theverytributarytheywerebornin.Thissameextraordinarysenseofsmellallowsthem to recognise salmon from their own stream, aswell as neighbours fromotherpopulations.3

VisionInaworldwherelightbarelypenetratesthesurfacewemightexpectvisiontobetheforgottensense.Whileit’struethatinmanycasesothersensestakethelead,visionisneverthelessanimportantportalintotheirOceanworldformanyofherinhabitants.Andof course, as ifweneed remindingagain, like somanyotheraspectsoflife,visionevolvedintheOcean.

The eye slowly evolved from the earliest single-celled organisms, whodeveloped simple photoreceptors that could do no more than perceive theamount and direction of light reaching them. The pinhole eye enabled basicshapestobediscerned,butlackedanydetail.Thefirsttrueimage-formingeye,thecompoundeye,camealongduringtheCambrianperiodandisstillthewaycrustaceans such as lobsters, crabs and shrimps see theirworld. Image claritydependsonhowmanysegments–calledommatidia–theeyehas,buteventhebestcompoundeyesareonlygoodforseeingthingsatcloserange.Compoundeyes however, are excellent at detecting movement and in some crustaceansthereishighlydevelopeddepthperceptionaswellascolourvision.

Agreatexampleisthemantisshrimp,whoseenormousprotrudingeyescanswivel inoppositedirections at the same time (Figure7.2).Mantis shrimpnotonlyhaveexcellent colourvision,but theycanalsodo something thatwecanonlyachievewiththehelpoftechnology:theycanseepolarisedlight.Thisisahugeadvantageasmuchofthelightreachingbelowthesurfaceispolarisedduetothereflectiveandrefractivequalitiesofwater.Mantisshrimpeyesaredividedinto three hemispheres, which gives them outstanding trinocular depthperception.Themiddlehemispherehashighlyspecialisedommatidia,withupto12different colour receptors (compared toour three) enabling them to see thefullspectrumofpolarisedlightaswellasultravioletlight.Theirsisacolourfulworldindeed.4

Figure7.2Mantisshrimpshavecompoundeyesdividedintothreehemispheres,givingthemtrinoculardepthperceptionandtheabilitytoseethefullspectrumofpolarizedandultravioletlight.

Inaremarkableexampleofconvergentevolutiontwoquitedifferent,butequallysophisticated, single-lens eyes have emerged from those first simplephotoreceptors. And the owners of these two eye types couldn’t be moredifferent.Ononesideofthisvisualdividewehavethevertebrates:fish,sharks,reptilesandmammals,includingalllandmammals;ontheotheraspecialgroupof invertebrates: the cephalopods, represented by squid, cuttlefish and octopi.For both these groups the basic function of their single-lens eyes is the same:lightentersthroughthepupilandisfocusedbythelensontothephotoreceptorcellsoftheretina.Thedifferencesareinhowtheyachievethesefundamentals,andalsoinsomeoftheneattrickseachhasdevelopedtomakethemostofthelimitedlightavailabletothem.

Looking into the eye of a cuttlefish or octopus can be disconcerting. Theclearlyintelligent,questioninglookrespondingtoyourowngazeseemsentirelyalien. Inplaceofourmore familiar roundpupil isanelongatedandsomewhatrectangularslit (Figure7.3).Likeourpupil though, itexpandsandcontracts tocontrol the amount of light reaching the lens. The lens of a cephalopod eyefocuses much like the lens of a camera, by moving in and out to focus atdifferentdistances,whereasweusemusclesaroundtheeyetochangetheshapeofthelens.

Figure7.3Theelongatedpupilofcuttlefishandoctopuseyesseementirelyalientous,andyettheyrepresentaremarkableexampleofconvergentevolutionthathasproducedtwodistinctlydifferentbutequallyefficientsingle-lenseyeforms.

Cephalopod eyes have totally different photoreceptor cells to us. While ourretinaiscoveredwithrodsandcones(rodsforlowlightconditionsandconesforbright light, as well as colour reception) cephalopods have receptors calledrhabdomeresthatenablethemtoseebothpolarisedandunpolarisedlight.Somefish take advantage of polarised light by reflecting it off their silvery bodies,creatingaglarethatconfusespotentialpredators,butthecephalopod’spolarisedvisionletsthemseestraightthroughtheglareandontoapotentialmeal.

Evenmoreintriguingisthattheiridophoresontheirskin,whichtheyusetoinstantlychangecolourandcreateintricatepatterns,alsoreflectpolarisedlight.Notonlydoesthisenablethemtoinstantlycamouflagethemselvesagainstanybackground, but also, these eye-catching costume changes may actually be acrypticlanguage,invisibletopredatorssuchassharks,sealsandcetaceans,noneofwhomarebelievedtohavepolarisedvision.5Sothenexttimeyouputonyourpolarisedsunglassesthinkofthesesoft-bodiedmastersoflight.

Onthevertebratesideofthisconvergentvisualevolution,thereisalonglistofspectacularinnovations,whichasmentionedearlier,weretheforerunnersofvirtually all terrestrial visual specialisations. For example, colour vision iscommon amongst many fish species, as is the ability to see ultraviolet light,while some have even emulated the cephalopods and can see polarised light.NightvisionwasdevelopedintheOcean,andrefinedbysharks,whohavebetternightvisionthancats.

Marinemammalsarechildrenofbothworlds, andasvisionunderwater isparamount formanyof them, they have a fisheye lens enabling them to focuslightcorrectlyontotheretina.Butasfisheyelensescan’tfocusproperlyabovewater,somewhaleshavecompensatedforthiswithanirregularshapedcornea,whichactslikeabi-focallens,allowingthewhaletofocusabovewater.Others

havespecialmusclesthatbendthelensgivingthemaclearviewabovewater.6But when vision alone is insufficient, other senses have evolved to take

over.

ElectromagneticSensingWhat would it be like to ‘see’ the electrical fields generated by the smallestmuscle movement, even the heartbeat of a fish hiding amongst the rocks orunderthesand,or‘feel’thesubtlemagneticfieldsoftheEarth,runningbeneaththeOceanfloor?ForsomeOceandwellerselectroreceptionandmagnetoceptionconstituteasixth,andinsomecases,aseventhsense.

Electroreception, as thename suggests, is the ability toperceive electricalfields pulsing through the water. Like the other senses, electroreception isprimarily a passive receiving sense, usedmainly for hunting. There are a fewspecies that have developed active electroreception, whereby they generate aweak electric pulse that can be used for electro-communication as well aselectro-location. There are several species of fish, including the ancientcoelacanths,andatleastonespeciesofdolphinthatuseelectroreception.Butthe‘electrifying’ champions are the sharks, skates and rays, otherwise known aselasmobranchs.

Thesecreatureshaveevolvedacompletelyuniquesensoryorganknownasthe ampullae of Lorenzini (Figure 7.4). The ampullae are made up of smallclustersofelectricallysensitivereceptorcellsjustundertheskinontheirheads,andareconnectedtoporesontheskin’ssurfaceviasmalljelly-filledtubes.Theyhave several thousand of these pores, but the highest concentration is usuallyaround the mouth, giving us the clue that they are particularly important intracking the movements of prey in the last moments of attack. In fact,electroreception ismost definitely a close-range sensing tool, as the electricalfields they are sensing are incredibly small, which is why some species havegone to great lengths tomaximize their sensitivity. Research on sharks’ brainresponse shows that theycandetect electric fields as lowas15billionthsof avolt.7That’ssolowwebarelyhavethetechnologytomeasureit,yetsharksandrayshavethisbuiltintotheirbodyconsciousness.

Figure7.4TheampullaeofLorenziniareclearlyvisibleontheundersideofthenoseofthistigersharkGaleocerdocuvier.(Image:AlbertKok,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lorenzini.jpg)Somesharkandrayspeciesthatliveindeepormurkywaterhaveeitherlargerpores,ormoreofthem,tocompensateforthepoorvisibility.Hammerheadsharkstakefulladvantageoftheirwidelyelongatedheads.Notonlydotheyhavesuper-widevisionandwidelyspacednostrilsgivingthemstereoscopicdirectionalsmell,buttheyalsohavethreethousandampullaeofLorenziniporesonthefrontandundersideoftheirhead,perfectforhuntingoversandormudbottoms.

One group of rays has taken active electroreception to extremes! Electricrays are not only highly sensitive to electrical fields, but are capable ofgeneratingmassive electrical pulses up to 220volts through two large electricorgans on either side of their head.They use this incredible firepower to stunprey and as a highly efficient defensive weapon.8 Having been zapped whiletryingtorescueanelectricraythatwaswasheduponabeach,Icanattesttoits‘shocking’ efficiency.Luckily forme thepoor thingwas in such aweak statethatitprobablycouldn’tproduceitsfullvoltage.

MagnetoceptionMagnetoceptionmaybeanawkwardwordtopronounce,butunderstandingthesensing mechanisms that make it possible has proved even more awkward.Scientists are, on the whole, still baffled by the astounding magnetoceptionabilities of a wide range of beings: from sharks and rays to turtles, whales,salmon and even some invertebrates such as lobsters.Thebest understood areprobably the sharks and rayswho use their staggeringly sensitive ampullae ofLorenzini to sense minute fluctuations in electrical currents as they swimthrough magnetic fields. It appears that the magnetoception abilities of otherOceandwellersmaybeduetoaparticularlymagneticironoxideintheirbrains,knownasmagnetite,whichallowsthemtosensechangesinthemagneticfield.9Whatevertheactualmechanism,itseemsthatmagnetoceptionplaysasignificantroleintheimpressivenavigationalabilitiesofmanyofthem.

Forinstance,it’sbelievedthatturtlesmayusetheirmagneticabilitiestoplottheir position on an inbuilt ‘magnetic map’ of the Ocean, which helps themnavigatebacktotheverybeachtheywerebornon.10Salmonarebelievedtousemagnetoceptiontogetthemselvescloseenoughtotheirnatalriverfortheirkeensense of smell to pick up the friendly aromas of home. There’s also growingspeculationthathumpbacksandotherwhalesmayusemagneticfieldsaspartoftheirnavigation‘toolbox’onthelongmigrationsbetweenfeedingandbreedinggrounds.

Satellite tagging has uncovered the ‘secret lives’ of other long distancetravelers.Tuna,marlinandswordfishareknowntocrossentireOceanbasinsasthey hunt or gather for spawning, and it’s thought that the Earth’s magneticfieldsmay help them find theirway.Greatwhites and tiger sharks have beentrackedmeanderingforthousandsofkilometresfromonefavourite‘restaurant’to another.Whale sharks andgiantmanta rays arrive at precise locationswithpinpoint accuracy and impeccable timing to feast on billions of fish eggs,released en masse by spawning fish.11 Hammerhead sharks with their extraheadspace packed with ampullae, are thought to be particularly skilled inmagnetic navigation, and use it to find their way to hammerhead cleaningstations,aswellasmassmatingrituals.12

HearingandPressureSensingWhenJacquesYvesCousteauwroteTheSilentWorldin1953humanityhadnoideaabouttheimportanceofsoundintheOceanrealm.ButasCousteauandthelegionsofunderwaterexplorers that followedhavediscovered, theOcean is infactaworldfullofsound,anacousticparadiseforthosewiththesense-abilityto‘tune-in’.

Hearing, whether in air or water, works by sensing pressure change, butbecause of the unique properties of theOcean’swaterymedium, the pressurewavescreatedbysoundsactinvirtuallythesamewayaspressurewavescausedby vibrational movement, such as swimming. Water is only very slightlycompressible,whichmeansthatpressuregradientsaremuchmoresubtlethaninthe air.However, thewater’s particle velocity, created by sound and pressurewavesas theyspeed through thewater, takesonmore importance. In thiswaywe might say that hearing underwater is a felt experience. And indeed manyOceandwellershaveevolvedanintegrated,wholebodyapproachthatishighlysensitivetobothsoundandmovement.

In most fish species this integrated, hydrodynamic approach includes notonlytheears,butalsothehighlysensitivelaterallinesystem.Thelaterallineismadeupofrowsofreceptorcellsrunningaroundtheheadandalongthebodyofthe fish.Eachcellhasa finehair,calledcilia,embedded ina jelly-likecuporcupula, which is attached to a nerve ending (Figure 7.5). The tiniest pressurechange causes the hair to bend, triggering a signal that travels through thenervoussystem,creatingakindofhydrodynamic‘image’.13Somefishalsohaveadirect connectionbetween their inner ear and their gas-filled swimbladders,whichareabletodetectsubtlepressurechangesinthesurroundingwater.

Figure7.5Thelaterallinesystemshowingthesubcutaneouslaterallinecanalandcupula.Image:

EncyclopædiaBritannica(2016)retrievedfrom:http://www.britannica.com/science/lateral-line-system

Unlikefish,whoseinnerearsareclosedofffromtheoutsideworld,sharkshave cilia lined openings on either side of their head that lead directly to theinnerear.Theyalsohavesimilaropenporesalongtheirlaterallinethatfurtherenhancehearingability.It’sestimatedthatsomesharkscanhearlowfrequency,pulsating sounds, suchas thosemadebya sickorwounded fish, fromseveralkilometresaway.

Notonlyisthelaterallinepartofafish’ssenseofhearing,butitspressure-sensing capabilities may play a physical role in performing the tightlycoordinatedandsynchronousballetofschoolingbehaviour.Thelaterallineofaschooling fish can feel theminute pressure changes caused by its neighbour’smovements, allowing its own bodily intelligence to instantaneously adjust itsmovementstomatch.

The importance of hearing and pressure sensing in the Ocean is furtherhighlightedbytheconvergentevolutionoflaterallinetypesystemsinstrikinglydifferent animals, such as cephalopods, crustaceans and even some marinemammals.Although cephalopods have no ears as such, they do have rows ofciliatedreceptorcellsontheirheadsandarmsthatprovidethemwiththesamehydrodynamic image of their world. Some crustaceans have similarmechanoreceptorcellsontheirwidelyseparatedantennae,providingthemwith‘stereosound’.14

Even thoughmostmarinemammalshaveexcellenthearing, someof themenhancetheirhydrodynamiccapabilitieswithhighlysensitivehaircellsaroundtheirheads,whichtheyusetodetectcurrentandpressurechanges.Perhapsthestrangest of all is the Arctic dwelling narwhal. This ‘unicorn’ of the Oceangrowsahardtusk,actuallyamodifiedtooth,coveredwithtenmilliontinynerveendings connected to a central nerve. The narwhal’s tusk not only detectspressurechanges,butisalsoacutelysensitivetotemperaturechangeandparticlegradients. This helps them sense changes in the salinity of the water in theirArctichome,averyusefultoolfornavigatingtheirwaythroughpackice.This‘super-tooth’ also helps them detect water particles carrying the signaturecharacteristicsoffishthatmakeuptheirdiet.15

Anintriguingtwisttothis‘toothsome’taleisthefactthatit’sprimarilyonlymaleswhogrow tusks,whichmay seema littleunfair consideringhowusefultheyare.Itstartstomakemoresensehoweverwhenweconsiderthetightsocialcohesionoftheirnomadiclifestyle–followingtheseasonaladvanceandretreatof theArcticpack ice.Lone individualsmaysometimesventure furtherafield,butforthemostparttheylivecommunalliveswhereindividualtalentsandskills

arepooledtogetherforthebenefitofall.Itmaywellbethatthemale’sroleinthepod ismore focusedon foragingandnavigating, leaving the femalesmoretimeandenergytoputintocaringforcalves.

Withsomuchevolutionarygeniusdevotedtohearingandpressuresensing,itgoeswithoutsayingthattheymustplayahugelyimportantpartinthelivesofmanyOcean dwellers. But some of the remarkable ways in which the Oceansoundscape influences and informs their lives is truly astounding. So let’simmerseourselvesandtune-intoafewexamples.

HomeCallingImagineforamomentthatyou’reatinylarvalfish,newlyhatchedfromyourfloatingeggcocoon,whichwasreleasedintotheOcean,alongwiththousands of sibling eggs, by your mother just a few days previously.You’re surrounded by a smorgasbord of tasty planktonic treats evensmallerthanyouare.Yournewlyawakenedchemoreceptivesensespointyou in the right direction, and you discover that you already have theability to swim awkwardly towards your first meal. Over the comingweeks you feast continuously on the intensely nutritious plankton, untilyou have developed beyond your larval stage and are ready to settledownintolifeonthereef.

The only problem is thatwhile you’ve been floating around at theOcean’ssurface,you’vedriftedonhercurrentsandarenowalongwayfromthereefyourparentslaunchedyoufrom,soyoumustsearchforanew reef to call home. While these unsettling ‘settlement’ urges areoccupying your thoughts you slowly become aware of strange, yetsomehow familiar, vibrational sounds entering your consciousness.Amongstthecacophonyofnoiseyoucandiscernawiderangeofsounds:crackling,scraping,whoops,whistles,thumps,booms,gruntsandclicks.Allthesesoundsarecomingfromreefinhabitantsgoingabouttheirdailybusinessoffeeding,cleaning,communicatingandsocializing.Atfirstallthis ‘noise’ makes no sense, but slowly your whole being starts torespondandasoundimageformsinyourmind,whichresonatesthroughyouuntil itsmeaningbecomes clear; ‘Home’!And you start swimmingpurposefullyinthedirectionofthishomely‘music’.

Asitturnsoutit’snotjustlarvalfishthatfindtheirwayhomeusingthesoundsofthereef.Researchershavesofardiscoveredthatawiderangeofotherbeingsincluding lobsters,crayfish,shrimpsandeven thehumbleoyster,use thesamestrategy.16, 17Amazingly,even larvalcoralpolypsuse thesoundsof the reef tofind suitable settlement areas. They don’t have any kind of specific hearingsenses,butitseemstheycanusethetinyciliaontheoutsideoftheirbodiestopickuptheparticlemotionofthesounds,andthenusethesameciliatoswiminthedirectionofthesound.18Justhowfarawaythisstrategyworksisn’tyetclear,but indications are that, for some species at least, it could be up to severalkilometresaway.

It’snotonlycoralreefsthatproducethishome-callingmusic.Rockyreefs,sea-grass beds, mangroves, even sandy beaches have distinctive soundscapesthat are recognizable to the beings that call them home. As if that weren’tenough, it appears that individual locations of similar kindmight have uniquesignature soundscapes, different enough for the discerning ‘home buyer’ tooverlookoneneighbourhood in favourofanothermoredesirableaddress.Andwhat makes the difference seems to be who’s already living in theneighbourhood.Ahealthy,vibrantcommunityincludingadultsofyourownkindismorelikelytogetyourfinsflappingoryourciliabeatingintheirdirection.19Thisofcoursehasveryseriousimplicationsforthesuccessfullarvalsettlementof damaged, degraded or overfished ecosystems, where there simply aren’tenoughvoiceslefttomaketherightmusic.

LongDistanceCallThemusic of the reefmight only travel a few kilometres, but there are someOcean dwellers whose voices can be heard for hundreds and sometimesthousands of kilometres, across entire Ocean basins. Those voices belong toOcean giants, the great whales, in particular the blue whale and the slightlysmallerandsleekerfinwhale.

Their deep, sonorous voices emerge mysteriously from deep within theirmassive bodies, saturating the water, with no visible clue as to how they’reformed. Whales don’t have vocal chords, but it may be that they force airthroughtheirlarynxviaaseriesofvalvesandresonatingchambersbranchingofftheirrespiratorytract.Theysomehowrecyclethesameairoverandoveragainastheyholdtheirbreathanddescendtothedepths,allthewhileproducingthemostachinglysoulfulmusic,whosemeaningandpurposewecanonlyguessat.

ThebluewhalehasthedeepestvoiceintheOceanwithseismicrumblingsaslowas5Hertz,waybelowourhearingthreshold.Thefinwhalealsosendsoutextremelylowsoundpulsesofonly20Hertz,sowhatweheararebasicallyjusttheir high notes. Their voices aren’t just deep though; they’re also extremelyloud.Whenabluewhaleboomsouthisrhythmic,hauntingmoanyouwouldn’twanttobetooclose,becauseat180decibelsitwouldbelikestandingnexttoajet engine.20 Even at a safe distance we would feel it more than hear it, likestandingnexttoaspeakerstackatarockconcert!Butevenwiththecombinationofdeepandloud,thesewhalesneedtoemploythehelpoftheOceanherselftomakesuretheirvoicesreachthoselongdistantdestinations.Tounderstandhowtheyachievesuchincredibleacousticfeats,weneedtodelvejustalittledeeperintohowsoundtravelsthroughtheOcean.

Aswelearnedearlier,theactualspeedofsoundintheOceanisaffectedbytherelationshipbetweentemperatureanddensity.Surfacewaterwarmedbythesun quickens the pace of sound waves, but below the thermocline thetemperaturedrops and sodoes the speedof sound.Eventually the temperaturelevels off and instead it’s the Ocean’s density that becomes the dominatinginfluence.Asdensity increases itovertakes the slowingeffectof thecold, andsound starts to speedupagain. Inbetween there’s a ‘sweet spot’where soundwaves travel more slowly than either above or below. That sweet spot sitsbetween 600 and 1200m below the surface and is known as the deep soundchannel.21

Thedeepsoundchannelactslikeatunnel,keepingsoundsproducedinthe

channelfromdissipatingordiffusing.Inthiswaysoundwaves,especiallyonesproduced by low frequency tones like those of the blue and fin, can travelunimpeded for thousandsofkilometres,withhardlyany lossandatbreakneckspeed (Figure 7.6). The ultra-low pulse of a fin whale can travel 5000kilometres, from one side of the Atlantic to the other in little more than anhour.22 Blue whales send out a deep resonating moans in a perfect rhythmicpattern,sometimesfordaysonend.So,notonlydothesewhaleshaveavoicelikenoother,buttheyalsoknowjusthowandwheretouseittofulladvantage.ThattheyunderstandtheirOceanhomesowellshouldcomeasnosurprise.Thequestiontoponder,iswhytheymaketheselongdistancecallsinthefirstplace?

Figure7.6Thedeepsoundchannel(alsoknownastheSOFARchannel)keepssoundsproducedinthechannelfromdissipatingordiffusing.(ImagecourtesyofNOAA)

David Rothenberg is professor of philosophy and music at the New JerseyInstitute of Technology. He is a long time whale ‘music’ enthusiast and haswrittenabookcalled,ThousandMileSong.He’sgatheredtogetherfourdecadesof research on whale acoustics by many of the world’s leading whaleresearchers, as well as teasing out their intuitions, gut feelings and just plainspeculations,inanattempttotryandanswerthatveryquestion.Andtheanswer,atleastsofar,isthatwehaveverylittleideabeyondeducatedguessworkandintuition,what this longdistancecalling is for.Amongst thespeculation is theidea thatwhalesmay sometimes be using their voices as low frequency, longdistance sonar for navigation.Another is that these long distance calls enablematestofindeachotherinthevastexpansesoftheOcean.

But perhaps themost useful and thought provoking idea comes not fromscientists,butfromamusicalperspective.Musicisallaboutrhythm,butperhapswearelisteningatthewrongspeed.AsDavidRothenbergsays:

No human musician could stay in time counting as slowly as thesewhalesdo.Theseincrediblylowthumpsandmoansarerhythmsatsolaxa pace that they are barely perceivable by humanbeings. Speed a bluewhale song up ten times, and thirty minutes becomes three.Move the

pitch up to the realm of a cello, bowhead or humanmoan and exactlyeverythreesecondscomesthesamesoftmoan.Onlyatthisslowsenseoftimedowehear the thousandmilesong,agreatsighin thedeepsoundchannel,echoingfromoneendofanoceantotheother.23

Bio-SonarWhile the great whales make full use of the extreme low end of the soundspectrum,theirtoothedcousinsexploit thehighfrequencyworldofultrasound.All the toothedwhales use bio-sonar, otherwise known as echolocation. Fromthemighty spermwhale to the river dolphins of theGanges, each species hasevolved a three-dimensional ‘sound system’ to suit their acoustic needs. Thefreshwater riverdolphinsuseaclose rangemid-frequencypulse thatperfectlysuitstheirmurkylivingconditions,whilethespermwhalesendspowerfullong-rangepulses into themidnight depths in searchof deep-water squid.Orcausehighfrequency,ultrapowerfulsoundburststostuntheirprey,whileothersseemtouse theirsonarprimarilyfornavigation.So,howdoes itwork?Tofindout,let’stakealookataspeciesthat’sbeenstudiedmorethanmost–thebottlenosedolphin.

Inside the head of every bottlenose dolphin is a 100%organic, biologicalsonarsystemfarmoresophisticatedthananythingwehavebeenabletoconjureto-date. Through a complex arrangement of bones, air sacs and tissue in theirskulltheyproduceastreamofhighfrequencyclicks.Thisclick-trainthenpassesthrough themelon,aspecial lipid-filledorganat the frontof theirhead,whichacts like an acoustic lens, modulating the clicks into a highly focused beam(Figure7.7).Dependingonhowmuchdetail thedolphinwants, thebeammaycontain a staggering 600 or more clicks per second. The returning echo isreceived throughfattychannels in their lower jawandhighlyspecialized innerears.This echo provides the dolphinwith an acoustic image thatwe can onlyguessat,butconsideringhowmuchoftheirverysizeableandcomplexbrainisdevotedtoprocessingthereturningsignal,it’sreasonabletoassumethatit’satleast theequalof thethree-dimensionalvisual imageswegetfromdevotingsomuchofourownbraintovision.24

Figure7.7SchematicdrawingshowingtheinternalcranialstructureofthebottlenosedolphinTursiopstruncates.(Imagecourtesyof:Emoscopeshttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toothed_whale_sound_production.png

Given the enhanced qualities of sound in theOcean and the fact that it easilypassesthroughsolids, includinglivingtissue, thedolphin’sacoustic imageryislikelytobefarmoresophisticatedthanourvisualimages,perhapsmoreakintohigh-definitionx-rayvision.Researchconductedprimarilyoncaptivedolphins,iscertainlysuggestiveofverydetailedacousticimagery,andevenpointstothisimage-making being a form of communication, which may be the dolphinequivalent of language.25 Field studies ofwild bottlenose andAtlantic spotteddolphins by renowned dolphin researcher, Denise Herzing, have given usglimpsesoftheirastoundingacousticskills.Withsublimeprecisiontheysound-probe thesandfor invisible tasty treats,oruseperfectlyfocusedclick-trains toscaneachotherduringawiderangeofsocialinteractions.26Butperhapsthere’smore to this highly sophisticated sense than meets the ear, so let’s leave theslightlydry,scientificdissectionofbio-sonarandjourneyintothemoreintuitiverealmofwhat itmight be like to be a dolphin immersed in three-dimensionalliquidsound.

Imagineyourselfnewlyborn into thesleekandsupplebodyofayoungdolphin.Swimmingrightnext toyou is yourmother.Pointingherheadtowards you she emits a streamed pulse of ultrasonic clicks along theentirelengthofyourbody.Asshescansyoufromtheheadtotailyoufeelastrange,tinglingsensation,followedbyadeepsenseofwellbeing.Yourmotherseemssatisfiedasshesendsafinalsoundpulsedirectlytowardsyourhead.Immediatelyanimageformsinyourmindofadolphin,almostaperfectminiatureofyourmotherfloatingserenelybyherside.Ittakesamoment foryou to realize that the image isofyou, streamedbyyourmother inperfect,movingclarity.Thisgivesyouyour firstsense-of-selfandatthesametimeitmakesyoufeelevenmoreconnectedtoher.

As your awareness grows you begin to notice a huge variety ofsounds,andswimmingbesideyourmotheryoustart to identifymanyofthem as belonging to the strange and wonderful sights she’s showingyou:theboomofrollingOceanswellsspendingthemselvesuponthenearshore; the high speed popping of raindrops splashing onto the surfaceand the low,background thrumof thecurrent flowingswiftlyalong thereef.Onthereefitselfyoustartbuildingacatalogueofsoundimagestomatchthevisualextravaganza.

Suddenly your sensesareoverwhelmedas your familypodgathers

roundtointroducethemselves.Firstyoursiblings,thenaunts,unclesandgrandparentswelcomeyouwith their own signaturewhistles.Finallyalargemaledolphinswimsupbesideyourmotherandwithgentlestrokesofhispectoralfins,introduceshimselfasyourfather.

It’snowtimeforyoutolearntheintricaciesofusingyourownbio-sonar.YouwerebornwiththemostadvancedsoundimaginganatomyintheOcean,butitwilltaketimeandpracticetobuildyourskills.Youstartby practicing moving air around your nasal sacs and through yourinternal phonic lips to produce high-speed clicks. Next you play withmodulatingtheclick-trainsthroughyourmelonintodifferentfrequencies.Your mother directs a sound pulse towards a beautiful orange vasespongeandshowsyouthereturningimage.Nowit’syourturn.AimingatthespongeyoustreamyourfirstultrasonicsoundpulseintotheOcean,butunliketheperfectimagecreatedbyyourmother,thereturningechoisajumbleofmeaninglessnoise.Youroldersiblingsareamused,butwithgentleencouragement fromyourmotheryoupersevereuntil thespongereformsasathreedimensionalimageinyourmind.Alongwiththeimageitselfyoualsosense theexactdistancebetweenyouand thesponge, itssize,densityand,mostexcitingofall,itsinternalstructureoffineglass-likefibresarrangedinanexquisitelybeautifullatticepattern.

Inthefollowingdaysandweeksyoulearnhowtoprobethesandinsearchoffishtryingtohidefromyoursonicwaves;youdiscoverwhichfrequencymodulationsworkbest fordifferent substrates,aswellas thebestbodypositionsforsearching,locatingthenhoming-inonyourprey.Youalsolearnhowtosendoutmulti-frequencybeamsatthesametime.Asyourskillandproficiency increasesyoustart toexperiment, sharingsound imageswithyour siblingsandyou’re surprisedanddelightedbythe amount of information and depth ofmeaning that can be conveyedthroughthesemovingpictures.

Your final lessonsare in theart of internal scanning.For this youneed to modulate your click-trains to their highest frequencies so theycan more easily penetrate skin and blubber. This is by far the mostdifficultskilltomasterasthereturningechostreamsaresodenselyfilledwith information that deciphering them requires both analytical andintuitive skills. Your first attempts at scanning your mother aredisappointing,butslowlythesemurkyimagesresolveintosolidformandyou can discern the hard skeleton and eventually even some of herorgans. The one that fascinates you the most is her beating heart. Itseemsyoucan‘see’feelingsandemotionspulsingthroughtheimageand

before you’ve even formulated the question yourmother answers. ‘Theheart is thecentreofouremotionsandprojectsaverypowerfulenergyfield, evenbeyond thebody.Your soundpulses reflect that energy fieldbacktoyou,andin thiswaywecanalwaysbeawareofhowourlovedonesarefeeling.’

Ofcoursewecanonlyreallyspeculateastowhatadolphin‘sees’withherbio-sonar. Likewise we can only imagine the acute electromagnetic world of theshark, or the vibrant polarized world of the cuttlefish. But one thing seemsabundantlyclear: to livewithin theOcean’sbody is to live ina richly sensualworld, in which every being is acutely aware of their surroundings and ofeveryoneelsewithintheirsensoryrange.

Weknowfromourownexperiencethatoursensesneverworkinisolation.We may focus our attention visually, but all our other senses are tuned-in,workingbehindthescenes,contributinginformationanddepthtothesubjectofour attention. Much of the time we’re not even conscious of this sensoryteamwork: it’s our body consciousness that’s orchestrating this symphony ofsensations,employingallthetoolsatitsdisposal,includingourbrain,toanalyze,recogniseandcategorizeoursensoryexperience.Ouremotionalresponsetothisfelt experience is what triggers conscious choice making, and the key toappropriatechoicemakingistheabilitytofeel,andbeawareofouremotionalresponse. With this awareness let’s now dive into an exploration of theemotionallivesofsomeofourOceanfriends.

8

IFeelThereforeIAm

Eighteenmetresbelowthesurface,justinsideRikoRiko,theworld’sbiggestseacave, sits a truck-sized rock, fallen from the roof an age ago and nowextravagantly festooned with a patchwork of encrusting sponges, corals andanemones.1Camerainhand,Iwasexploringitsnooksandcranniesinsearchofnewspeciesofnudibranchstoaddtomyphotolibrary.Workingmywayalongarockfacemygazepassedoveranarrowrecessnearitsbase.Amomentortwolater I stopped and turned back towards the recess. Did I see something, amovementperhaps? Iwasn’t sure. I justhada sense, a feeling somethingwasthere.AtfirstIdidn’tnoticeanythingunusual,butthen,clearasdayIsawit;aneyestaringstraightbackatme.OnceIhaditasapointofreference,theowneroftheeyematerialisedintheformofasmalloctopus.

Apart fromhis eye theperfectionofhis camouflagewascomplete,but assoonashesensedI’dblownhiscoverhemorphed intoadark,spikyandverymenacingmonster,nearlytwicethesizehe’dbeenjustamomentago.Well,atleastIthinkmenacingmonsterwastheeffecthewashopingfor.Theonlyresultthough, was my mask filling with water as my face creased into laughter –probablynottheresponsehewashopingfor.Intrigued,andforgettingallaboutnudibranchs,Isettledonanearbypatchofsandnearenoughtogetsomecloseupphotosofhisheadandeyes.

WhileIwasfocusingmycameraandpositioningmyunderwaterstrobestheoctopusrevertedtohisformercamouflage.AsIstartedtakingphotosInoticedthat every time the strobes fired the poor wee fellow flinched, just as weinadvertentlyblinkwhensomeonesnapsashotofuswiththecamera’sflashon.But more than that, his distress was obvious in the rapid colour and patternchangespulsingacrosshisbody.Feelingguilty, I laidmycameraonanearbyrockandponderedhowImightapologiseformyrudeness.Forlackofanybetteridea,andtosatisfymyowncuriosity,Idefaultedtotheveryhumanresponseofextendingthe‘handoffriendship’.

Forquitesomeminuteswesatthereeyeingeachotherup,mewithmybarehand extended palm up, while the octopus kept all eight of his arms tightlycoiled under his nowuniformly pale body. I became quitemesmerised by therhythmicexhalationofwaterthroughhissiphonashebreathed.Hecouldhaveusedhissiphontojetpropelhimselfawayatgreatspeed,butheseemedhappytokeepobservingme through thosestrange, rectangularpupils.Maybehewasjustasmesmerisedbymyregularexhalationofbubbles.

Eventuallycuriositygotthebetterofhimandheslowlyunwoundoneofhisarmsandinchedittowardsmyoutstretchedhand.Thefinetipofhisarmmadecontactwith the tipofmy index finger,hesitatedmomentarily, thencontinuedforward until it was about halfway up my palm. The sticky sensation of hissuctioncupsmovingacrossmybare skinwasunlikeanything I’dexperiencedbefore.Eachcupseemedtobeactingindependently,holdingmyhandinplacewith amuscular grip and yet exploring the folds and creases ofmy skinwithsuppledexterity.Eachcupisequippedwithchemoreceptors,sobesidesfeelingmyhand,hewasalso‘tasting’it.Allthistimehisskinwaspulsingpaleshadesofgreenandoff-white in faintpatterns,while the texture lost itsspikinessandbecameuniformlysmooth.

He continued exploring my hand, extending his already impressivelystretchedarmevenfurtheruntilitreachedmywristandtheneoprenecuffofmydrysuit. The rubbery feel of the drysuit must have surprised him because hesuddenly recoiled, just as we would on touching something unexpected. Hissurprisewasimmediatelywrittenacrosshisbody,whichnowpulsatedacrypticpatternofdarksplotches.Undauntedthough,hetentativelystretchedouthisarmagaintoinvestigatethisstrangenewsensation.Afteramoment’sconsiderationheobviouslydecided thatmywrist sealposedno threat,becausehispulsatingflush relaxed back to cool greens andwhites.With ‘first contact’ now firmlyestablished itwas time to study the strange, alien creature inmore detail. So,with slow, deliberate movements the octopus started disentangling his sevenotherarmsinpreparationforacloserlookatthisodd,bubble-blowinggiantthat

seemedtohavemostofitsbodycoveredindeadskin.The way an octopus moves defies description. There appears to be no

coordinatedrhythmorpatterntothewayhisarmsmoveinrelationtoeachother,as ifeachhasamindof itsown,aconcept thatrecentresearchsupports.2Andyet,somehowoutofthischaoticchoreography,theoctopus‘shapeshifts’fromplacetoplacewithsublimelyfluidmovements.

Thus,Inowfoundmynewfriend‘materialised’onmyhand,withvariousarmswanderingupmydrysuitsleeve,exploringthedivecomputeronmywristandreachingacrosstobringmyotherhandcloser.Andtherewestayed,withmelyingprone,elbowsrestingonthesand,forearmsoutstretchedandhandscuppedlikesomekindoforganiceasychair,whiletheoctopusrearrangedhisarmsintoatightly coiled pillow to rest on. For the next twentyminuteswe contemplatedeach other, our eyes locked at half an arm’s length, the only movement ourrespectivebreathing.

What his exact experience of our interactionwas I can’t say, but that hisattentionwasfocusedIwascertainofbytheintensityofhisgaze.Likewise,thesubtle colour changes pulsing across his body were clear signs that he wasrespondingemotionally to theexperience.More than that, I could feel a rangeand quality to his emotions that I could empathically identifywith; theywerefamiliar.Lesscleariswhatwasgoingthroughhismind,whatwashethinking?Formypart, Iexperiencedahugerangeofemotions;not leastofwhichwasagreatsenseofaweandwondermenttointeractonequaltermswithabeingthatrepresentssuch‘otherness’.Ihadextendedaninvitation,whichheacceptedandthentooktheleadinestablishingtheconnectionbetweenus.Whatfollowedwasamutualexploration,morethanjustphysical,thatevokedemotionalexperiencestowhichwebothresponded.Wewereexploringeachother’sperspective.

TheProblemofPerspectivePerhapsmyencounterwith theoctopus isn’t toomuchofa surprise.Afterall,they’rewellknownfortheirintelligence,curiosityanddexterity.Theinternetisawashwithvideosofoctopusopening jars, solvingpuzzles,negotiatingmazesandperformingescaperoutinesthatevenHoudiniwouldenvy.Butalloftheseare signs of intelligence from our perspective, designed to titillate with theirimpliedcomparisontoourownintelligence.ObservingoctopusesintheirOceanhomeismoreusefulasitprovidesthepropercontext tocontemplatehowtheyrelatetotheirworld.Andit’snotjustthebig-brainedoctopus–observingotherinhabitantsofthisdeeplycontextualworldrevealsthatcomplex,emotionalandsociallivesarethenormratherthantheexception.Buthowdowerecognisethatwhichissodifferentfromourownexperience?

Naturalists have long studied the emotional and social lives of animals.CharlesDarwinwas an earlypioneer.His 1872 treatiseTheExpressionof theEmotions inMan and Animals is considered the first serious treatment of thesubject.Todaythescientificstudyofanimalbehaviourismulti-disciplinary,butthe general study of the social lives of animals is known as ethology, whilecognitive ethology is the specific study of animal minds from a comparative,evolutionaryandecologicalperspective.Cognitive ethologists are interested inwhat animals think and feel: their emotions, reasoning, beliefs, consciousnessandself-awareness.

Inrecentyearsthisinteresthasextendedbeyondthestudyoftheso-calledhigherlifeforms,suchasmammals,toincludeothervertebrates,andevensomeinvertebrates like our friend the octopus. We know what it feels like to beconscious and self-aware, and with our ability to empathize we can imaginewhatitmightbeliketobesomeoneelse.Butthefurtherremovedwegetfromourownkind,theharderitistoimagine‘whatitisliketobe’andourabilitytoempathisewiththeiremotionalexperiencebecomessuspect.Andyoucan’tgetmuchmoreremovedfromhumanexperiencethanfish,octopusesorlobsters.

It’snottoosurprisingthen,thatafter400yearsofdenyingtheexistenceofconsciousness and self-awareness in non-human animals, science is treadingcarefully in its exploration of ‘otherness’. After all, despite the fact that weexperienceitineverywakingmoment,webarelyunderstandhowconsciousnessarises within ourselves, let alone trying to explain it in others. While muchresearch has centred on the brain and neurological function, in an attempt toidentify the physiological factors involved in consciousness, cognitive

ethologists concentrate on studying behavioural clues that point towardsconscious awareness. One of the clues they’re looking for is behaviouralflexibilitywhenfacedwithneworcomplexsituationsrequiringmore than justinstinctual responses. Behavioural flexibility shows an ability to learn fromexperience, retainmemories of past experiences andmodify, or even developcompletely new, behaviour patterns based on the contextual subtleties of thesituation.

Oneoftheworld’sforemostauthoritiesonanimalemotionsandcognition,ProfessorMarcBekoff,putsitthisway:

Flexibility inbehaviour isoneof the litmus tests forconsciousness, formind atwork.Consciousness evolvedbecause it allowed individuals tomakechoiceswhenconfrontedwithvaryingandunpredictablesituations.And in a clear indication that just beneath the surface of the supposedly

detachedandobjectivescientistliestheheartofatruenaturalist,hegoesontosay:

However, once we’ve established that other animals have consciousminds, then we get to the really interesting questions. What are theythinking?What do they feel?What do they know? The excitement toanswerthesequestionsiswhatdrivescognitiveethologists.It’swhatgetsusoutofbedintheweehoursofthemorning.3

Toanswerthesequestionsweneedtogobacktoournaturalistroots,dedicatinglonghourstodetailedandopen-mindedobservationinthefield,orinourcase,theOcean.Weneedtouseallourempathicpowersto‘getinsidetheirskin’andseetheirworldfromtheirperspective;toask,‘whatisitliketobe’?Indoingthisthough we need to be very careful that we aren’t just projecting our ownexperienceonto them,but instead,weneed to ‘think likea fish lives’.4This iswhere the practice ofphenomenology comes into play. In phenomenologywegive full attention to the actual experience of our interactionwith our subject,rather than attempting objectivity by imagining ourselves as completelydetachedobserversandpretendingthatwearen’tpartoftheexperience.Inotherwords,bybeingfullypresenttoourownexperiencewecannoticewhatisn’tus,butisinstead,comingfromtheother.5

Beforewediveintothisrichemotionalandsocialworld,I’dliketoaddressaparticularaspectofrecentscientificresearchthat’snotonlycontroversial,butisoccupyinga surprisingly large amountof the animal consciousness researcheffort,nottomentionaninordinateamountofmediaattention.It’scontroversialbecause the implications of this research are far-reaching and potentially very

costly,asitcallsintoquestionourmoralandethicaltreatmentofOceanbeings.

DoFishFeelPain?Thequestionisnotcantheyreason,norcantheytalk,butcanthey

suffer?–JeremyBentham(1789)ThePrincipalsofMoralsandLegislation.

In 2003 a groundbreaking study was published in Proceedings of the RoyalSociety showing that fish have the same pain receptors as other vertebrates.Nociceptors, as they’re known, are the body’s way of detecting damage orpotentialinjury.Whenthey’retriggered,ultra-fastelectricalimpulsesstartfiringinside special nerve fibres dedicated to transmitting information about tissuedamage,whichinturncausesareflexresponsethatwill,hopefully,avoidfurtherdamage. But this study revealed something even more surprising. Theresearchersobservedthatthetroutusedinthestudyshowedclearsignsofbeingconsciouslyawareof thepain theywereexperiencingand tookactive steps toavoidarepeatsituation.6

Since then there have been numerous studies corroborating those initialfindings.Infact,theevidenceshowsthatfishfeelpaininmuchthesamewayasothervertebrates,includingus,andinsomecasesmaybeevenmoresensitivetopain.Inherbook,DoFishFeelPain?VictoriaBraithwaite(oneoftheauthorsof theoriginal study)provides abalanced, comprehensive andcomprehensibleoverviewoftheresearchtodate,includingresearcharguingagainsttheabilityoffishtofeelpain.

The argument against fish awareness of pain is basedon a comparisonofbrain structure between fish andother vertebrates, such as us.Thepart of ourbrain that affects our emotional behaviour, and becomes active when we feelpain, is the limbic system, located in our neocortex. The argument goes thatbecausefishdon’thaveaneocortex,they’reincapableofprocessingfeelingsandemotions,thereforecan’tconsciouslyexperiencethefeelingofpain.Itturnsoutthough,thatfishdohaveakindoflimbicsystem,whichfunctionsinmuchthesameway;it’sjustinadifferentpartofthebrain.7Weweresimplylookinginthewrongplace.

Theoverwhelmingevidencepointstothefactthatfishdoindeedfeelpainand they do have an emotional response to the pain sensation. VictoriaBraithwaite sums up where she believes fish sit along the pain perceptioncontinuum:Ihavearguedthatthereisasmuchevidencethatfishfeelpainandsufferas there is forbirdsandmammals—andmore than there is forhumanneonatesandpretermbabies.8

So, thecontroversy isno longerwhetherornot fishfeelpain,but rather,whatwedoaboutitintermsofourmoralandethicalrelationshiptothem.Inarecentreview paper in the journal Animal Cognition entitled Fish Intelligence,Sentience and Ethics, Associate Professor Culum Brown, of MacquarieUniversity in Sydney, highlighted the fact that fish are amongst the mostexploitedanimalsbyhumans,butareseldomaccordedany levelofwelfareorprotection against undue cruelty. While he acknowledges the potential legalminefieldandtheseriousimpactthatitcouldhaveontheglobalfishingindustry,healsomakesitabundantlyclearthatfromamoralandethicalperspectivethereis no justification for ‘business as usual’: A review of the evidence for painperceptionstronglysuggeststhatfishexperiencepaininamannersimilartotherestofthevertebrates.Althoughscientistscannotprovideadefinitiveansweronthelevelofconsciousnessforanynon-humanvertebrate,theextensiveevidenceof fish behavioural and cognitive sophistication and pain perception suggeststhatbestpracticewouldbetolendfishthesamelevelofprotectionasanyothervertebrate.9Research into pain reception in the Ocean isn’t just limited to fish. In recentyears researchers have been asking the same questions about awide range ofinvertebrates:fromoctopusandsquidtolobsters,crayfish,shrimpsandcrabs.Inevery case, some form of pain perception ability has been found. Theseinvertebrateshaveverydifferentphysiologies tofish,somostresearchershavebeenreluctanttospeculatetoomuchontheemotionalconsciousnessoflobsters,crabs and others. However, a recent study showed that crayfish displayemotional signs of stress after receiving mild electric shocks, which can bealleviatedbythesameanti-depressantdrugsusedforhumanstress.10

Short of developing the communication skills to ask the crayfishthemselves,we’llneverknowforsurehowtheyexperiencestressorpain.Andbecausewe haven’t thought to look,we’ll remain largely ignorant about theirexperience of other emotions aswell. But I am reminded of thewords of theenigmatic20thcenturyastronomerandphilosopher,CarlSaganwhenhewrote,‘Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.’ As themounting evidencepointstowardssomeformofconsciousawareness,surelywemustaskourselves–atwhatpointdowegivethem,andallOceanbeings,thebenefitofthedoubtand treat themwith the levelofcareand respectwesupposedlyafford to landanimals?

Perhaps, inmomentsofreflection,wemightalsoponderwhyit is thatwehumans have focused so much on pain and suffering when it comes to ourethicaltreatmentofotherbeings,whenthereissomuchmorewecanlearnwitha little thoughtful observation.Aswedo, it becomes abundantly clear that the

Oceanisfullofmeaning,expressedthroughtheintelligent,socialandemotionallives of those who dwell within her fluid body. So let’s return to that richerworldwithafewexamplesthatshowthereisalotmoretolifeintheOceanthanjustpainandsuffering.

YouScratchMyBackandI’llScratchYoursCoralreefsareamongstthemostdiverse,complexandcosmopolitanecosystemsontheplanet.Tosurviveandthrivehereyouneedmorethaninstinctandblindluck.Youneed awell-developed set of social skills to copewith thedynamicandever-changingsociallandscape.Invarioussituationsandtovaryingdegrees,youmightneedtobeanentrepreneur,salesman,politician,counselororsecurityguard.Ineverycaseyou’llneedtokeepyourwitsaboutyouandknowexactlywhenit’stimetocooperate,dominate,placateorvacate.Alongwiththissocialintelligence you’ll probably also need an outstanding long-term memory forfaces, places and happenings. Such are the sophisticated skill-sets researchershaveobservedonthereefbybeingthereandbeing‘present’.

In an exquisite example of entrepreneurial salesmanship and cooperation,researchershavediscoveredthatsomegrouperenlisttheservicesofmorayeelstohelp themhunt (Figure8.1).Thisunlikelyallianceappears tohappenwhenthegrouper’smealmanagestoevadehislungingjaws,escapingtothesafetyofcracksandcrevicesamongstthecoral.Undeterred,thegroupermakesabeelinestraightforthenearestcooperativemoray,whereheshakeshisheadfromsidetosideininvitation.Iftheeel’sfeelingsoinclinedhe’llleavehissleepingholeandfollowthegrouperbacktothehidingfish.Thelongsinuousbodyoftheeelthendisappearsintothecrevicetoflushoutthehaplessfishwhilethegrouperwaits,jawsattheready,tograbhimashefleestheneedlesharpfangsofthemoray.Itappearsthatbothgrouperandeelgetabiteofthe‘fishpie’.11

Figure8.1Grouper/morayeelpartnershipshavebeenobservedinmanypartsoftheOcean,raisinganumberoftantalizingpossibilitiesastothenatureandsophisticationofcommunicationandculturallearningintheOcean

There are several very tantalizing aspects of this remarkable alliance for us toponder.The first is that at somepoint in thepast, thisbehaviourwas learned:perhaps by a grouper observing the hunting techniques of a moray eel,comparingthemtohisownanddeducingthehuntingadvantagesinemploying

the eel’s services. The second is that the grouper then worked out a way tocommunicatehis‘joboffer’totheeel.Fortheeel’spart,notonlymusthehavepossessedthesocialintelligencetounderstandwhatthegrouperwasproposing,but he would also have gone through a process of deciding if the offer wasworthwhilegettingoutofbedfor.Afterall,morayeelsarenocturnalhuntersandusuallyspendtheirdayssafelytuckedupintheircosycrevice.

Even more interesting, is that individual grouper can remember whichmorays in their territory aremore likely to participate so they approach themfirst.Itcouldbethattheeelsalsorecognizegrouperswhohavesharedthemealfairlyinthepast,andaremorelikelytoputthemselvesoutforfair-mindedfishoverselfishones.12Inawonderfulexampleofhowfarthiskindoffriendshipcanextend,diveguidesontheCaribbeanislandofCozumelwitnesseda long-termrelationship between two individuals. Divemaster Rob Groth describes thefriendship:

For many years we had an older eel and grouper team who not onlyhunted together but lived together in an over hang on the top of PuntaTunishwall.Itwasafavoritephotositeforourdivegroups.TheGreenMorayhad a headbigger than a basketball andwas about threemeterslong. Towards the end of her life she had lost all of her teeth andwewitnessed the grouper bringing her food. Thiswent on for a couple ofyears until the grouper disappeared.We figured that she (the grouper)finallyendedupsomeone’smeal.Afterthatwe(thedivemastersontheisland)brought fooddaily to theeel.Thisonly lastedfora fewmonthsuntiltheeelalsodisappeared.13

Thisstorynotonlydemonstratesthecooperativenatureoftherelationship,butalso clearly shows the altruistic actions of the grouper. This is exactly thebehaviourwewouldexpectfromthestrongemotionalbondsofatruefriendship.While not every grouper or eel participate in this cooperative behaviour, it iswidespread enough that some kind of cultural learningmust be at play.We’lldelveintothisfurtherinthenextchapter.

Another example of ‘back scratching’ literally is, back scratching, and itcomesaboutaspartofthecomplexsocialinteractionsbetweenmultiplespeciesat thereef’scleaningstations.Cleanerfishoftensetupshoparoundprominentfeatures,suchasrockyoutcrops,wherethereisagood‘passingtrade’ofotherfish who need the services of a talented parasite picker to remove unwantedhitch-hikers,deadskinandsometimesevenprovideadentalcleaningservice.

These cleaning sessions are often very delicate affairs, requiring a highdegreeoftrustbetweencleanerandclient.Afterall,it’snosmallthingtoswim

straightintothegapingmouthofafishorsharkmanytimesyoursize,sportingrowsofrazorsharpteeththatcouldripyourtinybodytoshredsinseconds.Toget her customers ‘in themood’, a cleanerwill often give them a gentle backmassagebyrubbingherpelvicandpectoralfinsalongtheirdorsalfinandback.This caress seems to put the fish into a kind of relaxed trance, and it driftsmotionlesswhilethecleanergetstowork–abitlikehairdresserswhogivetheircustomersagentleheadmassagebeforetheygettoworkwiththescissors.

Italsoappearsthatthebackrubcanbeusedtoappeasedisgruntledclients.Cleaners can sometimes get a bit carried awaywith their parasite picking andsuccumb to the temptation of taking a little bite of their customer’s nutritiousbodymucus.Thisobviouslyhurts theunsuspecting fish,whowill give a little‘jolt’ and swim off, unless the cleaner can persuade them to stay with anappeasingcaress.There’sgoodreasonforthecleanertokeepherclienthappy.Just like thebeautysalonorbarbershop; thereareothercustomerswaitingandwatching.Researchershaveobservedthatthewaitingfisharemuchlesslikelytosolicitthecleaner’sservicesiftheyseeacleaningsessionendinconflict.Morethan this, it seems that fish remember these painful encounters andwill avoidthatcleanerinfavourofotherswhohaveanuntarnishedreputation.14Ifyougetabadhaircutyou’remuchmorelikelytotrysomewhereelsenexttime.

Agood reputationgoesa longway in thecleaner fishworldand it seems‘husband and wife’ teams are highly regarded by discerning cliental. Somespeciesofcleanerwrasseworkinmale/femalepairs;notonlyprovidinga‘twoforone’cleaningdeal,butalsoitseems,keepingeachotheronthestraightandnarrow when it comes to those tempting mucus treats. The result is a steadystreamofsatisfiedcustomers.15

These two examples give us a glimpse of the complexworld of the reef,where social intelligence, cooperation, communication and self-awareness arethekeystoasuccessful,happylife.Carefulobservationbydisciplined,yetopen-minded, researchers has provided us with these powerful insights. Theresearchers’ presence most certainly won’t have gone unnoticed by the reefinhabitants,buttheirunobtrusiveobservationsdidn’trequirethemtoparticipateinreeflifetogaintheir insights; theycouldliterally‘observefromadistance’.Sometimes though, the onlyway to get an idea of ‘what it is like to be’ is tointeractandbeacceptedbytheother.

SharkCultureInteractingisexactlywhatsharkethologistIlaFrancePorcherhadinmindbackin 1995, when she saw her first black-fin reef shark while snorkeling in theshallowlagoonsofFrenchPolynesia.Sharksarefamouslycautiousanddifficulttoapproachinthewild,whichiswhythelittlethatwasknownabouttheirlivesup to that time came primarily from observing them in captivity, or fromoccasionalglimpsesofwildsharksaffordedtoluckydivers.

Toget thekindof insights into their private lives shewashoping for, Ilaknewshewouldhavetoconvincethemthatshewasworthspendingtimewith.Theonlyway to do thiswas to bring an offering, in the formof leftover fishscrapsand tunaheads from the local fishmarket.Whileobviouslycreatinganunnaturalsituation,itneverthelessprovidedherwiththeessentialingredientforin-depthstudy:prolongedperiodsofuninterruptedobservation.Andbecausethefocus of her research was their social behaviour and cognitive ability, theintroduction of a novel situation actually provided additional opportunities toobservetheirbehaviouralflexibility.

Over a seven-yearperiodof intensive interaction,primarilywithblack-finreefsharks,butalsowhite-tip,grey-reef,lemonandnursesharks,Iladiscovereda complex shark culture hitherto undreamed of. Once the sharks had becomecomfortablewithhercalmpresenceandacceptedherintotheircommunity,shewaswitnesstoahugerangeofbehavioursandsocialinteractionsthatleftherinno doubt as to the deeply emotional lives of these most maligned andmisunderstood Ocean beings. In her beautifully illustrated book The SharkSessionsIlachroniclesthemanyhundredsofhoursofdedicatedobservationandinsightsgainedfromhertimespentinthecompanyofsharks.16Keytoherworkwas being able to identify individuals.Bymaking detailed sketches of uniquefeatures such as dorsal fin markings, she was able to identify 600 black-finsharksaloneandkeeptrackoftheircomingsandgoings,buildingupapictureoftheirlives.

Shediscoveredthatindividualshaduniquepatternsofroaming,withsomealmost always present in their home range, while others might be absent formonthsatatime.Shealsoobservedthatmanyofthemhadpreferredtravellingcompanions, usually of the same gender and similar age, and would nearlyalways stickwith their ‘special friend’when they traveled outside their homerange,whileothersswappedcompanionsquitefrequently.

Sometimes residents of the areas they were passing through joined the

travelling companions, and it was clear that the residents recognized theirvisitors.Thesemeetingsappearedtobeverysocial times,with longperiodsof‘side-by-side’ swimming, and frequent friendly touching. Ila noticed that thesharks’ roaming behaviour was influenced by the lunar phase, and on manyoccasionsshewitnessed largesocialgatheringsas thefullmoonrose.At thesetimes,visitorsandresidentsalikebecameveryexcited,withstunningdisplaysofspeed and acceleration as they soared in unison through the water. Herobservationsclearlyshowedthatthesesharkskneweachotherasindividuals:aprerequisitefortheirabilitytomaintaincomplexsociallives.Butmorethanthat,italsopointedtowardsstrongemotionalbondsbetweenindividuals.

Ila’slongterminteractionswiththereefsharksofFrenchPolynesiayieldedmanyotherfascinatinginsightsintotheirlives,includingclearevidenceofself-awareness, contextual decision making, social learning, long-term memory,forward planning and an innate curiosity about their world.17 But perhaps themostvaluablelessonwecanlearnfromherworkishowcarefulwemustbenottoneglect,orevenexclude,theimportanceoftheemotionalandsociallivesofOcean beings, especially when our assumptions are based on very limited‘snapshots’fromthesurface.

Sometimesthescientificfearofsubjectivityandobsessionwithobjectivitycancloudourappreciationof‘whatitisliketobe’,andinsteadreplaceitwithaone-dimensional representationof life,devoidofemotionaldepth.Webecomesofocusedoncounting,measuringandcategorizingthatwecompletelymissthis‘hidden’ dimension. My own experiences with humpback whales havehighlightedtomethelimitationsofapurelyobjectiveapproach.

HiddenLivesHumpbackwhalesareprobably themoststudiedofall thegreatwhales.Theirgregariousnature,hauntinglycomplexsongsandpenchantforacrobaticsurfacedisplays make them a favourite with researchers and whale watchers alike.Every year these whales migrate from summer feeding grounds in the polarregionstotheirwinterbreedingareasinthetropicalzonesofbothhemispheres,providingrelativelyeasyandreliableaccessforresearchers.Andyet,somuchoftheirlivesremainshiddentous,veilednotonlybytheliquidboundarybetweenourworlds,butalsobyourpreoccupationwithtestingourowntheories.

A good example of these twin barriers to understanding is the body ofresearch into social groupings in the breeding areas. Generally, researchersconsider humpbacks to be loners, who don’t form long-term bonds, and onlycome together temporarily in response to biological imperatives. There are anumber of different social groupings during the breeding season, but areasonably common one is that of mother, calf and a male escort. Thisrelationshiphasbeenthesubjectofnumerousstudiesinrecentyears,withmuchof the focus on the role of the escort. The general consensus is that therelationship is opportunistic on the part of the escort and that it’s related tomating.Arangeofhypotheseshavebeenput forwardas towhether theescortprovidesanybenefittothemotherandhercalf,orwhetheritispurelyassociatedwithamatingadvantageforthemale,orperhapseventhattheattentionsofanescortmaybedetrimentaltotheirwellbeing.18

There’snodoubtthatmalescompetewitheachotherformatingrightsandthis can become very physical indeed when several males are vying for theattentions of the same female; with violent head butting, body slams and tailslaps. Sometimes several males will challenge an escort, who defends hispositionwith themother and calf, drivingoff the challengers. Females have atwelve month gestation period and there’s usually a gap of one or two yearsbetween calves, so researchers have puzzled over why males pay so muchattention tomotherswith calves,when their chancesofmatingarebetterwithfemaleswithoutcalves.

DuringmysixyearsofobservingandinteractingwithhumpbackwhalesinTonga, I had no hypothesis to test or theory to prove. Iwas just interested ingettingtoknowthem,asmuchastheywouldallow,withoutundulyintrudingontheirprivacy.Mygoalwas toobserveasmuchof theirdaily livesaspossible,withoutaparticularfocusonanyoneaspect,butwithanopen-mindedcuriosity.

Itriedtosuspendmyassumptionsandpreconceptionsinthehopethatatleastalittleof their life storymight emergeover time.One thingbecameabundantlyclear: if Iwanted to gain any useful insights into their lives, Iwould have tospendasmuchtimeaspossibleinthewaterwiththem.Afterall,theyspend90percentoftheirtimeunderwater.

In themany encounters I had withmothers, calves and escorts I tried tofocusonthedynamicsoftherelationshipitself.Ipaidparticularattentiontohowthe whales interacted with each other in various circumstances, for example:duringnursing,resting,sedatetravellingoractivesurfaceplay.Ididn’tmeasureanything,but rather, focusedon thequalityof the interactionsbetween them.Iespecially noted any physical contact between the mother and her escort andtried to get a sense of the emotional quality, or intention behind it. Butmostimportantly, I endeavoured to engage empathicallywith them: to identify, andidentifywith,theiremotionallives.

Manyofmyin-waterencountersinvolvedrestingwhales–somethingtheyspendquitealotoftimedoing–eitheratthesurface,orsometimesafewmetresbelow.Inoticedthatwhenamotherandhercalfwererestingatthesurface,theescortwasusuallymorealert,as ifkeepingguard.Sometimeshe’dstaybelowthe surface, just out of visual range, only coming up for a breath every tenminutes or so; far enough away not to disturb the sleepingmother, but closeenoughtoremindmehewaswatching. If Igot tooclose to themotherforhisliking,hewouldsurfacerightbesideherandthenall threeof themwouldturnawayfrommeandswimoffashortdistance.

When resting underwater the mother and escort were often much closertogether, sometimes even physically touching. They might have their longpectoralfinsdrapedacrosseachother,oroccasionally,evenstrokingeachotherwithgentlecaresses.OnanumberofoccasionsIalsowitnessedthemotherandescortspendingprolongedperiodswiththeirheadstogether,sometimeswithoneresting their head on the other’s flank. Spending timewith thewhales duringthese interactions I was struck by the level of affection often shown by bothmotherandescort, indicatingstrongemotionalbondsbetween them. It seemedcleartome,thatwhateverelseitmayprovide,thisrelationshipisoftenalovingonewherethemotherissupported,ratherthanhindered,inhereffortstocareforhercalf.

Forme,thiscallsintoquestionthenotionthattheserelationshipsarepurelyopportunistic, aswell as the idea that humpbacks don’t form long-term bondswith each other.We simply don’t knowwhat these relationshipsmean to thewhalesthemselves,butit’scertainthatwhenweexcludetheemotionalcontentfromourmeasurements,ourtheorieswillalwaysbelackingcontextualmeaning.

An essential part of that context is our own participation in the process ofobservation. We are being observed, as much as observing. We pretendotherwise through arrogance or ignorance, but either way, our pretence ofobjectivityultimatelydamagesourchancesofgaininginsightinto‘whatitisliketobe’.Weareapartofthisworld,notapartfromitandwecanonlydelveintothe depths of meaning when we acknowledge and embrace our participation:whenobservationbecomesinteraction.

Rarely have I experienced the importance of embracing my ownparticipation more than when interacting with mothers, calves and escorts.During theseencounters I startednoticinganotherdimension to this three-wayrelationship:bothmotherandcalfoftenseemedmuchmoreateasewhentherewasanescortpresent.Calveswereoftenmoreplayful thanusual,andmothersseemed more willing to let them explore further afield. Indeed, sometimes itseemedthatthemotherwasactivelyencouraginghercalftointeractwithus.19

Ononeoccasionwespottedamother,calfandescorttravellingmoreorlessparallel tous.Unexpectedly, theyalteredcoursetointerceptus,soweloweredthesailsandpreparedtheswimplatformjustincasetherewasanopportunitytogetinthewaterwiththem.Assoonastheyapproachedtheboatitwascleartheywere interested, so we donned masks and fins, and slipped into the water.Almost immediately themother approacheduswithher calf.Theescortdiveddownandwatchedfrombelow,but themotherseemedintentoneducatinghercalfaboutthesestrangevisitorsfromtheworldabove.

At first the calf was a bit nervous, keeping his mother’s enormous bulkbetweenus,butslowlyhewarmedtothegame,sothatbythethirdorfourthpasshewasshowingoffbylyingupsidedownacrossherhead,splashingthesurfacewith his inverted tail.With each pass themother carried her calf closer, untiltheyweresoclosethatshehadtoliftherpectoralfinovermeasIfloatedonthesurfaceand I felt it gently caressmybackas it passed.This levelof intimacywas definitely out of the ordinary, and I couldn’t help but feel profoundlyprivilegedtobeinteractingfreely,equallyandonherterms,inherrealm.

Whenwearepresent toourownexperience, fully immersed inour interactionwithanother,wefeeladeepsenseofconnection.Ourbodilysensesarealivetothe other, tuned into sensory communication channels that feed our bodyconsciousnesswithstreamsofreciprocal information,whichwebecomeawareofandidentifywithempathically:wehavecommunicatedandhaveknowledgeofeachother.Mindisawakenedintheactofdecipheringandmakingcoherentsenseofthisknowledge.Butwhatifmindandknowledgeareoneandthesamething?Whatifthisso-calledmindistheindividualandcollectivemanifestationofaknowledgeprocess,broughtintoexistencethroughourparticipationintheworld? Where then does mind reside? Can it be confined to our bodilyexperiencealone,orisitinherenttoalivingknowledgeprocess,inwhichwearebothcontributorandrecipient?

It’s clear from the last three chapters that the Ocean is a sensual world,inhabited by deeply sentient beingswho experience richly contextual lives. InthefinalchapterofourlivingOceanjourneywe’llexploreOceanMind,broughtintoexistencebyaknowledgeprocessnearly fourbillionyears in themaking,and expressed through all her myriad children. To get us in the mood, let’simaginewhat itmightbe like toexperienceOceanMindthroughtheeyesofahumpbackwhale.

BecomingWhaleCloseyoureyesandfocusonyourbreathing.Asyoubreatheinfeelyourconnectionwithallotherlifethatbreathesthesameairandimagineyourbodytransformingintoamagnificenthumpbackwhale.

Asyourwholebodyexpandsyoufeelyourarmslengtheningintothelongest, most elegant pectoral fins in the cetacean world. Tracing aperfect arc through the water, you notice how even the slightestmovement gives you absolute control over your balance andmanoeuvrability.

Feel your legs fusing together; the strong thigh and calf musclescombining with ligaments to form the caudal muscles that drive yourmighty tail flukes. Sense how flexible your newly lengthened spinalcolumn has become to accommodate the powerful thrusts of your tailflukes. Giving them a gentle flex you are amazed at how easily theypropelyourenormousbulkthroughthewater.

Gradually you feel your head elongating, your nostrils becomingblowholes and your now cavernous mouth filling with bristling baleenplates. Run your giant tongue around the inside of your baleen andimaginelickingitcleanofdeliciouskrillclingingtothefinebristles.

Opening your twin blowholes you take your first breath as ahumpback whale. Your rib cage expandes and becomes much moreflexible toaccommodateyourenormousheartand lungs.Asyour lungsfillyoucansensetheirefficiencyas theyexchangespentair fora freshsupply of life-giving oxygen. Your heart is pumping vast quantities ofoxygen-rich blood through your body and after several breaths yourmusclesaretinglinginanticipationofyourfirstdive.

Withbackarchedandtailflukesheldhighyouinclineyourheadandslowly sink below the surface. Your first sensation is one of absoluteweightlessness;your30tonbulkcompletelysupportedinliquidspace.Asyour other senses awaken, feel theOcean caressing every part of yourhighlysensitiveskinasyouglidedownwards.Marvelathoweasilyyoumove air around your skull to equalise the pressure in your nasalpassages. Your perfectly adapted eyes provide youwith a crystal clearviewof yourblueuniverse.Glidingpasta shallowreef you seemyriadfishesandothercreaturesgoingabouttheirdailylives.

You now become aware of an even greater sensation. Your

underwater world is full of sound and your acute hearing picks outastonishing detail from the cacophony coming from the reef: thecracklingofshrimpsastheydanceabovethecoral,thegruntsofsnapperas they jostle in their schoolsand the thudofparrot fishdevouring theverycoralitself.

Openingyourmouth slightly, you take ina few litresofwaterandswirl itaroundyour tongue. Youcan taste thechemicalmakeupof thewater, its pH level, salinity, oxygen content and temperature. You canalsotastethereef–everyfish,everyinvertebrate,eventhecoralgivesoffitsownchemicalsignature,sharinginformationaboutitself.

Divingdeeperthesoundsofthereefareleftbehindandyoubecomeawareofother familiar sounds.Concentratingyour sensesdownwards,youcanhearandfeeltheboomingsonarofamightyspermwhaleasheecho-locateshispreyinthepitchblackdepths1000mbelow.

Bringingyourattentionbacktoyourownsurroundings,youfocusonanother humpback nearby.He is a singingmale and his complex songsaturatesyoursensesandfillsyourwholebeingasintimatelyasalover’sembrace.Youaretotallyawareofhisphysicalpresence,whoheis,whathehasexperienced,wherehehastravelledandwhohehasmetalongtheway. His voice vibrates with emotion: his joys, sorrows, fears andaspirations.

Finding your own voice deep within, you respond. Your songresonatesinwavesandothersjoinin,fillingtheOceanwiththelife-forceofyourkin.Yoursenseofbelongingandwellbeingoverflows.

Gradually, the urge to breathe creeps into your awareness andrisingslowlytowardsthesurface,yourememberthatyouareacreatureofbothworlds:athomeandfreeinthewomboftheOceanplanetandyetalsoboundtotheworldoflightandair.Nearingthesurfacethissenseofconnectionwithbothworlds fillsyouwithexuberance.Givingamightythrustofyourpowerfultailyouexplodethroughthesurfaceandintotheair!Inthatmomentofstillness–beforearchingyourbackandcrashingbackintotheOceaninathunderouscascadeofwater–youexhaleyourspentbreathinamightyblowandbreatheinfreshaironcemore.

9

OceanMind

HoveringjustbelowthesurfaceatthePoorKnightsMarineReserveIcansee,andhear,awallofmouthsmovingtowardsme.It’sthefeedingedgeofamixedschooloftrevallyandbluemaomaofeastingonaswarmoftinymysidshrimps.These two species of plankton-feeding fish have different feeding styles, butcome together in coordinated schools of hundreds, sometimes thousands ofindividuals,totakeadvantageofthisseasonalshrimpbonanza.

Abovethesurfaceallthat’svisiblearethearchedbacksandgulpingmouthsoffish,churningthewaterintothefrenzied,bubblingfoamthatfishermencalla‘boilup’. It seems,at firstglance, completelychaoticand it’shard to imaginehow the fish behind the feeding edge get any shrimps at all. But carefulobservation from just below the surface reveals the breathtaking level ofspontaneous cooperation, which keeps the feeding edge in a constant state ofdynamicmovement,ensuringthewholeschoolgetsashareofthebanquet.

As the feeding edge approaches, the water in front of it turns hazy withuncountable hordes of shrimps swimming for their lives. From below, acontingent of fish overtakes the feeding edge, cutting off any escape into thedepthsandforcingtheshrimpstothesurface.LiftingmyheadIcanseeshrimpjumping clear of the water in a vain attempt to flee the onslaught of hungrymouths.Sometimestheshrimpswarmveerssharplyawaytotheleftorright,and

as the school turns to follow, fish thatwerebehind the feedingedgenow findthemselvesinthefrontline.Thefishthathadcomefrombelowfallinbehindthenewfeedingedgesothatthey’llbenextinlinewhentheshrimpsveeroffagain.

Anotherstrategyinvolvestheschoolslowlywheelinginacircularmotion,withthefeedingedgeherdingtheshrimpinawidearc.Atsomepointfishintheback section of the school, responding to some hidden signal – perhaps theminutevibrationalchangescausedbytheturningshrimp–breakofftointerceptthe feeding edge as it wheels. Occasionally two separate feeding edges driveshrimpswarmstowardseachotherfromoppositedirections,mergingtogetherina ‘super-school’ to gorge on the dense shrimp soup. When too few shrimpremain to sustain a feeding edge thewhole school descends andmoves off insearchofanotherswarm,andoncelocatedtheprocessstartsagain.

CollectiveMindatWorkMydescriptionabovereallydoesn’tdojusticetotheexperienceofbeinginthemiddle of these feeding schools. The surface boils with the thrashing ofhundredsofdorsalfinsandtailsandyoucanhearthegurglingroarofallthosegapingmouths ‘vacuuming’ shrimp after shrimp into waiting gill-rakers. Youcan literally feel the shrimps’ panic as they attempt to flee the onslaught; thewaterfeelsheavywiththescentoftheirfearandyoufindyourselfempathisingwith their plight. At the same time you can’t help feeling infected by thethrummingexcitementandintensityofthefeast.Yourwholebodytingleswithit,asifyou’reapartoftheschoolyourselfobeyingsomekindofprimalinstinct,asifyoursenseshaveconnectedyoutothelivingintelligenceoftheschool.

Now more than likely, your rational mind – uncomfortable with theseunrulysensations–will takeoverandremindyouthatthey’re‘justabunchoffish, eating some shrimps’. But the truth is that you have connected withsomething real: the collective mind of the school. This collective mind isresponsiblefortheschool’sabilitytofunction–foritspurposefulness:bringingtogether enough individuals to make the herding of shrimp possible; for itsintelligence:enablingittodevisethestrategiesforsuccessfulherding;andforitsadaptability: maintaining the creative flexibility that allows for spontaneousresponsetotheever-changingdynamicsbetweentheschoolanditsdinner.

Theschoolhasnoleaderororganisingcommittee;there’snotrainingcampforyoung trevally andbluemaomao topractice the techniques, no ‘school’ tolearnhowtoschool.Individualfishjustknowhowtoparticipate inawaythatcreates a feeding opportunity,which simply couldn’t exist any otherway.Wedismissthisknowingasinstinctualbehaviour,asifthere’snothingspecialtoit:‘it’s just what fish do’. But the ‘instinct’ label blinds us to the creativeintelligenceoftheschool,the‘mindatwork’thatcanadaptinstantlytotheever-changing conditions, respondingwith a sublime coordination that’s impossibletopre-plan.

Certainly there’s instinct involved: each individual within the school isfollowingapath,apatternofbehaviour laiddownbyuncountablenumbersoffishthathavegonebefore.Theyaredrawntocometogethertoformtheschool,asifperforminganancientritual,theoriginsofwhichhavelongbeenforgotten.But the meaning behind it is as strong as ever and further strengthened withevery performance. These fish are participating in an ongoing knowledgeprocess,andinthiscasetheknowledgeis‘howtoeatshrimp’.Theinstinctthen

is to participate, and in doing so we might say that each fish becomesknowledgedby thecollectivemindthatemerges toorchestrate thatknowledge,andindeed,contributetoitscontinuedevolution.

The collective mind of the school is awakened by the participation of acriticalmassofindividualfishandyet,it’sfarmorethanjustthesumtotalofallthose separateminds coming together. Participation in the knowledge processnotonlyconnectsindividualfishtoeachother,butalsoconnectsthecollectivemind of the school to all the schools that have gone before, to a pattern ofbehaviourthat’sbeenhonedovermillenniaintoabehaviouralhabitinherenttothisparticularactivity.Inthiswaythebehaviouralhabit,this‘wayofknowing’,istheschool’sculturalinheritance.

However, there’s an important distinction between this behavioural habitandtheconceptofinstinctualbehaviour.Instinctimpliesarigidityofmind,evenmindlessness that’s devoid of choice, or at least limited to a narrow andimmutablesetofchoicessuchas‘fightorflight’,whereashabitsareadaptableandcanchangeovertime.Theyallowforthebehaviouralflexibilitytheschoolneeds in order to creatively respond to the ever-changing dynamics of eachincarnationofthebehaviour.

Rupert Sheldrake, the English biologist, explains these flexible ‘habits ofnature’withhisconceptsofmorphicfieldsandmorphicresonance.Sheldrake’shypothesisofformativecausationsuggeststhatallself-organisingsystems(ourfishschoolforexample)comeintobeingandfunctionthroughthe‘characteristicorganisingfield’ofthatsystem:itsmorphicfield.1AnexampleofmorphicfieldsaccordingtoSheldrake,isthefieldsofinfluenceinvolvedinthemorphogenisis–thecomingintobeingofform–ofbiologicalorganisms.

Biologistsbelievethat thesemorphogeneticfieldsshapetheorganismasitdevelops from embryo through to its adult form.2 The morphogenetic fields,rather than genetic coding, are responsible for how the cells of an organism,which share the same genetic programme, can differentiate into various bodyparts such as arms and legs, or pectoral and tail fins.With each repetition thefieldbecomesstronger,increasingtheprobabilityofthepatternhappeningagain,so as the field evolves over time it builds a cumulativememory that becomesincreasingly habitual. This cumulative memory creates a morphic resonance,through space and time that influences subsequent similar patterns. Sheldrakeexplains:

Morphic resonance is the basis of the inherentmemory in fields at alllevelsof complexity.Anygivenmorphic system, sayagiraffeembryo,‘tunes in’ to previous similar systems, in this case previous developing

giraffes.Throughthisprocesseachindividualgiraffedrawsupon,andinturncontributes to, acollectiveorpooledmemoryof its species. In thehuman realm, this kindof collectivememory is closely related towhatthepsychologistC.G.Jungcalledthe‘collectiveunconscious’.3

Just as there aremorphic fields associatedwithmorphogenesis, there are alsofieldsofinfluenceinvolvedintheorganisationofperceptionandbehaviour,aswell as cultural and social fields. Sheldrake describes these fields in terms of‘wholeswithinwholes’thatform‘nestedhierarchies’orholarchies,comprisingsuccessivelevelsoforganisation.Hesuggeststhat:‘Ateachlevel, themorphicfieldgiveseachwhole itscharacteristicproperties,andmakes itmore than thesum of its parts.’4 In the case of our feeding schools of trevally and bluemaomao, the nested holarchy of influence would include morphogenetic,perceptual,behavioural,socialandmentalfields.

Fromthisperspectivewecanviewtheknowledgeprocessoftheschoolasacontinuum, influenced by the resonance of a collective inheritedmemory, andevolving through a collective mind at work. But our feeding school exampletakesusevenfurtherintoOceanMindwhenweconsidertheotherplayersinthisdanceoflife:theshrimps.Theytoohavetheirnestedholarchyofmorphicfields,resonating with their own knowledge process, and orchestrated by theircollective mind. Both fish and shrimp holarchies are wholes within a greaterwhole: the fish/shrimp– shrimp/fish holarchy.Within this larger field there isshrimp knowledge, trevally knowledge and blue maomao knowledge, but theoverall knowledge process that emerges is more than just the sum of thoseindividualparts.

The Ocean abounds with examples of these ‘meeting of minds’, butamongstthemostextravagantisthefamoussardinerunthathappenseachyearin the rich upwellingwaters off the coast of southernAfrica. Sardines gatherhereintheirbillionstofeastontherichplanktonsoupandparticipateinamassspawningwithout equal.The collectivemindatworkhere is truly impressive,buttakesonevengreaterproportionswiththevastnumberofpredatorsthatareattracted to the event. Tens of thousands of dolphins, whales, seals, sharks,sailfish, marlin, tuna, mackeral, and seabirds converge from near and far toparticipate in this sardine bonanza. The collective mind at work in thesecoordinated feeding frenzies transcends the species, cultural and socialboundariesthatwouldnormallykeepthesediversedinersapart.

The first act is to herd the sardines into tightly bunched ‘bait balls’ of amanageablesize,usuallynobiggerthantentotwentymetresindiameterandtenmetresdeep.It’softenthedolphinswhotaketheleadinthis,buttheyarehelped

by the sardines themselves whose collective response to danger is to masstogether in an attempt to confuse the predator. This strategyworks extremelywellwhenthereareonlyafewpredators,asregardlessofthespeedofattack,theschool can instantly respond with coordinated moves that leave the predatorscompletely bamboozled and literally swimming in circles in the gaping holewhere the school was, just a fraction of a second before. The speed of thesardines’ evasive manoeuvres is simply impossible to explain by means ofindividual fish responding to themovementof theirneighbours.5Rather, it’s asingle, instantaneous movement of the whole school at once, coordinatedthroughthemorphicfieldoftheschool’scollectivemind.

The problem for the sardines comes when there are too many predatorsworking cooperatively to overwhelm their defensive strategies. If they scatter,waitingmouthsarereadytopickoffconfusedandbewilderedindividuals.Iftheschoolisforcedtostayhuddledtogetherbycirclingpredators,itbecomeseasyfor other predators to simply swim,mouthswide open, through themiddle ofthem. The level of coordination and lack of conflict between the variouspredatorssuggests that there’smoregoingonhere thanjustawildfree-for-all.Rather, there is a collective intelligence, crossing species boundaries andencompassingallthevariousknowledgeprocessesofdolphins,sharks,tunaandotherpredators–aswellasthesardinesthemselves–sothatwhatemergesisatrulymajesticmanifestationofOceanMind.

MindontheMoveIn Chapter 7 we touched on the impressive navigational feats various Oceanbeings achieve using their finely tuned sensing abilities. We are still onlyvaguelyawareofhowtheseextraordinarysensingabilitieswork,butevenifwedodecipher their secrets,we’ll reallybenocloser tounderstandinghow thesebeingsknowwheretogo.Wewillhaveworkedouthowtheirinternalcompassworksbutnothowtheyknowwhichcourse tofollow.Perhapswecanexplainthepinpointnavigationof turtles returning to theverysamebeachfromwhichtheyhatched,orsalmonreturningtotheirnatalstream,intermsofimprintingatbirth.Wecouldalsoascribeaculturallearningprocesstomigratingwhales,withcalvesaccompanyingtheirmothersonthelongmigrationsfromwinterbreedinggroundsinthetropics,totheirsummerfeedinggroundsinpolarseas.

Butwhataboutthemanybeingswhofindtheirwaytoimportantplacesatexactlytherighttimewithneithermothernorbirthplacetoguidethem?Howisit that hammerhead sharks and manta rays navigate across thousands ofkilometresofOceanto joininmassgatherings,whenthey’veneverbeentherebefore and there’s no one to follow?What inbuilt instinct directs schools ofjuvenile tuna hundreds of kilometres to specific feeding grounds for the firsttime?Whatdeepwisdomdrivesgreatwhitesandtigersharksontheircircuitous,marathon journeys to specific hunting grounds? How do we explain the longmigration‘walks’oflobstersfromtheirhomereefsintotheOceandepths?

A convenient answer to these migration riddles is to once again invokeinstinctualbehaviourasthemechanism,butwhat’smuchmorelikelyisthatthis‘wander-lust’ is the result of cultural inheritance, passed on via the morphicresonance of past generations.6 While cultural inheritance very likely plays alargepartinprovidingthe‘map’,itstilldoesn’texplainhowindividuals,orevenschools, enact that inheritance; how they ‘read’ themap, interpret itsmeaningandconnectittotherealworldterritoryinwhichtheyaretravelling.Toachievethatwouldseemtorequireamindthatisconsciousofitsownparticipation,andcapable of recognizing opportunities and obstacles along the way that mayrequireatemporarydeviationfromtheancestralpath.Thiswouldbeamindthathasthebehaviouralflexibilitytoincorporatenewinformationwithoutlosingtheold and to choose, or sometimes create, a knowledge path best suited to thecircumstances.

Perhaps Ocean navigation has its ownmorphic field, resonating with thecollective memory of countless past Ocean journeys, providing access to

navigationalknowledgebuiltupovermillionsofyears.Withinthisholarchyofknowledge, different species develop their own unique navigational practice,theirownknowledgeprocessappropriatetotheirneeds.Fromthisperspectiveitcomes as no surprise that long-range navigation shows remarkable similaritiesacross species,witheach finding theirway throughdifferentmediumssuchasmagnetic fields,Oceancurrents,moonphases, sound,andchemical signals, aswell as physical sign-posts, like underwatermountain ranges and deepOceantrenches.Enfoldedwithinthenavigationalknowledgeoftheirkind,individualsandschools roam theOceanwithout fearof losing theirway.Using theirowncreativeintelligencetheytapintoOceanMind.

CulturalLearningataDistanceReefs are the cities of theOcean: crowded, bustling and noisy, yet colourful,cosmopolitanandfullofculturalinteractionbetweentheirdiversecitizenry.Justaswithhumancities,thecultureofthereefisn’tstatic,butisinaconstantstateofevolution.Thecollectivemindofthereefemergesfromthenestedholarchyofmorphicfieldsencompassingthereefcity’sdynamicsocialvibe.Withintheoverallvibethereareindividualandcollectivestoriesthatmakeupthefabricofthereef’sculturalflavour.Asthesestoriesunfoldovertime,newculturaltraitsand behaviours emerge, manifestations of the myriad, ongoing knowledgeprocesses,minglingandmerginginacreativeflow.Individualsandgroupslearnfrom each other, copying or adapting behaviours and sometimes creatingcompletelynewones.

Our story of the cooperative friendships between grouper andmoray eelsfrom the lastchapter isagreatexampleofanovelbehaviouraladaptation thatspreads through cultural learning, sometimes referred to as culturaltransmission.7This strikinglymutual relationshipwill havemost likely startedfrom a single interaction between an ancestral grouper and moray, on a reefsomewhere,sometimeintheOcean’spast.Thatfirsttentativecollaborationmayhave been hundreds, thousands or evenmillions of years ago, or itmay havebeenasrecentasourownfirstforaysbeneaththewaveswithscubaequipment,littlemorethansixdecadesago,whenitwasfirstobservedbydivers.Wehavenowayofknowing.ButwecanseethatitssuccesshasresonatedfarandwidethroughouttheOcean.

Whereverthatfirstcollaborativeexperimenttookplace,itdidn’thappeninsecret,itwasnoticed.Perhapsothergrouperwatchedfromadistance,observing,taking mental notes for future reference. Once the success of this newrelationship was verified those observers would become participants.We canimaginethefirsteelpioneerbeinginundatedwithgroupereagertotestthisnewhuntingtechnique.Itwouldn’ttakelongforthesegroupertorealizethatthey’dbe better off finding their own eel collaborator, and so new grouper/eelpartnerships would form. Before long the whole neighbourhood would bebuzzing with the excitement of this latest cultural trend - although one couldimagine the victims of these dynamic duos being less than thrilled with itsdevelopment!

Butwherenext?Neithergroupernormorays travel very far, preferring tostay within their home range. How did the cultural transmission of this

behaviourmovebeyondthatfirstreefandspread,notonlytonearbyreefs,butacrossentireOceanbasins?Remember,we’renottalkingaboutnaturalselectionbyway of randommutation that slowly spreads through the generations, likefertilized eggs floating far on the Ocean currents. This is learned behaviour,enacted,copiedandrememberedby‘mindsatwork’.Howcanweaccount forthelongdistancemigrationofsuchauniqueandunlikelypartnership?

Apossibleexplanationisthatthelongdistanceculturaltransmissionofthegrouper/eel relationship is the result of amorphic resonance, set inmotion bythosefirstpioneersandstrengthenedwitheverysubsequentdiscovery.Themoreoftenithappensthemorelikelyitistohappenagain.Thankstotheresonanceofthecollectivememoryofpastdiscoveries, itwouldonly takeonegrouper andeelpartnershiptoformonareef,forlocalcultural transmissiontotakecareoftherest.InhisbookThePresenceofthePast,RupertSheldrakeprovidesseveralexamples of how new patterns of behaviour have appeared in differentpopulationsofthesamespecies,evenwhenwidelyseparatedinbothspaceandtime.8Ifthisisthecaseforourgrouper/eelalliances,itpointsusinthedirectionofacontinuingknowledgeprocess,passeddownthroughgenerationsandspreadacrosstheOceanbytheresonanceofamindatwork.

Thereisanothertantalizingaspecttothisrelationshipforustoponder.Howisitthatthegrouperisabletopresentthisremarkableideaofjoiningforcestotheeelinthefirstplace?It’sclearfromobservationsthatoncetherelationshipisestablished,thegrouperusesaslightshakeoftheheadtosignaltotheeel thathis services are required. Likewise he uses a head-down, pointing posture toindicatetotheeelwherethefishishiding.Buthowdidheconveythemeaningofthosegesturesinthefirstplace?Whatisthenatureofthiscommunicationofmeaning?Indeed,howdoesonemindcommunicatemeaningtoanotherwithouttheuseoflanguageasweunderstandit?

MindandManta

The Poor Knights Marine Reserve in New Zealand plays occasional host tovisiting manta rays during the summer months. They travel with the warmcurrents flowing south from the tropicsand linger toenjoya southern feastofshrimpsandotherplanktonintherichwatersofthereserve.Atthistimeoftheyear it’salwaysworthspendingabitof time in thebluewater,awayfromthereefwalls,justincaseyou’reluckyenoughtoseeone.

Hovering tenmetres below the surface, just outsideNorthernArch, Iwaspeeringouttowardstheedgeofvisibilitywhenoutoftheblueamassiveshapeemerged and headed straight forme. ‘This ismy lucky day’, I thought as themantarayslowlyapproached.Hewasayoungmalewithawingspanofabout3.5m,smallbymantastandards,butstillmuchlargerthantheirbarbedcousinsthe stingrays,whogather at thePoorKnights to breed.Themantaglided to astop barely two metres from me and paused for a few moments, as ifcontemplating his next move. Then, with an almost imperceptible flicker ofmovementalonghiswings,hemovedoff.‘Well,thatwasnicewhileitlasted’,Ithought, expecting the youngmanta to swimoff into the distance. Instead, hebankedaroundgracefullyandglidedbacktohispositionjustacoupleofmetresinfrontofme,wheretomyamazement,hestartedmanipulatinghisdistinctive‘horns’, first folding andun-folding, then rolling them into long ‘cigars’ in animpressivedisplayofdexterity.Thesehorns areknownascephalic lobes, andarenormallyused to funnelplankton-richwater intohis cavernousmouth,butcanberolleduptoreducedragwhennotfeeding.

In thiscase I felt sure that thesegesturesweredirected towardsme,and I

foundmyselfrespondingbyimitatinghismovementswithmyhandsandarms.Tomydelighthemovedevencloseruntilwerewithintouchingdistance.Slowlyhe turned to one side, so that Iwas gazing straight into his right eye.At thispointoneofhisattendantremorafishmovedfromitspositionnearhisgillsontheundersideofhisbodyandattached itselfdirectlyoverhis eye. It appearedthat the remora was actually cleaning the manta’s eye. After about fifteensecondsitslidfromhiseyeandreturnedtoitsoriginalposition.Iwasstunned!

Had the remora really been cleaning themanta’s eye?And if so, had themanta somehow signalled his requirements to the remora? I certainly hadn’tnoticedanyphysicalsignsfromthemanta,butIhadthedistinctimpressionthathe was somehow ‘eyeing’ me with greater clarity after the remora’sministrations.I’mnotsurehowlongwefloatedtherecontemplatingeachother,buteventuallyhebroke thespellwithanotherslight flickofhiswings.Ratherthanmovingoffthough,heledmethroughaseriesofacrobaticbarrelrollsandloopsthatIdidmyclumsybesttoemulate.Fortenminutesweplayedtogetherand Imanaged to remember the camera inmyhand and snap off a few shotsbeforehefinallyapproachedmeforthelasttime,gesturingonceagainwithhishorns,thenturnedandglidedgracefullyoffintotheblue.Iwasleftfloatingandwonderingaboutwhathadpassedbetweenus: an interspecies communication,buthowmuchhadImissed?

UponreflectionIhavenodoubt that theremorawas indeedresponding tothemanta’srequesttohavehiseyecleaned.Thequestionis:howdidthemantaask for his eye to be cleaned? What signal passed between them? If it wasphysical then it was subtle in the extreme, but even if it was physical, thequestionwouldstillremainastohowthemeaningofhisrequestwasconveyed.Justaswiththegrouperandeel,thephysicalgesturecanonlyconveymeaningonce that meaning has been agreed upon. Whereas the grouper’s headshakecarriesasimple‘followme’meaningthatcouldbeexplainedbymeansoftrialanderror,orrepetition,themanta’srequestwasfarmorecomplex.Whatkindofsubtle movement would be required to distinguish between ‘please clean myrighteye’,asopposedto‘mylefteyeneedscleaning’,or‘Ihaveanitchhalfwayalongtheleadingedgeofmyrightwing’?Andthenofcourse,therewouldneedtobeanothersignaltolettheremoraknowwhentostop.

Afterpondering this formanyyears, especially aftermycommunionwiththe humpback mother, I’ve come to the conclusion that a much more likelyexplanation is that therewassomekindofconsciouscommunication involved:two minds exchanging meaning directly, without the clumsiness of symbolicgesturing.We call this kind ofmental communication telepathy,which in ourmodern scientific reality isviewedas littlemore thana lingering fantasy from

ages past, when we were still burdened by a belief in the supernatural. Thisdirect communication of meaning may have been dismissed by mainstreamscience, but it is far from being disproved.9 In fact, the now sizeable body ofresearchthathasbeenconductedsuggeststhatratherthanbeingsupernatural,itisinfact,supernatural.10

WhenMindsComeTogetherIf we once grant the simple proposition that thought is a force, that itmovesinevitablyfromitssourcetoitsobject,theconclusionisinevitablethatany thinkingmindshouldbeable to send its silentmessage toanyothermindintheuniverse.Thereisnothinginthenatureofeithermindormattertoprecludesuchapossibility;onlyourpresenthabitofspeech,oftoomuchspeech,preventsusfromviewingitfrankly.

–WilliamLong(1919)HowAnimalsTalk11

Thewordtelepathyliterallymeans‘distancefeeling’andreferstotheabilitytosensesomethingbeyondthelimitsofthephysicalsenses.It’sawordthatalmostneverfails toillicitpassionatedebatebetweenbelieversandnon-believers,andyetthesedebatesseldommakemuchheadway:partlybecausethenon-believersmay feel threatened by any challenge to the current status quo of scientific‘wisdom’, and partly because the believers can’t provide any mechanism toexplain these so-called supernatural – or paranormal – phenomena. Ifwe firstacceptthatinscience,aswithanyknowledgeprocessthat‘wedon’tknowwhatwe don’t know’, then perhaps we can move beyond the prejudice of ourignorance,andacknowledgethatthereissomeformofcommunicationgoingonthatwecan’tyetexplain,butisneverthelessexperiencedbymany.

Thisisn’ttheplaceforanin-depthreviewoftheresearchintotelepathy,butsuffice to say, there is nowclear, experimentally replicated andpeer-reviewedevidence for directmind tomind communication.12The search for aworkabletheoryastohowtelepathyandotherparanormalaspectsofthemindfunction,isleadingresearchersintothequantumworldofparticle/waveforms,non-localityandzero-pointfieldtheory.13Consideringhowlittleweunderstandabouttheso-called normal functioning of the mind, it seems counter-productive, evencontradictory, to treat direct mind to mind communication as some kind ofparanormal pariah from the wilderness of the unknown. Within this strangeUniverse of quantum entanglement it seems more sensible to remain open-minded and dispensewith the super andpara prefixes altogether. Thenwe’resimply dealing with something natural and normal that we have yet to fullycomprehend.

Fromthisnormativeperspective,telepathymakessoundevolutionarysense.FromtheverybeginningoflifeintheOceantherewasaneedfororganismstoclearlyandpreciselycommunicatemeaningtoeachother.Aslifebecameever

more complex, the risk of ambiguity of meaning led to the development ofincreasingly sophisticated communication channels. Natural selection wouldhave favoured forms of communication that provided the most direct andaccuratetransferofmeaningbetweenorganismsfortheleastenergyexpended.At a distance, some form of thought transfer would be the most efficient,especially if the two minds involved shared a common field of experience.Indeed,theconceptofmorphicfieldsandmorphicresonancethatwe’vealreadyexplored,wouldsuggestthatthecloserthesocialbondisbetweenorganisms,thestrongertheirtelepathiclinkislikelytobe;ourmantaandhisremoratravellingcompanionsforexample.

Itcouldbethatthistypeoftelepathicconnectionunderliesallofourothersensorycommunicationchannels,workingbehindthescenesandonlycomingtothe forewhen needed or intentionally called upon – an evolutionary tool thatwe’veallbutforgotten.Perhapsthis‘behindthescenes’activitymaybewhatweexperience as gut feelings and intuition, neither of which interfere with ourphysicalsenses,butseemtoinformthemnonetheless.Occasionallythough,weappear to becomemore aware or open to this direct communication, perhapsthroughourownattentiontoit,orsometimesthroughthedeterminedeffortsofanother’smind.ButasWilliamLongobservednearly100yearsago,ourhabitof‘…toomuchspeechpreventsusfromviewingitfrankly.’

Can our connectionwithOceanMind help us ‘hear’ other voices beyondourown?Ourclosesenseofconnectionwithdolphinsmaybeagoodplacetostart.Herearethreeexamplestohelpusonourway.

PicturesintheDolphinMind

Frank Robson grew up surrounded by animals in rural Hawke Bay in NewZealand.Fromanearlyagehewasawareofhisabilitytosendmentalimagestothe animals in his care, but never questioned it. Itwas onlywhen he took upcommercialfishingandgottoknowwilddolphinsthathestartedtoexplorethisgift.

Out on the boat I couldmentally leavemyworld…I could experiencecalmnessandtranquilityandgivethedolphinsmyundividedattention…Itwas quite clear that the dolphinswere able to readmy thoughts andwerewellonthewaytorespondingtothembeforeIhadtimetoutteraword…They appeared to be short-circuiting my thought processes andtakingtheworddirectlyfrommymind.Thiswasthegreatbreakthroughinmyunderstandingofmentalcommunication.

Frank Robson believed that the dolphins were responding to mental imagesforminginhismind,asprojectionsofhisthoughts.Hepracticedformingthese‘thought images’ and sending them outwards to the dolphins. Hewas able todemonstrate this skill to others with the help of Horace, a lone bottlenosedolphin, who had made himself at home in Hawke Bay. Over a nine-monthperiod he andHorace formed a close bond, inwhich Frankwas able to ‘ask’Horace to perform various maneouvres, to the delight of onlookers. But forFrank thiswasmore thanmere party tricks to entertain the crowds.Rather, itwas a step in a life-long journeyof discovery thatwould takehimaround theworld tomeet dolphins and ‘dolphin people’, in an attempt to understand the‘picturesinadolphinmind’.

Thegreatunansweredquestionis–whattriggersoffthepicturetransfer?Whattakestheimagefrommyminddirectlytothatofthedolphinsothat

itimmediatelyperformstheactionIhavepictured?...Idon’tknowwhatactivates it, but determination, compassion and concern seem to beinvolved. …I askmyself –when an image passes from a human to adolphin,howmuchisittheresultofthehuman’seffort,andhowmuchisthedolphinpickinguptheimageinthesamewayasitreadsthelayoutofthe sea and coastline around it? What is the dolphin ability? Can weprotectthedolphinsandwhalesfromourdestructivenesslongenoughtolearnitfromthem?14

ProjectInterlockIn the 1970s pioneer diving couple, Wade and Jan Doak, started ProjectInterlock in a ‘…quest todiscover the capacitiesofmind in the sea.’ In theirPolynesian-style Wharram catamaran, they sailed the northeast coast of NewZealand exploring the possibilities for interspecies communication withdolphins. With each interaction they extended their understanding of dolphinsociety, but they also noticed that the dolphins were responding to their‘invitations’.AsProjectInterlockprogressed,WadeandJanbecameconvincedthatthedolphinswereabletolinkdirectlywiththeirthoughtsorintentions,andthiswasconfirmedforthemwhentheywerelateforapre-arrangedmeeting.

We were heading south along the coast towards the Hen and ChicksIslandswhenIthoughtIsawadolphinleap.…Itwasduringahardgustandthecatamaranwasscreamingalong.…Janyelledtothem,‘Wecan’tgetinthewaterandplaywithyououthere.It’stoorough.We’llseeyouinonthecoastintheshelteroftheland.’…Asweenteredthelee,outofroughwater,wesuddenlysawthedolphinspopupjustahead.Thiswaswonderful. They swam on the bow for quite some time [but] … theconditionswerestillnotgoodenoughforustoleavetheboatsoJansaid,‘We’llseeyouupatGoatisland’.Thereweknewitwouldbeflatcalmintheshelteredlittlecove.Thedolphinsvanishedandwecontinuedonourway.

InsteadofsailingstraighttoGoatIslandtheydecidedtostopanddiveonareeffirst.TakingtheirtimetheyfinallyanchoredatGoatIsland,onlytolearnthatthedolphinshadcomeintothebayaboutanhourearlier,jumpingandplayingintheshallowstothedelightofonlookers,buthadleftsoonafterwards.

Thatwasagreat‘rapontheknuckles’forus. Ifwehadnotstopped; ifwehadjustkeptgoingwithoutworryingaboutlunchandtakingourtime,asweintended,wewouldhavebeentherewiththedolphins.Wehadletthem down!…Thinking it over I realized that we really expected thedolphins to staywith us, if they understood Jan’swords.But from thedolphins’pointofviewthatwouldbeabsurd–itwouldonlymeantheyhadfollowedus.Withtheirspeedwhatbetterresponsethantoheadoffandwaitourarrival?15

Of course we could just dismiss this episode as coincidence. Perhaps thedolphinsweresimplyswimmingalongthecoastandhappenedtostopinatGoat

IslandBay,justastheyhadappearedagainintheleeofthemainlandafterJan’sfirst message. But it’s also possible that they were picking up on the mentalimagesinJan’smind,asshespokeherrequesttothem;takingthemeaning,notfromherwords,but fromher thoughts,orpossiblyevenhermental imagesofboth places. If so, the fact that Wade and Jan altered their plans after thecommunicationandthendidn’tinformthedolphinsoftheirdelay,wouldexplainwhy the dolphins had already left by the time they arrived. After all, whywouldn’tthedolphinsexpectthemtokeeptheirword?

TheLongWayIn1968BernardMoitessier,aFrenchsailorcompetinginthefirstnon-stopsoloround theworld yacht race,was approachingStewart Island,NewZealand, inhisboatJoshua.Aftermonthsatseaandwiththousandsofnauticalmilessailed,hewascompletely in-tunewith therhythmsof theOcean.Withsailssetandacourselaidtoclearadangerousreef,hewentbelowtocooksomefoodandrest.Roused by a familiar whistling, he went on deck to discover at least 100dolphinskeepingpacewithhisboat.

A tight line of 25 ‘porpoises’ [dolphins] swimming abreast goes fromsterntostemonthestarboardside,inthreebreaths,thenthewholegroupveersrightandrushesoffatrightangles.”…Iwatchwonderstruck.Morethan ten times they repeat the same thing.…I have never seen such aperfectballet.Andeachtimeitistotherightthattheyrushoff,…Theyareobeyingaprecisecommand,thatisforsure.…Theyseemnervous;Idon’tunderstand.…Somethingpullsme,somethingpushesme.Ilookatthecompass.Joshuaisrunningdownwindat7knotsstraightforStewartIsland[andthedangerousreef]Thesteadywestwindhadshiftedaroundtothesouthwithoutmerealizingit.

AftercorrectinghiscoursetosteerJoshuaoutofdanger,Moitessierwentbelowtogetdry, rollacigaretteandwonderabouthowlonghehadbeenoff-course.When hewent back on deck the dolphinswere still there, but now theywerebehavingnormally:bowridingandfrolicking.

Andthensomethingwonderfulhappens:abigblackandwhiteporpoisejumps ten or twelve feet in the air, in a fantastic somersault,with twocomplete rolls.…Three times he does his double roll, bursting with atremendousjoy,asifhewereshoutingtomeandalltheotherporpoises:‘The man understood that they were trying to tell him to sail to theright…youunderstood…youunderstood…keeponlikethat,it’sallclearahead!’

AftertwohoursallbuttwoofthedolphinsleftMoitessier.ThetwothatstayedbehindtookuppositionsoneachsideofJoshua’sbow.

Forthreehourslongertheyswimlikethat,eachisolatedonhisownside,without playing, setting their speed by Joshua’s…I have never seenanythinglikeit.Porpoiseshaveneverkeptmecompanythislongbefore.

I am sure theywere given the order to staywithme until Joshuawasabsolutelyoutofdanger.…IwillroundtheHornthankstoporpoises.16

Afamiliarthemerunsthroughthesethreestories:ineachcaseitseemsthatthedolphinsare‘reachingintotheminds’ofthehumans,accessingthemeaningofwords or images directly, perhaps even before the humans are aware of themthemselves. In the case of Moitessier, he seems convinced that the dolphinssomehowknewthathewascompletelyunawareoftheimpendingdangerhewasin.Perhaps they searchedhismind for any signs thathewasplanning to altercourseand, findingno such thoughtsdecided toact, even though the reefwasstillmilesaway.

We‘See’theWorldasweBelieveittobeThere’s another theme running through these stories: they are all livedexperiences, mediated through the senses and working in unison with minds,alive to their own participation with the living Ocean. Unlike the scientifictesting of telepathy, proved or disproved through experimental replication, thelivedexperiencestandsorfallssolelyonourabilitytobepresenttoit.Whetherweembraceourexperienceorpushitasidewill largelydependonhowwell itfitswithinourwiderbeliefsystems–unlesstheexperienceissopowerfulthatitoverridesourbeliefs.Thedegreetowhichweresonatewithothers’experiencesisalsoinfluencedbyourbeliefsandthestrengthofourownexperiences.

Our beliefs are shaped by a combination of cultural inheritance, socialnormsand lived experience.Thebalanceof these componentparts determinesthe strength, and sometimes rigidity, of our beliefs. In our dominantWesternculture,prevailingsocialnormsandascientificmodel,whichonthewholestillfavoursthematerialistviewoflifeasessentiallyphysicalandmechanistic,oftenoverwhelm our lived experience. We’ve become conditioned to override ourlivedexperience in favourofa scientificexplanationof the facts that,by theirvery nature, are limited by the experiments designed to test them. Anyexperiencethatfallsoutsidethefactsoftheacceptedtheoryiseitherignoredordenied,particularlyifthattheoryisconsideredacornerstoneofcurrentscientificthought.

Thishascertainlybeenthecasewithtelepathy,butasthesupportingbodyofexperimentalevidencegrows,wemayseeare-balancingofourbeliefsaboutdirectmind-to-mindcommunication,inwhichwegiveequalvaluetoourlivedexperience.Withthismorebalancedapproach,notonlywillwebemorelikelytoacknowledgeourownandothers’experiences,butalso,withsolidscientificvalidation,wemayfindourselvesmoreinclinedtowardsactivelydevelopingourowntelepathicskills.Frommyownexperiencewiththehumpbackmother,andfrom the dolphin examples above, it appears that in ourwarm-bloodedOceancousins, we havewilling and capable teachers. Indeed it may be that they’vebeenourteachersforquitesometime.

OnMorningtonIsland,intheGulfofCarpenteriainNorthernAustralia,livesatribeofAboriginiesknownastheDolphinPeople.Thistribehasbeen reported to be in direct communication with the wild bottlenosedolphinswhoresidejustoffthecoast,andformanythousandsofyearsaswell. Their Shamans remain heir to a complex series of whistles that

signal the dolphins to venture close to shore. Then the whistling firstbecomesmoreanimated,andthenstopsaltogether.TheShamansexplainthat,atthatpoint,theybegintospeaktothedolphinsmindtomind.–JimNollmaninHeathcoateWilliams(1985)WhaleNation17

TheOceanReallyisAliveOurlivingOceanstoryhastakenusintothedepthsoftime–fromtheOcean’sphysicalformationtolife’sfirstbeginningsandhercomingintobeingasalivingforce.We’vefollowedherslowandsometimestumultuousjourneytowardsthediverse andcomplex living systemweare familiarwith today.Along thewaywe’vedeepenedourunderstandingofherphysiologicalprocesses–respiration,circulation and metabolism – which we can now appreciate as the bodilyfunctions of a living being, so vast that she influences every aspect of thisbeautifulGaiansystemwecallPlanetEarth.Weare,allofus,utterlydependentonhercontinued,healthyfunctioning.

But our journey has taken us much deeper than a purely physicalexploration of her bodily functions.We’ve taken an emotionally charged rideinto the richly sensual world of those who dwell within her liquid embrace.We’ve discovered an interconnected world, full of intelligence, sentience andawareness; a world where the growing complexity of the lived experiencebrought forth theartofcommunicationandnourished itsevolutionas theveryfoundationofsocialliving.

We’ve used amixture of science, intuition and visualisation to delve into‘what it is like to be’ and through some interactive living examples we’veexplored the emotional and social lives of just a few of the Ocean’s myriadbeings.Thestorythat’semergedisoneofcontextualrichness,emotionaldepthandinterdependence.It’salsothestoryofanemergentOceanMindcapableofself-awareness, perhaps even self-reflection, out of which a deep sense ofinterbeingunfolds.SuchistherichnessoftheOcean,alivetoherselfandalivetousalsoifwearewillingtotaketheplunge.

AndsoourlivingOceanstorycomestoaclose.But‘sadly’it’snottheendofourjourney.Wecannolongerstanduponherboundlessshoresandcontemplatelife, wild and limitless. Almost on a daily basis we are discovering that theOceandoeshavelimits.Wearecomingtorealisethatthere’sapricetopayforthecenturiesofwontonabusewehaveinflicteduponher,andthedisregardandcontemptwehaveshownforherlivingnature.Weareslowlywakinguptotheconsequencesofouractionsasweponderanever-growinglistofmortalthreatstotheOcean’ssurvivalandtherefore,ourown!

PartTwo

Re-visioningOurRelationship

withtheLivingOcean

10

IstheOceanReallyDying?

It isacurioussituation that thesea, fromwhich life firstarose, shouldnowbethreatenedbytheactivitiesofoneformof that life.But thesea,though changed in a sinister way, will continue to exist: the threat israthertolifeitself.

–RachelCarsonCoralbleaching–acidification–habitatloss–deadzones–toxicalgalblooms–overfishing–speciesextinctions–biodiversityloss–destructivefishingtechnologies–oilspills–deepseamining–heavymetalpollutants–plasticislands–micro-plastics–increasedshipping–noise

pollution–sea-levelrise–sedimentation–agriculturalrun-off–meltingiceshelves–Oceanwarming–severeweatherevents.Thelistofthreatsfacingthe

Oceantodayisdauntingtosaytheleast.

Anyoneofthemontheirowniscauseforconcernandwarrantsimmediateaction, but taken together they represent an unprecedented threat to the veryfabricoftheOceanasalivingsystem,perhapseventoherverysurvival.Indeed,overthepasttwodecadesorso,therhetoricfromscientists,conservationistsandeven mainstream media has shifted from cautionary murmurings aboutoverfishing, coral bleaching and pollution, to dire warnings of imminentcollapse. A recent feature story in the prominent current affairs magazine

Newsweek,wastitled‘TheDeathoftheOceans’1,whileRollingStonemagazineiswarningof‘ThePointofNoReturn’.2Wearealreadywitnessingthedeathofentire ecosystems, from coral reefs to deep sea ‘cities’, that we have barelydiscovered,letaloneexplored.ButisthewholeOceanreallyindangerofdying?

Toanswer thisquestionwe firstneed tobeclear aboutwhatwemeanbydyingandindeed,whatweunderstandtobethelivingstate.Ifwetakeastrictlybiological approach and ask: is it possible that all biological life in theOceanwillbeextinguished,thentheanswerisan–almost–emphatic‘No’.It’sbeyondimagining that the Ocean will become biologically dead any time in theforeseeable future. Life in the Ocean has survived, and mostly thrived, foraroundfourbillionyearsdespitetheoccasionaltumultuousupheaval.Fromthisperspective,andgiventhelonglistofcalamitiesabove,amorerelevantquestionwouldbe:whatkindof lifemightweexpect tosee in theOceanof thefuture,andhowwellwillshebeabletofulfillherroleasprimarycontributortoGaia,thelivingplanet?

Ithinkthere’sadeeperquestionhere,anditconcernsmuchofwhatwe’vebeen exploring in the previous four chapters: the Ocean’s living essence, hersentience,intelligenceandtheinterconnectednessthatemergesasOceanMind.Whatbecomesofthislivingstateofinterconnectedness,thisOceanSpirit,whenall the dolphins and whales are silenced; when the sharks, mantas, tuna andturtles no longer roam far and wide; when the collective minds of the greatsardine schools fade into memory; when the reef cities become ghost towns,their remaining inhabitants dwelling within the crumbling skeletons of oncevibrant,coralcastles?Howcanthe livingSoulof theOceansurvivesuchloss,becoming littlemore than an empty shell, bereft of all but the shadow of heronce vibrant spirit? For surely this is the death we risk if we continue with‘businessasusual’.

TimeforanOcean‘Check-up’There’snodoubtthatthedeteriorationoftheOcean’swellbeingisadirectresultofouractions,butwhatstate issheactually in?It’s important toacknowledgeand take responsibility for thedamagewe’vewrought, butbeforewecan turnresponsibilityintoresponse-abilityweneedaclearunderstandingoftheeffectsofouractions.Whenwe’refacedwithsuchalonglistofoverlappingmaladiesitbecomesdifficulttoisolatespecificcauseandeffectrelationships,soratherthantrying to deal with each symptom in isolation, we’ll take a more holisticapproach and aim for an insightful overview of the Ocean’s current state ofhealth.

We’llframeourholisticOceanCheck-upbylookingathowherphysiologyisbeingaffectedbythevariousman-madeinfluencessheissubjectedto.Tohelpus gain an overall picturewe can group these anthropogenic (human-induced)influencesintothreebroadcategories:Climatechange: includinggreenhousegasemissions,Oceanwarmingandsea-levelrise.Pollution: including plastic pollution, heavy metals and persistent organicpollutants,land-basedrun-offaswellasnoisepollution.Industrial scale fishing: includingoverfishing,destructive fishing technologies,habitatloss,aquacultureandlossofbiodiversity.This approachwill help us identify how these various causes inter-connect toundermineheroverallwellbeing.

Beforewegetstartedthough,weneedtobeclearaboutourmotives.Abigpart of the reason we are facing such a dramatic and potentially catastrophicecologicalcollapse,isourself-inflicted‘separation’fromtherestoflife,andourpredominantlyselfishperspectiveof‘what’sinitforus?’Inotherwords,ifweareonlymotivatedwithhowweasaspecieswillbeaffectedbythedemiseoftheOcean, rather than from concern for theOcean herself,we run the risk ofremainingpreoccupiedwithquickfixsolutions–suchasgeo-engineering–thatmaysuitusintheshortterm,butwilldolittletochangetheunderlyingcauses.It’s important thatwe leavebehindoursomewhatarrogantbelief thatwehavetheright tosaveordestroy.Rather,weneed toshowa littlemorehumilitybyaccepting that we simply aren’t qualified to hold that power and instead,embracetheunderstandingthat theonlythingthat is trulywithinourpower tochangeisourownbehaviour.

TheOceanwillhealherselfifwegiveherthechance.

AnthropogenicClimateChangeAswe’vecometounderstand,Gaia’sclimateisanintimatedancebetweenthelifeprocessandtheplanet’sgeophysicalforces,andlikeanygooddance,there’sa dynamic fluidity to themovementwhich allows for creative expression, butneverthelesskeeps toanoverall rhythm.ThebeatofGaia’s climatedancehasseen dramatic pauses in the past, including the fivemass extinction episodes.Eachoftheserhythmicchangeshasbeenprecededbyaprolongedbuildupoverthousands, or even tens of thousands of years, before reaching their dramaticcrescendo.Thisallowed time forsomespecies toadapt to thechanging tempoandensuredthatenoughoflife’sdancerswerelefttopickupthebeatandcarryonthedance.

Akeytriggerforchangeinalltheseeventswasadramaticriseinthelevelof‘greenhousegases’,primarilycarbondioxideandmethane.Thecausesbehindthebuildupofthesegaseshavevaried,butthelessonforusisthatit’sthespeedofchange,ratherthanthetotalamount,thatseemstohavethebiggestimpactonthe ability of individual species, as well as whole ecosystems to adapt, andtherefore survive.3 During the fivemass extinction episodes it was theOceanthatborethebruntoftheextinctions,butitwasalsotheOceanthatGaialargelyrelied upon to bounce back, pick up the beat and inject life’smovement backintotheclimatedance.

Anthropogenic climate change is causing greenhouse gases to rise at anunprecedentedrate.Atjustover400ppm(partspermillion)theyarealready40percentabovepre-industrial levels,andhigher than theyhavebeen forat leastthe last 800,000 years. Even ifwemanage to stabilize the rate of our currentemissions, it’spredicted thatwewillmore thandoublepre-industrial levelsbythe end of this century.4 Just to put this rate of increase into context, we cancompare itwith the largestmassextinctionofall– the latePermianextinction250 million years ago – when 95 percent of Ocean species became extinct.Leading up to the Permian extinction there was intense volcanic activity thatspewedoutanestimated100,000billiontonsofcarbondioxideoveraperiodof18,800 years, amounting to somewhere around five billion tons per year. Incontrastwearecurrentlyemitting32.3billiontonsperyear.Inotherwordsweareemittingcarbondioxideintotheatmosphereatadramaticallyfasterratethanthat associated with the largest mass extinction of life the Ocean has everexperienced.5

So,letsexaminehowthisrapidchangeisaffectingOceanphysiology.

AcidStomachTheOcean’spH(acidity-alkalinitybalance)iscriticaltothehealthyfunctioningof her physiology, but shemustwalk a delicate chemical ‘tightrope’ inwhichthisbalance is strongly influencedby theequilibrium-seekingdynamicsofgasexchange with the atmosphere. As more carbon dioxide is emitted into theatmospheretheOceaniscompelledtoabsorbasmuchasisrequiredtomaintainequilibrium - she has absorbed around a third of the carbon dioxidewe haveemitted since the industrial revolution.When carbon dioxide dissolves in theOceanitproducescarbonicacid,whichinturnreleaseshydrogenions,andthemorehydrogen ions thereare, themoreacidic thewaterbecomes.Acidityhasalready increased by 30 percent since the latter half of last century, and atcurrentcarbondioxideemissionlevelsit’spredictedtoriseto150percentbythemiddleofthiscentury,fasterthanatanyothertimeinthelast65millionyears.6

TheimplicationsfortheOcean’sphysiologyarefar-reaching.Theacidityofthewateraffectstheabilityofcalcifyingorganisms,suchasoysters,shrimpsandcorals,tosecretetheirhardshellsandskeletons.Mostofthemhaveevolvedtothrive in a slightly alkalineOcean inwhich the chemical balanceof dissolvedinorganic carbons enables them to build their calcium carbonate shells, stonyskeletons and elaborate internal structures. But as the Ocean becomes moreacidicmanyofthemwillfinditincreasinglydifficulttobuildnewstructures,orevenmaintainexistingones.

Already the Ocean’s coral reef cities are being affected. Researchers arefindingthatcoralskeletonsonsomereefsnowcontainlesscarbonatebyvolumethan they used to, which not only slows their growth, but also weakens theirstructuralintegrity,makingthemmoresusceptibletodamagefromincreasinglyintensestormevents.7 ItmaybeonlyamatterofdecadesbeforesomepartsoftheOceanbecomesoacidicthatcoralswillnolongerbeabletoconstructnewskeletons at all, and existing skeletons will corrode and crumble. But it’s notonlycorals thatareaffected.Coral reefs relyona typeofencrustingcorallinealgaethatliterallycementsthereeftogether.Thetypeofcalciumcarbonatethatthe algae secrete is particularly susceptible to corrosion. Ifwe continue asweare, the reef cities couldbecome littlemore thanamemoryby theendof thiscentury.8

Anevenbiggercauseforconcernistheeffectacidificationishavingontheverysmallcalcifiers:themanyandvariedspecieswholiveintherichplanktonlayerattheOcean’ssurface,aswellasontheOceanfloor.Thesurfacelayerisbearing thebruntofacidification,especially inpolar regions,where thecolderwater holds more CO2 than warmer climes. Some parts of the Arctic have

already become too corrosive for the tiny, but plentiful pteropod: a free-swimming,planktonicsnailthatisthekeystonespeciesintheentireArcticfoodweb.Theybuild their beautiful transparent shells from the carbonate-saturatedwaters, but as acidity increases carbonate saturationdecreases, and their shellsliterally dissolve into nothing. Without pteropods the Arctic food web willcollapse, meaning death by starvation for those that feed directly on them,leadingtoacascadingdeclineinallotherspecies.Thiscouldbecomearealityinaslittleas50yearsifacidificationcontinuesonitscurrenttrajectory.9

Polaracidificationisfurtherincreasedbymeltingiceshelves,andit’snowapparentthatAntarcticwatersareonthesamecorrosivetrajectoryasisalreadybeingexperiencedbythepteropodsinpartsoftheArctic.WhateffectthismayhaveonAntarctickrillisstillunclearbutthesignsaren’tpromising.Studiessofar suggest that acidification levels predicted for the end of the century willinterrupt their embryonic development, preventing normal growth intoadulthood.10

The Ocean’s metabolism will undoubtedly be severely affected byacidification,buttheramificationsdon’tendthere–herrespirationisalsounderthreatasthecorrosiveeffectsofourcarbonemissionsbegintoeattheirwayintothe delicate chalky bodies of coccolithophores and other calcifyingphytoplankton. It’s uncertain yet how well coccolithophores and theirphotosynthesizingcomradeswillfareinmorecorrosiveseas,butapartfromthepotential risk to theirchalkybodies, acidwaterswill reduce theavailabilityofiron, essential for their growth.11 Given their major role as the ‘lungs’ of theOcean, as well as the fundamental part they play in her metabolism, notforgettingtheircontributiontothesulphurcycle,we’dbetterhopethattheyfindawaytocopewithouracid‘breath’.

OceanFeverThe Ocean has a burning ‘fever’ and it’s a direct result of human-inducedclimatechange.Shehasabsorbedatleast90percentoftheextraheatcausedbyourgreenhousegas emissions since the start of the industrial revolution.Evenso, her average surface temperature has only risen by a modest 0.7ºC, butbecauseofherenormoussizeandthecomplexityofhercirculatorysystem,wedidn’t really notice the severity of her growing fever until recently.With thedevelopment of more sophisticated measuring equipment, scientists havediscoveredthatoverthepastfewdecadeshertemperaturehasbeenrisingupto55 percent faster than previously thought.Most of the extrawarmth has beenaccumulating in shallow waters above 700 metres, but more recently

measurementsarerevealingthatthedeepOceanhasstartedtowarmaswell.12Adding to the complexity of the picture is the fact that warming varies

widelyfordifferentpartsoftheOcean.Inparticular,polarregionshavewarmedmuchmorethantheglobalaverage,ashavepartsofthenorthAtlantic,suchasEurope’sNorthandBalticSeas.Butonceagain,it’stherateofwarmingthat’scausing climate scientists so much concern. Even the remote vastness of thePacific has warmed faster in the last six decades than it has in the previous10,000 years. In addition, there are complex decadal oscillations in both theAtlanticandPacificwhichinfluencehowmuch,andhowfast,extraheatcausedbyouremissionsgetsabsorbed.13TheseandmanyotherfactorsrenderpredictivemodellingofOceanwarmingmoreofanartformthanareliablescience.Evenso, the implicationsof this rapidwarmingfor theOcean’sphysiologyareverydisturbingindeed.

One of the first effects to be noticed was the phenomenon of coralbleaching. This happens when coral colonies become stressed by periods ofexcessively high water temperatures. Their stress response is to expel thesymbioticalgae that livewithin their fleshypolyps. In return for safe lodgingsthephotosynthesizingalgaenotonlysupplythebulkofthecorals’food,butalsogivethemtheirkaleidoscopiccolours.Withoutthem,coralsfaceaslowdeathbystarvationandwithinafewweeksallthatremainsofthecolonyistheirdeathlywhiteskeleton.Masscoralbleachingevents,affectingentirereefsystems,havebeen on the rise in the last two decades and are predicted to become yearlyeventsbythemiddleofthiscentury.14EvenasIwrite,Oceanscientistshavejustannouncedthat2015/16mayseetheworstglobalbleachingeventonrecord.

Thereareotherevenmoreworryingeffects.OxygenisthemagicingredientthatfuelstheOcean’smetabolism,butwarmwaterholdslessdissolvedoxygenthan cold, so as the Ocean warms many creatures will find it increasinglydifficult tobreathe.But theproblem’snot just limitedtothesurfacelayers.Aswe learned in Chapter 4, the deep Ocean relies to a large extent on thethermohaline to deliver oxygen from surface waters, so as surface oxygendeclines,thedeepOceanwillsufferinturn.

For various reasons, somemid-depth areas of theOceannaturally containlessoxygenthanothers.Knownasoxygenminimumzones,theyareincreasinginsizeastheOceanwarms,andnewareascoveringmillionsofsquarekilometres,are forming at an alarming rate. In these zones oxygen levels are so low thatvirtually no oxygen-dependent life can survive.15 Most worrying is that theyhave appeared in three out of the four major eastern boundary currentupwellings,traditionallysomeofthemostproductiveareasintheentireOcean.Changingwindandcurrentpatternscausedbywarmingarepartlytoblamefor

thesezones,butaswe’llsee,bothpollutionandoverfishingarealsocontributingto this growing catastrophe. The Ocean may be heading for a period of lowoxygen,where thosewith high oxygen needs (pelagic fish, sharks and so on)willstruggle,butthosewithlowoxygenneeds,suchasjellyfish,willthrive.

PerhapsthemostfrighteningimpactontheOcean’smetabolism,aswellasher respiration, is the sharp decline in global phytoplankton. A review ofphytoplanktonrecordstakensince1899showsthattheOceanhaslostasmuchas 40 percent of her phytoplankton biomass, withmost of this loss occurringsince themid 20th century.16 Scientists believe this dramatic decline is due towarmersurfacewaters,whichareincreasingthethermoclinestratificationofthewatercolumn,preventingessentialnutrientsbeingrecycledbacktothesurface.17Phytoplankton are at the very core of the Ocean’s metabolism. Whereverphytoplanktonpopulationsdecline,entirefoodwebswillsuffer.

Nutrientavailabilityistheprimarylimitingfactorforphytoplanktongrowth–we’vealreadyseen thatacidificationcanaffect theavailabilityof iron–andnowwecanseehowwarmingis limitingotheressentialnutrientsaswell.Thelossofoxygen-producingphytoplanktonwillofcourseexacerbate theOcean’soxygendepletion,butweshouldalsorememberthecriticalroletheyplayintheglobalcarboncycleandthepositiveclimatefeedbacklooptheirlosswillcreate.The complex relationship between phytoplankton, oxygen levels and carboncyclingmay be the singlemost important factor in the whole climate changestory. During the ‘great dying’ of the Permian extinction, the Ocean sufferedfromadramaticlossinbothoxygenandphytoplankton,andthismayhaveledtothe releaseofmassivequantitiesofpoisonoushydrogen sulphidegas from theOceanfloor,‘snuffingout’thevastmajorityofOceanlife,aswellas70percentofterrestriallife.18

We’re all familiar with tragic images of polar bears swimming in openexpanses ofwater, or clinging precariously to tiny ice floeswhere once therewas solid sea ice, but there are even more disturbing ramifications to theretreating ice fields. As mentioned earlier, polar regions of the Ocean arewarming faster than most, partly due to a positive feedback loop caused bymelting ice.Thewhitesurfaceof the icereflectsabout80percentof thesun’swarmthback intospace,butas itmelts thedarksurfaceof theexposedOceanabsorbs95percentofthatwarmth,leadingtoevenhighertemperaturesandmoremelting.It’spredictedthattheArcticOceanwillhaveice-freesummersby2040.Butit’snotjusttheseaicethat’smelting,it’salsoGreenland’sicesheet.Asitrecedes,vastfieldsofmethanegas,lockedinpermafrostontheOceanfloorformillionsofyears,arebeingexposed.Asthewarmerwatermeltsthepermafrost,massive plumes of this powerful greenhouse gas will be released, adding yet

anotherpositivefeedbacklooptothewarmingequation.19The accumulatingmeltwater in theArctic could potentially interferewith

the thermohaline circulation. During previous warming events over the last120,000 years, meltwater has caused the thermohaline to slow down or evenstop, with highly unpredictable repercussions.20 At the present rate of Arcticwarmingthiscouldbecomearealityinamatterofdecades.TheOceanhasbeenthroughthiskindofcirculatoryupheavalmanytimesbeforeandhastakenitinher stride, but many of her inhabitants will have to adjust their lifestyles,migratingtowarmerorcoolerwatersasrequired,orfollowingfoodsuppliesascirculation patterns change.But thosewho are unable tomovemay not be solucky.

RisingTideSea-levelchangeisnothingnewfortheOcean;infactitisinacontinuousstateofflux.Thedifference,onceagain,isthespeedofchange.Therateofsea-levelrisehasdoubledinthepast twodecades,andpredictionsarethat it isgoingtospeedupevenmore.Twofactorscontributetosea-levelrise–expansionofthewater as it warms, and the melting of ice shelves. Melting sea ice doesn’tcontribute to sea-level rise as it’s already floating on the Ocean. Both theGreenland ice sheet and theWest Antarctic ice shelf aremeltingmuch fasterthanpredicted,andmayhavereachedastageofpositivefeedbackthatwillleadtoasea-levelriseofatleasttwometresbytheendofthiscentury.21

Thereareobviousanddisastrousramificationsforcoastaldwellers,butourfocushere isonhow this rapidsea-level risewillaffect theOceanherself.Byitself it probably wouldn’t be too much of an issue, but with the cumulativeeffectsofotherfactorsitmaybecomeadisastroustippingpointforawiderangeofshallowwaterecosystems.Forexample,coralreefswouldnormallybeabletogrowtheircalcifiedskeletonsfastenoughtokeeptheirlivingtissueclosetothesun-drenched surface, but with the combination of acidification, increasedextremestormsandcoralbleaching,manyreefswillstruggletokeeppacewiththe rising waters.22 Other coastal ecosystems, such as mangrove forests andseagrass beds, may struggle even more. These areas are critically importantnurseriesforthejuvenilesofmanyspecies,aswellasnaturalfiltrationareasforsedimentrun-offfromtheland.23

Perhaps themost worrying and potentially damaging aspect of rapid sea-level rise is one that theOcean has never before had to contendwith.As herliquidbody inundates low-lying landshewillbe flooding throughsomeof themostindustrializedandpollutedareasthathumanityhasyetproduced,including

someof the largestmega-citieson theplanet.This ‘mother load’of toxic filthwillexacerbateanalreadydeadlyproblem.

PollutionFrom an ecological perspective, pollution is a sign of biological imbalance. Ifone or more species undergoes a population explosion, the usually beneficialchemicalornutrientwasteproductsoftheirmetabolism,overwhelmthesystemand become toxic. A classic example is the great oxidation event, some 2.5billionyearsago,whencyanobacteriaconqueredtheprimordialOceanwiththeirnewly invented photosynthesis and created an ecological crisis with theirmetabolic waste product, oxygen (Chapter 2). Our own population explosionsincetheindustrialrevolutionhasalsoleadtoabiologicalimbalanceonaglobalscale,butthewastestreamwehavecreatedgoeswellbeyondmetabolicwaste.We’renotonlypollutingtheOceanwithchemicalsandnutrientsattoxiclevels,butwe’realsochokingherwithplasticanddeafeningherwithnoisepollution.

TooMuchofaGoodThingMost rivers lead to the Ocean. They carry with them much-needed nutrientsfrom the land, but now they now also carry the leftovers from our oil-fedindustry, agriculture and transport, as well as our treated (and untreated)sewerage and ‘waste’ water. The result is a toxic overload of chemicals andnutrients that are creating coastal dead zones where nothing but bacteria cansurvive. Like all the oxygenminimum zones, these dead zones are starved ofoxygen, but in this case it’s an over-supply of nutrients like nitrogen andphosphorous that’s causing the problem. These nutrients fuel unnaturallymassiveplanktonbloomsthatoverwhelmthebesteffortsoffilterfeederstokeepthem in check. When plankton die and sink to the bottom, they trigger anexplosion of bacterial decomposition,which uses up all the available oxygen.Any oxygen-breathing organisms not fast enough to escape literally die ofasphyxiation.

IntheGulfofMexicoadeadzonethesizeofConnecticutandRhodeIslandStates combined is fed by millions of tons of petroleum based, syntheticfertilisersusedinintensivefarmingacrosstheMississippidelta.24Everyspringwhenthedeadzoneforms,theseafloorislitteredwithdeadfish,crabs,shrimp,wormsandshellfish.AnothermassivedeadzonefillsNorthernEurope’sBalticSea, where agricultural, industrial and urban effluent has overwhelmed thissemi-closed sea’s limited circulation. Scientists have now identified 400 deadzones worldwide, covering a quarter of a million square kilometres, but it’sestimatedthattherecouldbeasmanyasathousandormorecoastaldeadzones

intheOcean.Nutrient-soaked run-off from the land is also fueling the rapid growth of

smothering blankets of algae that literally choke the life out of tropical coralreefs, temperate rocky reefs, seagrassbedsandsandy lagoons.These so-callednutrient indicator algae (NIA) form dense filamentousmats, blocking out thesunlightcrucialforphotosynthesizingcorals;cloggingtheporesoffilterfeederssuch as sponges; strangling the tentacled polyps of anemones and corals; andburying sand-dwellers such as shellfish and other invertebrates under a thicklayerofalgae.Overfishingofgrazers suchasparrotfishandseaurchins,oftenexacerbates the NIA problem. For a reef already stressed by coral bleaching,overfishingandacidification,there’snowaybackoncethealgaetakeshold.Upto 80 percent of theCaribbean’s corals reefs are affected,many of them nownothingmorethanNIAcoveredskeletons.25

Anotherphenomenonrelatedtoexcessnutrientsistoxicalgalblooms,alsoknown as red tides – so named for the reddish coloured slick covering thesurfaceduringabloom.Thesehappenwhenparticularplanktonspeciesbloom,releasingpotentbio-toxins,whichcanbuildupinfilterfeedingorganismssuchasshellfish,poisoninganything thateats them.Plankton-eating fisharealsoathigh risk of ingesting the bio-toxins, which in turn affects their predatorsincludingother fish,sharks,whalesanddolphins.Marinemammalsarealso ingravedangerofinhalingthetoxinswhentheycometothesurfacetobreath.

Worldwide,thedeathofwhales,dolphins,seals,dugongsandmanateesdueto toxic algal blooms numbers in the tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands.Indeed, red tides have now become a yearly event in Florida, killing moreendangeredmanateesthananyothercause-149injustoneyear.Redtidesoccurnaturallywhenwindandcurrentsbringdeep-waternutrientstothesurface,butthe combined influence of excess nutrient run-off from human activity andchanging wind and current patterns caused by climate change, has seen theirfrequencyandseverityskyrocketinthepastfewdecades.26

PersistentOrganicPollutantsandHeavyMetalPoisoningOur toxic lifestyles are producing an even deadlier threat to the health andwellbeingoftheOceanandallherbeings,notonlythreateningherphysiology,but her psyche aswell. TheOcean is now a poisonous soup of heavymetals,along with a suite of man-made chemical concoctions collectively known asPersistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). These include many chemicals nowbanned in some countries (such asDDT, PCBs and dioxins) but as the namesuggests, once in the Ocean they persist for many decades, even centuries.

What’s worse is that they accumulate in the bodies of Ocean beings, startingwithplankton,andworkingtheirwayineverincreasingconcentrationsthroughvirtually everyOcean foodweb.This process ofbio-magnification reaches itsclimaxinapexpredatorssuchastuna,swordfish,sharksandmarinemammals,who can end up with accumulated toxins many thousands of times moreconcentratedthaninthesurroundingwater.27

Theeffectsof thesepoisonson the immunesystemsare severe,even life-threatening,buttheyalsoplayhavocwithhormonesproducedbytheendocrinesystem,whichnotonlyaffectreproductivehealthandneurologicalfunction,butcanalsoleadtotumorsandvariouscancers.Forexample,mercury,whichmakesitswayintotheOceanviatheburningofcoalandotherindustrialairpollution,has been shown to cause severe neurological dysfunction, fatigue, depression,tremors and heart disease in some marine mammals. Dolphins killed in theyearlyslaughteratJapan’sTaijiCovehavebeenmeasuredwithmorethan100times the level of mercury considered to be safe.28 The growing number ofmarine mammal fatalities associated with POPs is alarming, as are theramificationsforallOceanlife,notleastofwhichistheeffect theyarehavingonthementalhealthofmanyOceandwellers.SomeareasoftheOceanaremoreaffected than others, but there is nowhere that Ocean beings can escape theinevitableaccumulationofthesedeadlytoxins.

Plastic‘Indigestion’ThespectreofOceanplasticpollutionisnowwellpublicized;mostofushaveheardofthe‘GreatPacificGarbagePatch’intheNorthPacificGyre,andmanywillbeawareof similaraccumulationsofplastic in theother four sub-tropicalgyres (Chapter 4). While the gyres do act as irresistible vortices, plastic isanother one of our pollutants that has now reached every part of theOcean’sbody,notjustonthesurface.Abouthalfofallplasticsaredenserthanwaterandwilleventuallysink,soeventhedepthsofhergreatbodyarebecomingcloggedwithplasticfragmentsofallsizes.

Thescaleofplasticpollutionisstaggering:it’sconservativelyestimatedthatthereareatleast5.25trillionplasticpieces,ranginginsizefromlessthan1mmto larger than 200mm, floating at the surface.29 The amount that’s below thesurface is anyone’s guess, but based on the latest models as well as benthicsurveysarounddifferentpartsofthecontinentalshelves,itwouldappearthattheplasticproblemmaybeanalogous toan iceberg:with thevastmajorityhiddenbelowthesurface.30It’ssoberingtothinkthatplastichasreallyonlybeenwidelyused for around six decades, and yet it is now one of the Ocean’s biggest

challenges. She has never faced an ecological crisis quite like this, and everyyear it’s gettingworse by an estimated eightmillion tons: that’s equivalent toabout15grocerybagsfullofplasticforeverymetreofcoastlineontheplanet.31

TheOcean’smetabolismisseverelyimpactedbythisplasticinvasionintwoways. At the surface plastic photo-degrades and breaks up into smaller andsmallerpieces.Thesemicro-plasticsactassponges,soakingupPOPs,aswellasgiving off their own toxins.Micro-plastics are ingested by plankton and othersmallbeings,suchasthehugelyimportantandprolificlanternfish,whoareinturneatenbylargerfishandsoonuntiltheentireOceanfoodwebispermeatedwith plastic. These toxic time bombs then accumulate in larger beings: tuna,sharks, swordfish, squid, marine mammals etc, releasing their poisonous loadinto thefatty tissues,muscles,circulatoryandnervoussystems,adding to theirtoxicdistress.

Theotherimpactofplasticingestionisequallydevastating;indeedsomeoftheindividualtragediesinvolvedaretrulyheartbreaking.Inareportjustreleasedit’s estimated that at least 90 percent of the world’s seabirds have ingestedplastic from the Ocean, and it’s not just adult birds that are suffering. MostspeciesofseabirdsforageattheOcean’ssurface,returningtolandtofeedtheirhungrychicks.32Tragically, thesedotingparentsare inadvertentlyregurgitatingplastic instead of food into the waiting mouths of their young. Chicks of allspeciesaredyingintheirmillions,eitherbyintestinalblockagesorthroughslowandagonizingstarvationbecausetheirgutsaresofullofplasticthatthere’snoroomforfood.

Plasticingestionishavingasimilarlydevastatingimpactonturtles–50to80percentof turtlesfounddeadordyinghaveplastic in theirgut.33Sotooarewhales, dolphins and seals succumbing, as plastic bags, hard plastic items,syntheticropesanddiscardedfishinggeargetlodgedintheirthroatsandblocktheirdigestivetracts.Thenumberofwhalesanddolphinswashinguponbeacheswithingestedplasticisincreasingalarmingly,butthismaybeanother‘iceberg’situation, where these beached whales are just a fraction of the real numbersbeingkilledbyouraddictiontoplastic.

DrowninginaSeaofSoundInChapter7wegotasenseofhowcriticallyimportantsoundisinthelivesofmany Ocean dwellers, not only as a form of communication, but also fornavigating, hunting,mating and even finding a suitable home.But in the pasthalf-century or so, the natural sounds of the Ocean have been increasinglydrowned out bymore andmore noise pollution from our industrial activities.

This noise pollution comes in two forms: background noise and sudden,explosivesoundbursts.

Background noise comes primarily from shipping – although in localizedareas offshore installations such as wind farms and oilrigs contributesignificantly. In the last six decades the number of large ship propellersthrumming through the water has risen exponentially, as have the size of theships, and consequently the volumeof their noise.A large container shipwillemit a constant roar in the range of about 90 decibels, which travels in alldirections for long distances.Withmany thousands of ships plying theOceantoday,it’sestimatedthatonaverage,backgroundnoiseiseighttimeslouderthanitwasinthe1950s.34Notsurprisingly,allthisbackgroundnoiseishavingahugeimpact on the lives of Ocean dwellers, affecting long range whalecommunication, dolphin sonar, fish mating, hunting and so on. But it’s alsocausingincreasedanxietyandstress,withrelatedlong-termhealthrisks.35

Sudden explosive noises from seismic testing associatedwith oil and gasexploration,militarysonar,seafloorsurveyingandunderwaterdetonationshaveamoreimmediateandlethalimpact.Marinemammalsareespeciallyvulnerable,astheirsensitiveinternalairspacescansuffertraumaticdamagefromtheintensepressurewaves causedby theviolent blasts.Ocean-wide thenumberofwhaleanddolphindeathsattributedtosuddennoisetraumaisinthetensofthousands,somewashingupdeadonbeacheswithbloodseepingfromrupturedearcanals,while others are driven ashore in mass strandings, either in overwhelmedconfusionorinanattempttoescapetheintensepainoftheblasts.36

Industrial-scaleFishing:StealingtheOcean’sLife-forceIt tookhumans roughly50,000 years todeplete theplanet’s large landanimals,5000yearstoexhaustmostoftheplanet’scoastalenvironments,500 years to fish out the continental shelf, 50 years to impoverish theopenoceanand5yearstorunthroughthecreaturesofthedeepocean.–AlannaMitchell,(2008)SeaSick

Wecontinue todenude theOceanofher life-forceat a ratemany times fasterthananyof themassextinctionsof thepast,andintheprocesswearecausingthe total,ornear totalecologicalcollapseof thevastmajorityofcommerciallytargetedfishspecies.Wehavealreadyremoved90percentofthelargepredatorfish and are now working our way down the trophic levels, to ever morefundamental species within Ocean food-webs, often with destructive fishingtechniquesthatdestroytheirhabitatandthereforeanychanceofrecovery.37

In thepast twocenturies, andespecially in the last50years, species afterspecieshavesuccumbed toourprofit-drivengreed.A2006paperpublished inthe esteemed scientific journal Nature predicts the total collapse of allcommercialfisheriesby2048unlessthereisurgentchangeinfishingpractices.The title of that paper, Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean EcosystemServices,highlights thewider ramificationsofour insatiableappetite,butevenhere, the reference to ‘ecosystem services’ reflects our prevailing attitude of‘what’sinitforus’.38Despitethedirewarningsofthisandmanyotherscientificreports and papers, the fishing industry as awhole, aswell as themajority offisheries scientists, continue to focus solely on single species and theirexploitationformaximumprofit.

A stark example of this ‘profit before sustainability’mentality is the factthatmorethanonethirdofwild-caughtfisharegroundupandusedasfeedtogrowhigh-profitfarmedspecies,suchassalmonandshrimps.It takes2.5kgofwild-caught fish to produce just 1kg of farmed salmon. The tragedy for theOcean’s wellbeing is that it’s the hugely important foraging species likeanchovies,menhaden,sardinesandpilchardsthatarebeingdecimatedtosupplythehighlyprofitable,butecologicallydisastrousaquacultureindustry.39

While organisations like The Food and Agricultural Organisation of theUnited Nations (FAO) concentrate on overall tonnages, fish consumption percapita, ‘catch per unit effort’ and socio-economic development (all within theoptimisticallytitledBlueGrowthframeworkthatatleastinprinciple,recognizes

these wider implications) the prevailing attitude is still one of resourceexploitation for ‘maximum sustainable profit’.40 The current estimatedcommercial tonnage ofwild-caughtOcean beings is approximately 79milliontons per year, but this doesn’t include the estimated 26 million tons takenillegally and a further 39million tons discarded as by-catch.41,42 These yearlytonnages represent a declining catch,which peaked in themid 1990s.But thenumbersonlytellpartofthestory,andinfactmaskwhatisdescribedbysomemarinescientistsasthe…‘precipiceofamajorextinctionevent.’43

Another important, but often ignored, consideration is howmuch effort isrequired to catch the same amount of fish today as compared to past ages.Taking into accountman-hours and energy used, it takes on average 17 timesmoreefforttocatchtheequivalentamountoffishtodayasitdidatthebeginningof the 20th century.44 Not only this, but fisherman now have to travel further,with ever more sophisticated equipment to maintain even these dwindlingnumbers.Everynight long-linesbristlingwithmillionsuponmillionsofbaitedhooks – enough to encircle the planet 500 times – are set across theOcean.45Hundredsofthousandsofkilometresofnetsaredeployedeveryday,eithertowedbehind evermore powerful trawlers, anchored to the bottom as set-nets or setadriftonthehighseas.Tensofthousandsofkilometresofthesenetsarelostordiscardedeveryyear,andtheheavilysubsidizedglobalfishingindustrysimply‘writes-off’thislossaspartofstandardoperatingcosts.

ThecosttotheOceanthoughisincalculable.

HabitatDestructionandFishingPollutionIndividual species, aswell aswhole ecosystems, are being annihilated by thiswholesale slaughter,withvirtuallyno regard for the sufferingof the countlessbillions of lives, nor theOcean’s overallwellbeing. The pricewe pay for ourshrimp cocktail, smoked salmon or fish sushi doesn’t take into account thestaggering degradation of Ocean environs through destructive fishingtechnologies, nor does it encompass the horrific impact that lost or discardedfishinggearhasonOceanlife.Itpaysnoheedtothesubstantialcontributionthattheworld’scommercialfishingfleetmakestocarbonemissions–1.2percentofthetotalworldoilusage–andthereforeOceanacidification,warming,sea-levelrise,directpollutionof theOcean throughoverboarddischarge,andofcourse,noisepollution.46

Besides the sheer volume of life being dragged from the Ocean, it’s theshamelessly destructive way in which we are doing it that is also causingunprecedenteddamagetoherlivingsystems.Bottomtrawlinganddredgingfor

speciessuchasorangeroughy,hake,hoki,squid,shrimp,scallopsandoystersisthe most destructive and wasteful. By-catch in this highly unselective fishingmethodcanbeashighas80 to90percentof theoverallcatch.Wholebenthiccommunities including sponges, corals, starfish, shellfish and crustaceans areuprooted, crushed and torn to pieces as the heavily weighted net or dredgegouges its way across the Ocean floor. Every year industrial-sized trawlers‘bulldoze’ an area equal to half the Ocean’s continental shelves, destroyingentire ecosystems that have been part of her complex living process formillennia.

Habitat destruction is a predominant feature of the aquaculture industry.Mangrove forests in particular bear the brunt of this rapidly expandingalternative to fishing. Nearly 40 percent of mangroves worldwide have beendestroyed, the majority have made way for shrimp and fish farms, mainly inareaswheremangrovesarethebest,andsometimesonly,defenseagainstrisingsea-levels.Ofgreaterconcern for theOcean’swellbeing is thatmangrovesaretheprimarynurseryareasforthejuvenilesofcountlessOceanbeings.47

Entanglementinlost,discardedorcarelesslyplacedfishinggearistheothergreatdestroyerof theOcean’svibrancy.Everyyearmillionsof sharks, turtles,dolphins,whales,mantas, seals and seabirds end their lives in adesperate andterrifyingstruggletofreethemselvesfromghost-nets,abandonedlong-lines,set-nets, lobster pots and so-called shark-nets (a barbaric and outdated policy ofsettingnetsparalleltopopularswimmingandsurfingbeachesto‘protect’humanusers – still being used in Australia). Researchers estimate that worldwide atleast 800 cetaceans die everyday in nets and other fishing gear, makingentanglementthebiggestdangertheyface.48InNewZealandtheworld’srarestdolphin – Maui’s Dolphin – is dying at a rate many times faster than theirmeagrepopulationofaround45canreproduce,becauseset-netsarestillbeingused in theirbreedingarea.And it’snot justcommercialand industrial fishingthatarecreatingthisentanglementnightmare.Recreationalfishingisoneofthemostpopularpastimesinmanypartsoftheworld,butaseveryanglerknows,aday’sfishingnearlyalwaysincludeslosinggeartosnaggedlinesonthebottom.

Biodiversity=Resilience:LossofBiodiversity=CollapseTheOcean’smetabolismhasevolvedoverbillionsofyearsintoafinelytuned,nutrient-cyclingprocessofmind-bogglingcomplexity,andintheprocessgivenbirthtoatrulyawe-inspiringcollectionofdiversebeings.Thisbiodiversityisthecornerstone of Gaia’s ability to maintain habitable conditions over geologicaltime, as well as her ability to bounce back from tumultuous upheavals. The

wholesale removal of so much life can’t help but impact on the Ocean’smetabolism and the recycling of nutrients, but equally important, the loss ofbiodiversity reduces her resilience to all the other calamitous health issuescausedbypollutionandclimatechange.

By way of example we need only remind ourselves of the critical linkbetween nutrient-rich whale poo and phytoplankton abundance in places likeAntarctica and the Gulf of Maine (Chapter 5). With the wanton slaughter ofwhales throughout the Ocean, entire foodwebswere impoverished. ScientistspointthefingeratOceanwarmingasthemainculpritforphytoplanktondeclineover the past century, but this also corresponds with the worst atrocitiescommitted by the industrialised whaling fleets. How much more resilient torapidwarmingwouldtheOceanbeifshestillhadrobustpopulationsofwhales,andother largebeings like tuna, tohelpkeepherphytoplanktonsuppliedwithnutrients!

Anotherexampleofhowthelossofbiodiversityfromoverfishingthreatensher resilience is apparent in the ‘rotten egg’ stench of hydrogen sulphidebubbling to the surface froma dead zoneoff the coast ofNamibia.This deadzone’sgrowthresultsfromacombinationofchangingwindpatternscausedbyclimatechangeandoverfishingofsardines.Phytoplanktonfeastontheextraup-welled nutrients from the stronger offshore winds, causing a populationexplosion, but these same winds blow zooplankton away before they can eatenough of them to avoid massive phytoplankton die-off and eventual oxygendepletion.InthepasttheOceanwasabletorelyontheseasonalproliferationofsardinestokeepthephytoplanktonincheck,butrecentindustrialoverfishinghasdecimatedthesardinepopulation,meaningtheycannolongerplaytheirpartinthiscomplexecologicaldance.

EthicalConsiderationsThese examples give a taste of the complex ramifications of our unbridledpillaging of the Ocean’s life-force; but while scientists, politicians, policymakers, and even most conservation organizations focus on the physical,environmentalandeconomiccostsofdestructiveoverfishing,veryfewconsiderthe devastating impact our actions are having from an animal welfareperspective. InChapter8we touchedon themoral andethical implicationsofourexploitationofOceanbeingswhenwe lookedat the fish-paincontroversy,but this is reallyonly the tipofanother iceberg ifweembrace theOceanasaliving, sentient and minded being, alive to herself through the complex,emotionallivesofallheroffspring.

Canwebegintoimaginetheintensefearthatmustsurelypulsethroughthecollectivemindofthesardineschool,whenmillionsofindividualsareencircledandslowlycrushedtogetherasthepurseseinenetclosesaroundthem?Weonlyseem to care from an ethical or moral perspective when the same fishingtechnique is used on species like tuna, and only then because there are oftenother non-target species – dolphins, sharks, turtles and others – trapped in theenclosing circle of fear.But is this selective, ethical speciesism justifiedwhenweconsidertheprofoundinterconnectednessoftheOceanasawhole?FromanOceanperspective,shouldwenotgiveequalconsiderationtothepotentialharmwe inflict on any part of her vast body as we cast our nets, whether to feedourselves,andourfamilies,ortosatisfyourdesireforprofit?

Prognosis:TimeforaChangeIt’s clear from our brief health ‘check-up’ that the Ocean is suffering fromserious and systemic physiological stress, which is affecting her respiration,circulation and metabolism in complex and unpredictable ways. It’s alsoapparentthatthecumulativeeffectsofallherphysicalailmentsarecausinghighlevelsofemotionalstress tomanyOceanbeings, individuallyandcollectively.Thereisnodoubtthatallofhervarioussymptomshaveacommonrootcause:us. In medical terms we would be described as an invasive and parasiticpathogen,suckingthelifeoutofourhost;robbingherofnutrientsandreplacingthem with our toxic waste. As a result her immune system is severelycompromised and her resilience to infection and disease weakened. Forindividual biological organisms like us a similar diagnosis would be life-threatening.ButwhatdoesitmeanfortheOcean?

TheOcean, likeall livingsystems,workswithinarelativelynarrowsetofphysiologicalparameters.Within thoseparametersshecanmaintainadynamicequilibrium, enabling her to adjust to changes and perturbations whilemaintaining overall balance. Problems usually only occurwhen a system getsoverloaded by too many perturbations, causing it to reach a tipping point,beyondwhichitmovesfromitsnormalsteadystateintoanewsemi-stablestate.BecauseoftheenormouscomplexityoftheOceanasalivingsystem,predictingwith any accuracy what a new semi-stable state would look like is virtuallyimpossible. Even predicting the tipping point, or points, is extremelychallenging.Thebestwecandoistolookintoherpastforclues.

The last time the Ocean experienced anything like the rapid changescurrently occurring was 55 million years ago, in what scientists call thePaleocene-EoceneThermalMaximum(PETM)namedforthegeologicalepochsit divides. The PETMwas started by the rapid release ofmassive amounts ofcarbon dioxide, doubling the existing atmospheric levels in as little as 1,000years–ageologicalinstant.

The cause of this sudden carbon ‘burp’ is still being debated, but therepercussionsarecleartoseeinthefossilrecordsofOceanlifefromthatperiod.So sudden was the change that many species were unable to adapt quicklyenough to the rapid temperature spikes, sea-level rise and increased acidity.Amongst the most affected were calcifying animals such as single-celledforaminifera,ofwhichhalfthebenthicspeciesperished.Thefossilrecordsalsoshowthatittookabout150,000yearsfortheOceanandatmospheretogetback

tonormalandfornewspecies–includingmammals–toflourish,butformostofthatperiodlifefortheexistingspecieswasaprecariousthing.

TherearedifferencesbetweenthePETMandnowthough:mostnotablythatGaiawasalreadyina‘hotstate’comparedtotherelativelycoolperiodweenjoynow. However, this may have worked inmany species’ favour, as they werealreadyaccustomed toamuchhotterhome.But it’s theparallelsbetween thenand now that worry climate scientists themost; chiefly the speedwith whichchangeoccurredandthenon-linearwayinwhichthechanges,thenandnow,cansuddenly switch into positive feedback, pushing the whole system past it’stippingpointintoanewandunpredictablestate.

Theothermajordifferencebetween thePETMandnow is that theOceanbackthendidn’thavetocontendwithall theanthropogenicstressesshehas todealwithnow.Throughourownactionswefloatprecariouslyuponthesurfaceof a completely unique situation, largely blind to the hiddendepths of changethatmayhavealreadysurgedbeyondtippingpointsonlytheOceanherselfmaybeawareof.

Whatnow seemscertain is that change is not only coming, but is in fact,alreadyhappening.Howfar-reaching thechangeswillbe,andwhetherwecanminimisethem,dependverymuchonwhatwechoosetodofromnowon.Thetaskaheadmayseemoverwhelming,butnowisthetimetocometooursenses,takestockofoursituationandallowourheartstoguideus.Forsomethismaybring up feelings of deep despair, but it is only through fully embracing ourdespair and grief that we canmove beyond them and start the process of re-visioningourrelationshiptothelivingOcean.

11

ComingtoourSensesWhatever situation we face, we can choose our response. When facedwithoverwhelmingchallenges,wemightfeelthatouractionsdon’tcountformuch.Yetthekindofresponseswemake,andthedegreetowhichwebelievetheycount,areshapedbythewaywethinkandfeelabouthope.

–JoannaMacyandChrisJohnstone(2012)ActiveHope1

Attheendof the lastchapterI invitedyoutoembraceanyfeelingsofgriefordespair about the damagewe have inflicted – and still are inflicting – on theOcean. It may be that your grief and despair are accompanied by feelings ofoutrage and anger, possibly directed towards themore obvious perpetrators oftheworstatrocitiesofoverfishingandpollution.It’salsopossiblethatasenseofguiltaccompaniestherecognitionthatweareallcomplicit–whetherwillinglyorotherwise– throughourparticipation inmodern, industrial civilization.Thepurposeofembracingthesefeelingsisn’ttoapportionblame,seekretributionor‘guilt trip’ anyone, including ourselves, into making changes. Rather, it’sbecause by accepting our own grief, despair, anger and guilt, we are able toacknowledge the reality of the situation. This is the first step towards re-visioningourrelationshipwiththelivingOcean.

TheproblemsfacingtheOceanarebig,complexandalarminglyreal.Thereis no easy fix when we view them in the context of our ‘business as usual’paradigm,andit’sdifficultnottofeelcompletelyoverwhelmedbytheenormityof the situation. It’s no wonder so many of us suppress, or even deny ourfeelings of grief and despair, lest we succumb to a paralyzing sense ofhopelessness; that all too common feeling that ‘there’s nothing I can do tochange the situation’. This hopelessness is often exacerbated by a sense ofisolationwhenweseeothersaroundusactingasifnothingisamiss.

But the tide is turning. Despite decades of ever-increasing denial, theevidence is mounting that continuing with ‘business as usual’ is simplyunsustainable.Tocontinueourabuseof theOceanwill leadus intoaspiralingecologicalcrisisofunprecedentedscale.The realityof theOcean’splight,and

theimplicationsforourownsurvival,isabundantlyclearandwecannolongerignore it.Thequestion is:what dowedo about it?Howdowemovebeyond‘business asusual’?There isnowwidespreadacknowledgement at thehighestlevels that all is not well, but even as governments, industry, NGOs,conservationorganizationsandscientistsdebatethevariousissuesandtrytofindcommon ground, the degradation continues. Despite international treaties andpledges to cut greenhouse emissions, curb overfishing and protect habitats,progressisfrustratinglyslow.

Andwhatofourown, individual response to thiscrisis?Dowegive in tothat sense of hopelessness, cede our response-ability to higher authority, andcontinue to suppress our own feelings of pain and loss? Or do we choose toengenderhopebyfacinguptothesituation,acceptingthechallengesinfrontofusandgivingourselvespermissiontoact?Apersonalcalltoactionisthefocusof thischapter,notbecause thebig issuesarebeyondourcontrol tochangeorinfluence,butpreciselybecauseeachoneofusisinapositiontoleadthechangebyfullyembracingourinterbeingwiththeOceanandallofGaia.Noneofuscanchangetheworldonourown,butwecanchangeourwayofbeingintheworld,andbydoingsowecontributetothecollectivere-visioningofourrelationshiptotheOcean.

Wecanthinkofthisasaprocessofcomingtooursenses,bothfigurativelyandliterally,because it involvesnotonlyare-evaluationofour individualandcollectivebehaviour,butmoreimportantly,becauseittakesusintooursensual,bodily experience of interconnectedness. Through our physical senses weexperience theOcean’s life-force as our own: our grief is her grief, our saltytearsminglewithhersaswemournthelossofsomuchofherlife-force.Andyetherstrengthgivesusthestrengthtofaceourownpartinthedestruction,totakeownership of the consequences of our actions and commit to a more life-enhancingpath.

Whenwegivevoicetoourgratitudeandfeelherlife-forcepulsingthroughourbodies,wetouchthetruenatureofourinterconnectedness,whichliesnotinjudgment,punishmentorrewardforouractions,butinourfullparticipationinthelifeprocess.Aseco-psychologistandwildernessguideBillPlotkindescribesinhisbookNatureandtheHumanSoul:

Whatmakesyou the individualyouare isnotyourautonomy,butyourinterdependent and communal relationship with everything else inNature.2

Inessence,thiscomingtooursensescouldbeviewedasanOceanpilgrimage–wemightevensaya‘souljourney’–inwhichwehonourourinterdependence

and seek the guidance of her deep wisdom. It’s through our sensual, bodilycommunion with the natural world that wemay truly find ourselves, and it’sthroughthiscommunionthatwecanexperienceOceanSpirit.

Youmayalreadyhave a strongconnectionwith theOcean:many surfers,diversandsailors talkof thedeepspiritualconnection, the‘nourishingof theirsoul’theyexperiencewhentheyspendtimein,oron,theOcean.WhateveryourconnectionwiththeOceanis,Iinviteyoutomakethispilgrimage,withthehopethat by being fully present to her living essence something new and life-enhancingmayberevealed.

OceanPilgrimageApilgrimageisaverypersonaljourneyofdeepconnectiontosomethinglargerthan ourselves, and there are many ways one could experience this OceanPilgrimage.Myintentionhereisnottoprescribe‘theway’,butsimplytooffersome ideas that I hope will be helpful towards deepening your sense ofconnection to the Ocean. I have presented these ideas as a series ofvisualizations, but they could be combined or adapted to suit your personalpilgrimage.

Ideally,trytofindacalm,gentlyslopingbeachorshorelinethatwillallowyoutoenterthewaterslowly.Youmayalsowanttofindsomewherethatisn’ttoocrowdedsothatyoucanfocusonleavingbehindthesensations,soundsanddistractions of civilization.The intention is to clear yourmind, and senses, sothey’re open to receiving information directly through your sensory channels,unfiltered by any terrestrial baggage. Youmay even want to find somewherewhere you can also shed the filter of your clothing, so that you stand naked,vulnerableandfullyopentotheOcean’stouch.

BreathingourGratitudeStand a short distance back from water’s edge, eyes focused on thedistanthorizonwhereOceanmeetsSky.Noticethetransitionbetweenthetwo: is ita smooth,uninterrupted line,or is therea jaggededginess totheir mood – giving away the swirling, tumultuous nature of theirrelationship? Let your eyes drift out of focus, allowing distance toevaporate into the blurred shades and timelessness of their eternalmarriage,thenslowlybringyourfocusbacktothewater’sedge.

Letyourattentiondwellontheintimacybetweenthelappingwavesandtheshore.NoticehowthesandandpebblesrespondtotheOcean’scaressinanendlesslycreativedance,surrenderingtothemomentwhilethe energy of each wave lasts, then resting in anticipation of the nextcaress.Lettherhythmoftheirmovementseepintoyourbody.

Now close your eyes and shift your attention to the sounds of thatmovement.Within the slow beat of her rhythm a symphony of gurgles,slurps, rasps, pops and percussive rumbles creates a soundscape ofinfinite subtlety. Allow the meditative beauty of this Ocean music topermeateyourwholebeing,untilyoufeelyourselfbecomingasfluidastheOceanmusicflowingthroughyou.

Slowlybringyourattentionbackintoyourbodybyfeelingthesandbeneathyourfeet.Digyourtoesintothesandandfeelhowitmouldstothecreasesofyourskin.Ifyou’recloseenoughtothewater’sedgeyoumight feel the dampness of the tide’s residue, providing a life-line ofmoisture to sustain all the burrowing sand-dwellers until the incomingtidebringsanotherbonanzaofnutrientsforthemtofeaston.

Withthosenutrientsinmind,breatheinthroughyournoseandsmellthe distinctive aroma of the Ocean: the tangy seaweed smell of DMS,escaping from the bodies of floating algae, or wafting from dryingseaweedexposedbythetide.Breathedeeply,infusingyourbodywiththeother by-product of their existence: the life-giving oxygen that makesyourownexistencepossible.Asyoubreatheout,offeryourgratitudeforthis gift of life and acknowledge your own gift of carbon dioxide thatcontributes to their wellbeing. As you continue to breathe, give thanksalso to the intricate and complex web of relationships, stemming fromthesetinybeings,andpermeatingeveryfacetoflifeinacontinuouscycleofreciprocitythat’sbeeninmotionforbillionsofyears.

OpenyoureyesagainandtakeintheimmensityoftheOcean.Takeamoment to ponder this beautiful life process that sustains you, and ofwhichyou’reanintegralpart.

HonouringourPainfortheOceanWhenyou’reready–takeafewstepsforwarduntilyou’restandingrightatthewater’sedge.Withthatstrongsenseofgratitudestillfreshinyourmind,allowyourselftorecallalltheatrocitiesbeingperpetratedagainstthe Ocean and all her beings. Imagine the coral cities bleaching adeathly white as they succumb to the heat, or crumbling in the acidwaters created by the burning of fossil fuels. Contemplate thecatastrophic lossofphytoplanktonacross the surfaceof theOceanandthedireconsequencestoherentiremetabolism.Feelthesuffocatinglossof oxygen in the expanding dead zones and the paralyzing effects ofneurotoxinsintheevermorefrequenttoxicalgalblooms.

Imaginetheslowexcruciatingdeathbystarvationofuntoldmillionsofseabirdsbecause theirstomachsare fullofplastic,or themillionsofturtles,whales,dolphins,seals,sharksandmantaraysdyinghorrificandneedless deaths every year through entanglement in lost or discardedfishing gear. Feel the ripping and tearing as industrial trawlers gougethe Ocean floor. Tune in to the mass terror of school after school of

sardines, mackerel, anchovies, salmon, tuna, pilchards and others,surroundedandcrushed in theclosing ‘jaws’ofgiantpurse seinenets.Mourn the loss of somuch of theOcean’s life-force and vibrancy, theloss of so much sentient intelligence and the irreversible lessening ofOceanMind.

Allowyour emotions towell up inside youand let them flow inanoutpouring of pain and grief for the Ocean’s loss and for your own.Whateveryourfeelingsare,theywillbeaddedtothewellspringofdeepexperience that is Ocean Spirit. Offer your prayers and sorrow, youranger or guilt. You will be neither judged nor forgiven, just accepted.AndwiththatacceptancecomesaninvitationtodipintothatwellspringofdeepexperienceanddiscoveryourtruenatureasachildoftheOcean.

ComingHomeIt’snowtimetotakeyourfirsttentativestepstowardsre-inhabitingyour‘OceanSelf’.Walkslowlyintothewatersoyoucanfeelherfluidcaressmeetingyourbareskinasifforthefirsttime.Payattentiontohowyourskinreacts to thepressureofher touch, the temperaturedifferenceandconstantmovementexcitingeverypore;asfirstyourfeet,thenanklesandcalvesdisappearbelowhersurface.Pauseforamomentasthetensionofher surface ‘skin’ tickles the sensitive area behind your knees, thenslowlycontinue,inchbyinch,untilyourthighsaresubmergedandyourfingertipsarejusttouchingthesurface.

Takeamoment to check-inwith your other senses: notice how thesoundofthewater’smovementnowsurroundsyou,andhowthehorizonseemsmuchcloser,drawingyou forward.Breathedeeplyandsmell thetangysharpnessofthesalt-infusedairrisingfromtheOcean’ssurface.

Moving slowly into deeper water, keep your hands floating palmdownonthesurface.Ifyouarenakedtheintimacyofthewater’stouchonyourgenitalswillserve toremindyouofyourprimalnature.Noticehow the thermal change, as the water inches slowly up towards yournaval,ismoresensualthanshocking.

Pause again as the Ocean encircles your waist and enjoy herticklish,playfulcaressas thewater lapsaroundyourmidriff.Focusonyour hands as they lightly float at the surface. Feel how the surfacetensionof thewaterbuoys themupandallows them to follow its everysubtlemovement.Takeamomenttoreallysensehowalivethewaterfeelsandnoticehowaliveyourskinfeels inresponse.Keepwalkingforward

until you are at chest level. Slowly dip your hands and arms into thewater and bend your knees slightly so your shoulders are submerged.Feel the slight pressure against your chest as you breathe in, and feelhowthewatersupportsyourbelly.

Nowbringyourhandstogether,cuppingsomewater,andloweryourface intoyourcuppedhands.Slowlyopenyourhands, letting thewaterescape.Dothisseveral times,as ifwashing thepainandsorrowaway;justaswewash thesleep fromoureyesat thestartofanewday.LickyourlipsandtastetheOcean’ssaltyvibrancy,thentakeasmallamountinto your mouth and swirl it around with your tongue, dispelling theculturallylearnedfearofhavingsaltwaterinyourmouth,andasyoudo,savourherlife-giving,nutrientrichness.

When you’re ready, take a few deep breaths, lift your feet off thebottom and duck-dive below the surface. Swim forward and downwardtowards the bottom so you can feel the viscous resistance of thewatermovingagainstyourwholebodyandenjoythesensationofbeingwithinher liquid body. If you can, open your eyes and take in the blurredoutlinesofthebottom,enjoyingtheliberationfromyetanothercommonlyheldculturalfearofopeningyoureyesunderwater.

Risingback to the surface, spendsome time floatingonyourback.Enjoy the sensation of being completely held by theOcean’s embrace,weightless and free from the gravitational restrictions of terrestrialexistence. As you float, imagine energetic ‘threads’ extending out fromyour fingertips, connecting you with all other Ocean beings in anintricateweb of shared history, interdependence and the reciprocity ofyourinterconnectedness.

DeepeningtheConnectionOur Ocean pilgrimage has so far focused on our own sensual experience ofmeetingtheOceanandouremotionalresponsetoconnectingwithherlife-force.Nowwewanttodeepenthatsenseofconnectionbysendingourfocusoutwards,withtheintentionofseeingtheOceanwithneweyes.Onewaywecandothisisby donningmask and snorkel and spending time getting to know a particulararea. It might be a reef community, mangrove forest, sea-grass bed, seaweedgardenorkelpforest,buttheimportantpointisthatweareaimingtoexperiencethe livingnature of that particular placeby tuning in to its unique, expressivequalities.Thisisbothasensual,aswellasanintuitiveprocess,inwhichwearefullypresenttoourowndirectsenseexperience,whileatthesametimeopeningaspaceforourintuitive,perceptualawarenessoftheother.3

By tuning-in to the expressive qualities of a particular place we are alsomoving beyond the generalised idea of a reef, or a mangrove forest, to thespecificexpressionofthisreeforthismangroveforest.Ratherthanaskingwhatare you? We are instead askingwho are you? As we move deeper into ourconnection, thequestionbecomeswhat is it like tobeyou?Weare seeking toconnecttotheveryessenceof‘reef-ness’or‘mangrove-ness’,asexpressedbytheparticularreeformangroveforestweareinteractingwith.

Toillustratethisdifferentwayofseeing,let’simagineswimmingthroughaswayingkelpforest.

Asyousnorkeltowardsthekelpforestyoumightrecognizeaparticularspeciesofkelp,butassoonasyounameityourmindimmediatelystartsto categorize and compartmentalise what you’re seeing into what youalready know about this particular species: the general shape, colourand height, how it fastens itself to the rocks and so on. If you’re notcareful you’ll lose sight of the actual kelp forest you’re swimmingthrough,andonlyseeageneralizedideainyourmind’seye.

As soon as you notice yourself doing this you bring your attentionback toyourdirect senseexperienceby focusingonan individualkelp,undulating lazily in the gentle current. The first thing younotice is thewayeach frond tip expressesauniquearc through thewater,andhowthismovementtranslatesintoaunifyingfluidityasitreachesthecentralstalk.Youalsonoticehow the shapeof each frond is slightly different,self-similarrather thanexactly thesame.Gentlysqueezingonebetweenyourfingertips,you’resurprisedbythefeelingofstrengthandfirmness,

despiteitsslightlysoftandslimyappearance.Following thecurving trunk-like central stemdown to the intricate

holdfast, which anchors the kelp to the rock, you can see its root-likestructureandsenseitsenormousstrength,capableofresistingthepullofstorm surges and powerful Ocean swells. You can also see how thediverse community of encrusting sponges, ascidians and tubewormsweave an entire ecosystem inminiature around the holdfast. As you’rewatching, a tinyblue-eyed triplefin comes to rest onanorange spongegrowingamongst theholdfast.Perchedonhis translucentpectoral fins,he contemplates you with an obvious curiosity and you sense hiscomplete lack of concern about being so close to a stranger in histerritory,despitethefactthatyouaremanyhundredsoftimeshissize.

As you widen your gaze, your awareness opens to the wider kelpcommunity,allowingyourdirectsensualexperiencetosoftenintoamoreintuitivefeelingfortheessentialnatureofthekelpforestasawhole.Asyour whole being connects with the kelp forest you notice your ownemotionalresponse;perhapsadeepsenseofserenityandwellbeing;butyoualsobecomeawareofwhatthekelpforestisexpressingofitself.Youcanfeelitsvibrancyandstrength,andyoucanalsosenseitsfundamentalfluidity;howitslife-forceebbsandflowsinharmonywiththerhythmsoftheseasons,butalsohowdependent this life-forceisonthediversityofallthebeingsthatcallthekelpforesthome.

LivingOurResponse-abilityWeourselvesfeelthatwhatwearedoingisjustadropintheocean.Buttheoceanwouldbelessbecauseofthatmissingdrop.–MotherTeresa

Inwhateverwayitcomesabout,oncewehaveadeepconnectiontotheOceanwe are faced with a choice: do we carry on with our lives as normal, as ifnothinghaschanged?Ordoweacknowledgeourcompletedependenceonherwellbeing,andcommittohonouringourdeepconnectionbydoingwhatwecanto heal the wounds humanity has inflicted upon her? Ormaybe likeme, youdon’tseeitasachoiceatall,butratherasanaturalresponsetoourdeepspiritualandphysicalconnectionthatisasancientandfundamentalastheOceanherself.

Onething’scertainthough:onadailybasiswe’llbefacedwithpotentiallydifficult choices that challenge our motivation and make us question ourcommitment to ‘being the change’we’d like to see for theOcean.4 However,beingthechangeisn’t thesameasbeingperfect,assomeofourdecisionswillvery likely involve having to choose between sacrificing our own comfort,pleasureorconvenience,forthegreaterwellbeingoftheOcean.Thebalancewestrike between the two will certainly be influenced by how much we informourselves about the issues, as well as how deeply connected we feel to theOcean. In otherwords, our choiceswill involve both an intellectual process –analyzingtheprosandcons–aswellasouremotionalandspiritualconnection.

This balance will be different for everyone, but will inevitably involvequestioning the sustainability of our decisions, choices and actions. This isimportantbecausesooftensustainability isseenasafuturegoal,something toworktowards;butinmanysituations,ifourdecisionsaren’tsustainableaswe’reenacting them they are unlikely to become sustainable in the future! In thesecasessustainableisawayofbeing,ratherthananendgoaltoworktowards.

Agoodexampleofthisisourattitudetowardsplastic.Inthemiddleoflastcentury, thepossibilityof areaswithin theOceancontainingmoreplastic thanplankton would have seemed absurd, and yet just six decades later, thisnightmarescenarioisareality.Backthenplasticpackagingseemedlikeareallygoodidea;acheapandconvenientalternativetoglass,paperandmetal.WearenowwellawareoftheecologicaldisasterouruseofplasticisfortheOcean,andyet our use of plastic for packaging and convenience items such as plasticstraws, as well as plastic micro-beads in cosmetics and cleaning products,continuestoincrease.Usingplasticinthiswayisnevergoingtobesustainable

orecologicallysound.Being fully conscious of the impact plastic is having on the Ocean’s

wellbeingcanhelpuschangeourfundamentalrelationshiptoplastic:honouringits real value in our lives by reserving its use for things that are suited to itsspecial properties of strength and resilience.Weare thenmuchmore likely tothink carefully about the products we purchase and how they are packaged:wheneverwe can choosing re-useable, fully recyclable, or fully biodegradablealternativesandmakingsimplelifestylechanges,likeusingatravelmugforourtake-outcoffee,reusablewaterbottlesandshoppingbags.OurdeepenedOceanconsciousnessislikelytoleadtoussaying‘No’tothatplasticstrawinourdrinkwhen we go to a café or bar. Perhaps it will even lead to us having aconversation with the café owner about phasing out their use altogether, orsuggestingalternativessuchaspaperstraws,orre-useableglassstraws.

We may have only limited options when it comes to removing the vastmajorityoftheplasticthat’salreadyintheOcean,butwecanmakeapersonalcontribution by just picking up any plastic we see on the shoreline or alongriverbanks.5Organisedbeachcleanupsareagreatwaytoexperiencethepositiveimpactwecanhavewhenweactcollectively,buteverypieceyouremovefromabeachanytimeyouvisitisonelesspiecethatcanmakeit’swaybackintotheOcean, and you may well be saving the life of a sea bird, turtle or marinemammal.

Makingsustainablechoicesabouteatingseafood ispotentiallymuchmoredifficult. How do we determine whether the fish on our plate fits into ourpersonal criteriaofwhatweconsider tobe sustainable?Unfortunately there islittleconsistencyintheuseoftheterm‘sustainablycaught’,andmoreoftenthannot it has become little more than a marketing tool. Even industry watchdogorganisations,suchastheMarineStewardshipCouncil(MSC),whoselogonowadornsmorethan12percentoftheworld’sreportedcatch,hasanarrowrangeofcriteriaregardingtheecologicalandethicalsustainabilityofthefisheryinvolvedin catching it.6 For example, a number of scallop, prawn and bottom-fishfisheries have been certified, despite the fact that they use highly destructivefishingtechniques,resultinginirreparablehabitatdestruction.7Indeed,fromthelivingOceanperspectiveit’shardtoseehowanytypeofindustrial-scalefishingcouldbeconsideredsustainable.

Manyotherorganisationshavewebsitesproviding‘goodchoice’guides toeatingseafood,butwithoutaconsistentandrobustdefinitionofwhatconstitutessustainablewearefacedwitha realchallenge indecidingwhat, ifanything, iscurrently‘okay’toeatfromtheOcean.Oneoption(andmypersonalchoice)isto eat nothing at all from the Ocean. Another is to only eat what you catch

yourself,oratleastonlyeatseafoodthathasbeencaughtlocallybysmallscale,non-destructivefishingmethods.

Perhaps it’s time to embrace a new vision for a healthy and sustainablerelationship with the Ocean, one that acknowledges our indebtedness andprovidesa frameworkbywhichwecan findourplace–ourecological role–while enjoying the gifts of her bounty. From all we’ve learned, it’s painfullyobviousthat‘businessasusual’isleadingustowardsecologicalcatastrophe,buthowdoweaddressthemassivescaleofdestructionwhenitseemsthatwearesoentrenchedin thecurrentparadigm?Toooftenwe’re toldthatwearenaïve,ornotbeing realistic ifwesuggest largescalechanges,but surely it’sevenmorenaïve and unrealistic to deny the need for change when the evidence of ourdestructionisallaroundus.It’sonlypossibletobringaboutchangeifwehaveavisionofwhatthatchangelookslike.

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FindingOurPlaceI seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, anddivertingmyselfinnowandthenfindingasmootherpebbleoraprettiershell thanordinary,whilst thegreatoceanof truthlayallundiscoveredbeforeme.–IsaacNewton‘Alittleknowledgeisadangerousthing’,orsothesaying

goes,butperhapsthedanger’snotinhowmuchorhowlittlewethinkweknow,butratherthatwebelieveweknowenoughtodisregardthewisdomofthosewithgreaterknowledge.AsweexploredinChapter9,knowledgeisaliving

processinwhichweparticipate,andit’sthroughourparticipationthatcomprehensionarises.Webecomeknowledgedbyincrementsuntilsomelevelofunderstandingarises.IsaacNewtonfollowedthisknowledgeprocessinhisdiscoveryofgravity,butasthequoteaboveshows,hewaswellawarethathis

knowledgewasconfinedtowhatgravitywaspreparedtoshowofitself.So it iswith theOcean: our knowledge is limited towhat she has so far

revealed to us.We are likeNewton, playing on the seashore,whilst the greatOceanoftruthliesundiscoveredbeforeus.Butperhapswe’velearnedenoughtotake stock of our current behaviour and move towards a more life-enhancingrelationship.Wecanstartbydivingdeeplyintowhatwe’velearnedonourlivingOceanjourney,insearchofthecoreteachingsshehasrevealedandthewisdomtheyhold.

WeLiveonanOceanPlanetImagine living your entire life on an island, surrounded by the vast Ocean.Whetheryourislandisahigh-peakedvolcanooralow-lyingatoll,youcanwalkoveroraround it inamatterofhours, adayor twoatmost.Nomatterwhichway you look you’re surrounded by the ever-changing texture of theOcean’ssurface.Itdominatesyourworld.Evenifyouchoosetoliverightinthemiddleofyourisland,youcan’tignoretheprofoundinfluenceshehasoneveryaspectofyourexistence.Ifyouaretosurviveandthriveyouwillatsomepointhavetoaddress your relationship with the Ocean. You’ll have to learn her language,understandhermoodsandmeetherinhabitants;youwillhavetobecomeoneofthem.ThisistheconditionofbeinginyourOceanworld.

When we understand that our Planet Earth is really Planet Ocean, itbecomesclearthatintruth,wearealllivingonislandssurroundedbytheOcean.Some of our islands are indeed large – we call them continents – and overgeological time the tectonic plates on which they sit periodically bring themtogether to form even larger islands. But no matter how large, they are stilldominatedbytheevermorevastOcean.ThedeepwisdomforustoembraceistheknowledgethatGaiaisprimarilyanOceanbeing,andassuch,weareOceanchildren.

Thisinnowaydiminishestheimportanceofthelandandterrestriallife,justplaces it in the appropriate contextof supporting theprimary lifeprocessesoftheOcean.Nomatter how large an islandwe live on,we cannever be so farfrom the Ocean’s shores that her life processes no longer affect us, and viceversa.The complete interconnectedness ofGaia as a living systemmeans thateven from the middle of her largest islands, the effects of our modernindustrializedcivilizationwillreachhershoresandbeyond.

There’sonlyOneOceanTheOceanisonevastinterconnectedwhole.Ourarbitrarynamingofhervariouspartsissimplyageographicalconveniencethathelpsuslocateourselveswithinhervastness.Atlantic,Pacific, Indian,Southern,havenogreatermeaning thanarms, legs, feet or torso: they are the body parts that together constitute aphysicaldescription,butdon’tcomeclosetodescribingtheessenceofthewholebeing. Each part may have its unique attributes, but they only function inrelationship with all the other parts and only exist within the context of thewhole.Wemayloseanarmoralegandstillbeabletofunctionwellenough;wecanpartiallycompensatefortheloss,butonlyatthecostofputtingmorestrainontheremaininglimb,aswellasoursystemasawhole.

InessencethesameprinciplesapplyfortheOcean;thedifferenceisinthecomplexityofher inter-relatednessand the timescales inwhichherphysiologyfunctions.Inevitablyhercirculationwilldistributewhateverpollutantswespewforth throughouther entirebody; the effectsofwarmingand acidificationwillpermeateeverywatermolecule;theramificationsofhabitat-lossandoverfishinginoneareawilleventuallybefelteverywhere.Suchisherenormousresiliencethough,thatuntilquiterecentlyshehasbeenabletocompensatefortheselosseswithoutundulystressingherwholesystem.Butthisisnolongerthecase.

The Ocean’s resilience is based on two key factors: abundance anddiversity.Fornearlyfourbillionyearsshehasfosteredtheevolutionoflifeintoever more diverse beings capable of harnessing and metabolising the rawmaterials of life – energy and nutrients – then recycling them over and overagain. Themore diverse life becomes themore ways there are to recycle thenutrients, and the stronger the Ocean’s life-force becomes. This naturallyamplified nutrient cycling leads to greater abundance as each species benefitsfromtherecyclingservicesofothers,untilthewholesystemreachesadynamicbalanceandisfunctioningatoptimumlevels.1

Thus, diversity and abundance are inextricably linked: there can be noabundance without diversity, and yet if we remove too many of even onespecies, diversity can be irreparably damaged. This dynamic equilibriumbetween abundance and diversity plays out in different ways and to differentdegrees in allhervarious regions: from the intenselyproductiveupwellings tothe relativelyquietmid-Ocean ‘deserts’; fromherdeepest trenches to the sun-drenchedsurface,theyallplaytheirpartinmaintainingheroverallwellbeing.

Likewise,abundanceanddiversitywithin individualecosystems isequally

important,buthereisoneofthecoreteachingsweneedtoembrace.Ecosystemsarefarmorethanjustanenvironmentinhabitedbyacollectionofspecies:theyareanemergentlivingprocessthatcomesintobeingthroughcomplexandnon-linearrelationshipsbetweenindividuals,groups,wholespeciesandthephysicalspacetheyinhabit.It’sthroughtheserelationshipsthatthelivingnatureofeachecosystem is created and maintained, and it’s the dynamic reciprocity of theecosystem’s living process that creates its resilience. Every ecosystem is acontextuallyuniqueexpressionof theOcean’s life-force–notworeefsare thesame–andtheyallcontributetoheroverallresilienceandwellbeing.

Whenweunderstandecosystemsasrelationshipsratherthanrealestateweare tapping into the deep wisdom of the Ocean, which offers us a differentperspective on the notions of resource management and ecosystem services.From this perspective, an ecosystem isn’t a thing to bemanaged, but rather abeingtobeinteractedwithinawaythatacknowledges,respectsandhonoursitsuniquecontributiontothelivingprocessoftheOcean,andindeedtothewholeof Gaia. It also invites us to experience ourselves as integral to this livingprocess,ratherthanoutsideit,withourownecologicalroletofulfill.

Byshiftingourperceptionofourselvesaspartof,ratherthanapartfromtheecosystemswe inhabit, we not only acknowledge our belonging, but also ourresponsibility to behave appropriately. Instead of viewing the managementprocessasexternal–asinresourcemanagement–itbecomesaprocessofself-management. While we may not physically inhabit Ocean ecosystems, ouractionsprofoundlyaffecttheirlivingprocesses,andnevermoresothantoday.Ifwe can adjust our behaviour to fit in, there’s potential for us to contribute to,ratherthanreducethe‘services’theyprovide.

UnderstandingourEcologicalRoleintheOceanSo,whatisourecologicalroleintheOcean?Wheredowefitin?

Before we explore this question it’s important to understand that anorganism’secological role isn’tsomuchadescriptionof its feedingstrategy–hunting, grazing, foraging for example – but more how it contributes to theoverallfunctioningofitsecologicalhome.Weliketothinkofourselvesasapexpredators,topofthefoodchain,butisthatreallyanaccuratedescriptionofourrole?

In Chapter 5 we looked at the various trophic levels that make up theOcean’smetabolism:fromtheprimaryproducerstotheprimaryconsumers,allthewayuptotheapexpredators.Ateachlevelahugevarietyofspeciescreatethe complex ‘living symphony’ of interactions that is the Ocean’s life-force.Apexpredatorsaretheconductorsofthis‘ecologicalorchestra’,fine-tuningtherhythmand teasingoutsubtlechanges in tempo,creatingaseamlessharmony:that is their role. But like any good conductor, there’s no separation betweenthem and the rest of the orchestra; they are completely embedded within theflow.Theirmetabolismisan integralpartof thenutrientcycle,andwhen theydietheirbodiesbecomefoodforthosethatwereoncetheirprey.

This is clearly not a role we fulfill. In fact, from a nutrient cyclingperspective it’s hard to seewherewe fit in at all; our relationship seems oneway:wetakefromtheOceanbutappeartogivenothingback(exceptourtoxicwaste). But we do have a role in the Ocean’s nutrient cycle: we are in factnutrientdistributors.

This may not sound as glamorous as being an apex predator, but it isnonethelessanimportantrole,andonethatwesharewithasurprisingnumberofotherspecies.Somearepart-timeOceandwellers,suchasseabirds,sealsandsealions,whileothersaremerelyOceanvisitors likeourselves.Others include thesalmon-loving bears of Alaska, the algae-grazing iguanas of the GalapagosIslands, and a plethora of tidal foragers, such as raccoons, rodents, and evenotherprimates.

Whatweallhaveincommonisthatthroughourhunting,foraging,grazingandscavengingweareactingasGaia’sbiologicalcouriers:transportingessentialnutrients from the Ocean and gifting them back to the land through ourmetabolicwaste,where theyenrich the soil andcontribute toGaia’s terrestrialabundance.2 Eventually these nutrientsmake their way back to theOcean viarivers and estuaries. Most species don’t move far from the coast before

depositingtheir‘gifts’,butsometravelsignificantdistancesinland.Wehappentobeoneofthosespeciesthatarehighlymobile,withthepotentialto‘spreadthenutrientlove’wellinland.3

SeabirdsarethebestexampleofOceannutrientdistributors.Theyforagefarandwideacross theOcean’s surface, feedingonnutrient-richzooplanktonandsmall baitfish such as anchovies, pilchards, menhaden and sardines. Some ofthesenutrientsaredistributedtodifferentpartsoftheOceanastheyflybacktotheir nests, which can sometimes be hundreds, even thousands of kilometresaway.When they finally arrive and regurgitate a tasty and nutritiousmeal fortheirhungrychicks,theyalsoenrichtheareawiththeirnutrient-filledguano.Infact, this sea bird ‘nutrient delivery service’ is essential for the healthyfunctioningofoffshoreislandecosystems.4

There are two critically important aspects to being a successful nutrientdistributor: 1, feeding low down the trophic levels of the food web – algae,zooplankton, forage fish and soon– and2, not removingmorenutrients thancanbereplacedbynaturalprocesses,suchascoastalupwellings,naturalrun-offviarivers,harboursandestuaries,aswellasthebiologicalmixingofnutrientsbylargeanimalssuchaswhales.ThelowertrophiclevelsofOceanfoodwebsarewherethemostabundanceisandwherenutrientcyclingisfastest,andthereforewhere she can best cope with a limited amount of removal. This limited re-distribution of nutrients contributes to what we might call a dynamic, livingbalanceandisintegraltotheoverallnutrientflow.

The lesson for us here, is that our taste for apex predators like tuna,swordfish andotherkeystone species is outof stepwithour role as anutrientdistributor. The other hugely important lesson is that while leaving the apexpredatorstofulfilltheirrole,wemustalsobecarefulnottodepletethoseloweronthefoodweb,leastweinadvertentlyupsetthisdynamiclivingbalance.

Unfortunately,ourmodern lifestylesof industrializedurbanisation, intensechemicalagricultureandunbridledpillagingoftheOcean,drasticallyoutweighsanypositivecontributionswemayhavehadin thepast.Weareevenaffectingtheabilityofothernutrientdistributorstoperformtheirecologicalrole.AstudybyaninternationalgroupofecologistsandbiologistsestimatesthattheOcean-to-landtransferoftheessentiallifenutrient,phosphorus,maybeaslowasfourpercentofhistoricallevels.5Asignificantcontributingfactoristhedecimationofsea bird populations, caused by our industrial exploitation of the Ocean’sabundance and diversity.On top of that, our indiscriminant destruction of thelivingprocesses that create ecosystems in the first place, is robbingherof theability to heal the wounds we inflict with our dredges, bottom-trawlers anddiscardedorlostfishinggear.Thesteadystreamofplasticandothertoxicwaste

fromourindustrializedlifestylesaddstoherstressandfurthererodesherabilitytorecover.

So is there any hope of us ‘finding our way back’ to a respectful andreciprocalrelationshipwiththeOceanbeforeit’stoolate?

I believe there is, but it will involve us facing the ‘hard truths’ of oursituationandthencollectivelyactingonthem.Asaspeciesweareinunchartedwaters – not since cyanobacteria caused the great oxidation event 2.5 billionyearsago,hasasinglelifeformheldsuchinfluence–andthere’snoprecedenttoguideourresponseexceptourowndeepsenseofconnectionandadesiretore-inhabitourplacewithinthelivingfabricofourOceanPlanet.

Andhereinliesourgreatestchallenge:howdoweknowhowmuchwecansafelytakefromtheOcean,withoutfurthernegativelyaffectinghercurrentstate,and at the same time take action thatwill support her rehabilitation? Figuringthis out is even harder now because there are virtually no un-disturbedecosystemswithinhervastbody thatcanactasourclassrooms;wherewecanwitnesshercomplexlifeprocessesplayingoutintheirfullglory,andwherewecan learn how to be positive contributors to her wellbeing. But perhaps evenmoreimportantly, therearepreciousfewecosystemswhereshehas thechanceto re-build her resilience and return to the dynamic living balance that all lifeforms depend on for their very existence. Remedying this has to be our toppriority.

Whether we like it or not, we have no option but to acknowledge ourcomplete dependence on the Ocean’s healthy functioning and change ourbehaviourbeforewepushherbeyondthepointwhereshecannolongersustainGaia as theOceanPlanet.Howmuch timedowehavebefore it’s too late?Adecade?Fivedecades?Acentury?Weseempreoccupiedwiththisquestion,asifwe believe we can delay the inevitable and ‘eek out’ a fewmore decades ofexploitation before we get caught. But all around us the planet is shouting,‘Enough!’It’stimetostopplayingfortimeandstartlivinguptoourecologicalrole.

Aswe explore howwe can achieve this it’s worth reflecting on this onesimple truth: every species – no matter how large or small, no matter howinfluentialorsupposedlyinsignificanttheymaybe–owesanecologicaldebttotheecosystemsthatsustainthem.

HonouringourEcologicalDebtWhenweviewourcurrentexploitationoftheOceanfromtheperspectiveofourecologicalrole,it’sclearthatvirtuallyallofourlarge-scalefishingpracticesarefar from sustainable and need fixing. But how do we go about changing thenature of the way we fish? One thing’s abundantly clear: we can’t fixoverfishingbyusing thesameprincipalofMaximumSustainableYield (MSY)thathascreatedtheprobleminthefirstplace.

MSYwas developed in the 1930’s as a theoreticalmodel for determiningthe largest possible catch that could be taken from a population of fish (orwhales)yearafteryear.ThebasicpremiseofMSYcomesfromtheantiquatedand flawedconcept that anygivenpopulationwill produce a surplusover andabovewhatitneedstomaximiseitsecologicalniche,andthat thissurpluswilllead to over-population and eventual collapse due to scarce resources. Thetheoryassumesthatapopulationwillreachitsoptimalbreedingefficiencywhenhunted down to approximately half its original numbers, and still produce ayearlysurplus.Thissupposedsurpluscanthenbeexploitedbyfishermenwhilestillmaintaining,orevenenhancing,ahealthybreedingpopulation.

MSY was largely ignored until the 1950’s, when an American fisheriesscientist who was looking for a model to use for the fledgling tuna industry,resurrected it.Although he used flawed equations andmisplaced assumptions,hiscalculationssuitedtheprevailingpoliticalsceneandsowereadopted.6Sincethen,MSYhasbeeneagerlyembracedbyvirtuallyeverycommercialfisheryinthe world, despite the fact that the theory behind MSY has never beenscientifically verified.On the contrary, the untested assumptions that underpinthetheoryhavebeenstretched,insomecasestothepointwheretheMSYofafishstockissetatupto80to90percentoftheoriginalpopulation.7

Many fisheries scientists have been ringing alarm bells about MSY fordecades, but sadly their warnings fall mainly on deaf ears. Instead, fisheriesmanagersoftenblatantlyignoretheirwarningsandsetquotasandtotalallowablecatch limits far abovewhat the scientists recommend. So, not only isMSY aflawedanduntestedtheory,butitisfurtherabusedforthesakeofshort-term–andoftenheavilysubsidised–profit.

Another major problem with MSY is that it focuses solely on the targetspeciesandtakesvirtuallynoaccountof theimpactonthehealthyfunctioningoftheecosystemasawhole.Eventhoughfisheriesscientistshavealwaysbeeninterested in population dynamics,much of their research has been, and often

stillis,primarilyfocusedontargetspecies,andonlyrarelydoesthespecies’rolewithin theecosystembecomepartof theresearcheffort.Thisecosystem-basedapproach just doesn’t fit into the MSY model. But until industrial fishing isexaminedfromanecosystemperspective,quotasandcatchlimitswillcontinuetobeprofitdrivenratherthansustainable.

It’s time to move away from the idea of maximum yields for maximumprofit. Insteadweshould strive foradynamicecosystembalance,embrace theunderstanding that a healthy and vibrant Ocean in which every ecosystem isimportant, and has intrinsic value beyond its usefulness to us, would actuallyprovidemoresustenanceforlesseffortthanastressedandover-exploitedOcean.Wecanbeguidedbywhatwehavealreadylearnedabouttherolebiodiversityandabundanceplayinecosystemresilience.Theyprovideanaturalbuffer thatenables the ecosystem to cope with change. Working within that buffer andmaintainingadynamicecosystembalanceshouldbeourtarget.

CreatinganOceanofHopeThesea,thegreatunifier,isman’sonlyhope.Now,asneverbefore,theoldphrasehasaliteralmeaning:weareallinthesameboat.–Jacques

YvesCousteauIn2009world-renownedOceanscientistandexplorer,SylviaEarlewasinvitedbythe‘TEDTalkFoundation’to‘makeawish’,andthisiswhatshewishedfor:

Iwishyouwoulduseallmeansatyourdisposal–Films!Expeditions!The Web! New submarines! – to create a campaign to ignite publicsupport for a global network ofMarine Protected Areas, “hope spots”largeenoughtosaveandrestoretheOcean,theblueheartoftheplanet.How much? Some say 10 percent, some say 30 percent. You decide:How much of your heart do you want to protect? Whatever it is, afractionofonepercentisnotenough.8

Setting aside areas of theOcean fromexploitation is nothingnew. IndigenousOcean people have been doing it for centuries.Often these tapu (taboo) areaswere put in place to allow fish and shellfish populations to recover fromoverexploitation.9 They were usually enacted for specific time periods and oftenincludedavarietyofrestrictions:fromfullprotection,tolimited‘openseasons’forparticularspecies,or restrictionson the typeof fishing techniquesallowed.Thekeyconservationconceptbehindtheirimplementationwasthe‘wiseuse’ofthegiftsoftheOcean.Theywere,andstillare,anappropriateresponseatalocalscale,butwenowneedaglobalresponsethatrecognizestheglobalscaleoftheOcean’splight.

What’sneededisanetworkoflarge,permanentandfullyprotectedregions,spanning the fulldiversityofOceanecosystems.Tooffer thehope thatSylviaEarle wished for, these large-scale ‘hope spots’ not only need to cover asignificantpercentageofheroverallareaandvolume,butiftheyaretoprovidethe‘breathingspace’fortheOceantorebuildherresilienceandensureshecancarryonherplanetary life-support role, they alsoneed to exclude anykindofcommercialexploitation,includingallformsofindustrial-scalefishing.

TheUnitedNationsConventiononBiologicalDiversityhasseta targetof10 percent protection by 2020. There is now a coalition of internationalconservation organizations and research groups – including theGlobalOceanLegacyProject of the PewCharitableTrusts, and SylviaEarle’s ownMissionBlue organization – that are working together with the UN and governments

throughouttheworldtoturntherhetoricintoreality.Progressisbeingmade.Inthe past few years several really large marine protected areas have beenannounced, mostly in the Pacific. They include the islands of Palau, EasterIsland,PitcairnIsland,theKermadecIslandsandtheHawaiianIslands,bringingthetotalareaoftheOceanundersomeformofprotectiontoalmostfourpercent.If thiscontinueswemaywell reach the10percent targetby2020.10However,notalloftheseprotectedareasareactuallyfullno-takereserves,andeveniftheywere,is10percentenough?

When we remember how fundamental the Ocean is to the healthyfunctioningofthewholeplanet,itbecomesobviousthat10percentiswoefullyinadequate.Manymarinescientists, researchersandconservationorganizationsbelieve it needs to bemuch higher. Some, likeMission Blue and theMarineConservationInstitute,areaimingfor20percentprotection.11Others,includingtheMarineReservesCoalition,areaimingfor30percent.12AttheUniversityofYorkintheUKagroupofmarineandconservationbiologists,ledbyProfessorCallum Roberts, have estimated that the area of Ocean with full protectionwouldneedtobecloserto35percent.Theirresearchtakesintoaccountfactorssuchasprotectinggeneticbiodiversity,restoringspeciesabundancetoatleastareasonablelevelofhealthandprotectingavarietyofecosystemhabitats.AndasCallumRobertspointsout inhisbook,OceanofLife, ‘notonlydoweneedtoprotectathirdoftheOceanfromdirectexploitationandharm,butwealsoneedtomanageouruseoftheremainingtwothirdsmuchbetterthanwedotoday’.13

Fromtheperspectiveofourcurrent,materialisticworldview,thismayseemunrealistic, but considering that it’s this worldview that has led us into theprecariousstatewe’rein,perhapsit’stimewere-evaluateditsworthiness.HereIthink we can learn from the wisdom of Indigenous Ocean people and theirunderstandingofthesacrednessofourOceanhome.InPacificcultures,tapuismore than just a resourcemanagement tool; it’salsoawayofacknowledging,honouring and protecting areas of special ecological, cultural or sacredsignificance.TheareasoftheOceanthatwecollectivelyagreetoputoff-limitstoexploitation,shouldsurelybeconsideredsacredplacesoftheutmostculturaland ecological importance. For it’s in these special places that we can mosthonour Tangaroa, the great spiritual guardian of the Ocean revered byPolynesiancultures.14

For the same reasonwe also need to create tapumarine reserves that areeasilyaccessibleforpeople.GoatIslandMarineReserve–NewZealand’sfirstfullyprotectedreserve–isjustanhour’sdrivenorthofAuckland,thecountry’smost populous city. Every year this tiny coastal reserve is visited by close to400,000 people,more than any of the nation’s national parks.15 Likewise, the

world-renowned Poor Knights Marine Reserve further up the coast, is morepopular with overseas visitors than the famous Milford Track in Fiordland.16TapureservesliketheseprovideuswiththeopportunitytoexperiencetheOceaninhernaturalstate.TheyareplaceswherewecanbeawedbyhersplendourandwherewecancontemplateourownOceanSpirit.

Creatingmoreeasilyaccessiblemarinereserveswouldalsoservetoprotectimportantcoastalfringes,wheretheOcean’sloveaffairwiththelandisplayedout: the reef lagoons, tidal estuaries, harbours and river mouths. With fullprotection, themangrove forests, sea grass beds,marshes,mud flats and tidalpoolswouldbecometreasured jewels,valuedfor theircritical roleasnurseriesandsafehavensforsomuchoftheOcean’slife-forcethatweourselvesdependupon.

ANewVisionforourRelationshipwiththeOceanKatoitutemaraeaTangaroa-katoituteiwi

(IftherealmofTangaroaendures,sotoowillhumanity)–Maoriproverb

We’vetravelledfaronourOceanjourneyandhavediscoveredalivingpresencethatpermeateseveryaspectofourlives: theairwebreath, thewaterwedrink,the relatively benign climate we enjoy and virtually every nutrient cycleessentialforthefoodweeat.Butmorethanthis,we’veconnectedonasensual–evensoulful– level to the livingintelligenceofOceanMind.Hopefullywe’vereached the pointwherewe understand that our very survival depends on hercontinuedhealthyfunctioning.

With thatunderstandingit’sclear thathumanitymustchangeitscollectiverelationship to the Ocean. If we have a clear vision of what we want thisrelationship to look like, then every one of our individual actions has thepotentialtocreatearipplethatwillspreadandgrowintoacollectivetsunamiofchangewesodesperatelyneed.Inre-visioningourrelationshipwiththeOceanweneednotbeconfinedbythelimitationsofourcurrentworldview,butrather,wearefreetodreamanewreality,onethatwecanthenactupontobringintoexistence.

In our new relationship we would re-connect with the deeper ecologicalwisdom: that all life has intrinsic value, independent of our needs.Wewouldunderstand that the abundance and diversity of the Ocean’s life-force isfundamental tomaintainingdynamicecosystembalance,andwewouldhonourourecologicaldebtbyoverhaulingthewaywefish,sothatwebecomepositivecontributorstoheroverallwellbeing.Thiswouldincludeabolishingdestructivefishingtechniquesinfavourofecologicallysustainablepractices.Wewouldfishonlytomeetourneeds,notsatisfyourgreed.

Wewouldrecognizetheinseparablenatureofherrelationshipwiththelandandatmosphere;whatwedototheland,wealsodototheOcean,andwhatwedo to bothwill be reflected in the atmosphere.Wewould understand that it’sonlythroughthelivingprocessesofallthephotsynthesisingbeings,onlandandintheOcean,thattheatmospherecansupportourexistence.Butwewouldalsoacknowledgethatwhatevertoxicfumesourindustrializedlifestylebreathesbackinto theatmospherewill find theirway into theOcean.Thisknowledgewouldinformallouremissionsandairqualitypolicies.

Our understanding of this interconnectedness would lead us to take fullaccount of the impact on the Ocean from intensive agriculture and industrialurbanisation.Environmentalpolicieswouldreflectourcommitmenttoeliminatetherun-offoffertilisers,chemicalsandotherindustrialpollutantsintotheOcean.Wewouldworkhardtorestorethewetlands,marshes,mangrovesandseagrassbedsthatprovidenaturalcoastalfiltrationsystems.Recognisingthefundamentalimportanceofwatertoalllife,andthekeyroletheOceanplaysintheplanetarywater cycle, we would be completely committed to re-invigorating the waterquality of our rivers, lakes and estuaries, so they run clean and pure as theyreturntotheOcean.

OurnewrelationshipwiththeOceanwouldhelpusredefineourrelationshiptoplastic.Nolongerwouldweseeitasa throw-awayconvenience,butrather,wewouldrevereitsspecialqualitiesofstrengthandresilienceandreserveitsuseforproductsbuilttolastandbeusedagainandagain.Wewouldalsoensurethattheseproductswerefullyrecyclable,sothatevenattheendoftheirlonglives,theycouldbetransformedintosomethingelseofequaluseandvalue,ratherthanbeingdiscarded.Eachofuswouldbecommittedtodoingourpartinremovingplastic from theOcean by just-picking-it-up, so that over timewe could lookwith pride at our beaches and coastlines, and know that our efforts had savedcountlessmillionsofOceanlives.

In our new relationship we would honour the Ocean origins of our ownsentient consciousness by recognising the sentience of all Ocean beings,acknowledgingtheircomplex,socialandemotionallivesasfundamentaltotheirexistence.Inthisregard,wewouldholdspecialreverenceforourair-breathingcousinswhohavereturned toanOceanexistence:honouring their right to liveunhinderedbyouractivities;notbecause theyareanymore,or less, importantthananyoftheOcean’sotherchildren,butpreciselytoremindusthatneitherarewe.Throughourclosemammalianbondwewould strive to rekindleourdeepconnectionwithalllife.

OurnewrelationshipwiththeOceanwouldbeoneofhumility,inwhichwepayhomagetohergreaterwisdomandunderstandthatourtruewealthliesnotinher exploitation, but in her continued healthy functioning. In our newrelationship we would choose to act with gratitude, respect and hope for thefuture.

TheLivingOcean is the cradleofour existence and theheart ofourbluehome.Ifweare tosurviveandthrivewemustfindourplacewithinher livingprocesses.Thechoiceisours.

TheOceanawaitsourresponse.

ChapterNotesandReferencesChapter11IhaveusedthisthemeasdevelopedbyStephanHardinginhisoutstandingbookAnimateEarth.StephenHarding(2009)AnimateEarth:Science,IntuitionandGaia–ANewScientificStory(secondedition).PlatoquotecitedinAnimateEarthp.30.GreenBooks.2CulturalecologistDavidAbramalsopostulatesinhisbookSpelloftheSensuousthattheadventofwrittenlanguagewasamajorfactorinthissplit.DavidAbram(1996)TheSpelloftheSensuous.VintageBook.3ThewordnaturecomesfromtheLatinNatura,meaning‘essentialqualities’or‘innatedisposition’.InancienttimesNaturaliterallymeant‘birth’.TheuseofNatureasatermtoencompassthewholenaturalworldhasitsoriginsinearlyGreekphilosophy,butbecameentrenchedduringtheadventofmodernscientificmethodinthelastseveralcenturies.4FitjofCapraandPierLuigiLuisi(2014)ASystemsViewofLife.CambridgeUniversityPress.5Ibid.6Infactwedon’tknowexactlyhowmanycellsmakeupthehumanbodyatanyonetime.Estimatesvary,fromapproximately37trillionuptomorethan50trillion.Thefigureof50trillionusedinthisbookisbasedontheworkofmolecularbiologistandepigeneticistBruceLiptoninhisbooks,BiologyofBeliefandSpontaneousEvolution.7JamesLovelock(2000)Gaia:ANewLookatLifeonEarth.OxfordUniversityPress.8JamesLovelock(1995)TheAgesofGaia:AbiographyofourlivingEarth.p.20.OxfordUniversityPress.

9MarkDenny(1995)AirandWater:TheBiologyandPhysicsofLife’sMedia.PrincetonUniversityPress.Also,SilviaEarle(2009)TheWorldisBlue:HowourFateandtheOcean’sareOne.NationalGeographicSociety10JamesLovelock(1995)TheAgesofGaia.AndfurtherdevelopedbyStephanHardingandLynnMargulis.11StephenHarding’sstorytellingexpertiseisatitsbestwithhiselementaldescriptionsinAnimateEarth.12ThisdescriptionofanEZmoleculeisoverlysimplisticanddoesn’taccuratelydescribethecomplexityofthismolecularalchemy.Infactthemoleculesformanintricate,hexagonallatticestructurethathassomesimilaritytoicecrystals.SeeTheFourthPhaseofWater(2013)foradetaileddescription.13GeraldH.Pollack(2013)TheFourthPhaseofWater:BeyondSolid,Liquid,andVapor.Ebner&SonsPublishers.Thisbookprovidesafascinatingoverviewofhislaboratory’sindepthresearchintowater.

14ViktorSchauberger(1885-1958)wasa19thcenturynaturalistwhohadadeep,intuitiveunderstandingofthelivingnatureofwater.Hedevelopedmanypracticaltheoriesinhowtoliveinharmonywithwater’snaturalmovement,includingvorticesand,whathecalled‘thehalfandfullwatercycles’.(seeforexample:AlickBartholomew(2004)Hiddennature:ThestartlinginsightsofViktorSchauberger).15JamesLovelock(1995)TheAgesofGaia:AbiographyofourlivingEarth.p.82.Oxford

UniversityPress.16StephanHardingandLynnMargulis(2000)WaterGaia:3.5ThousandMillionyearsofWetnessonPlanetEarth.17JamesLovelock(1995)TheAgesofGaia:AbiographyofourlivingEarth.p.82.OxfordUniversityPress.18StephanHardingandLynnMargulis(2000)WaterGaia:3.5ThousandMillionyearsofWetnessonPlanetEarth.19JamesLovelock(1995)TheAgesofGaia:AbiographyofourlivingEarth.OxfordUniversityPress.20StephanHardingandLynnMargulis(2000)WaterGaia:3.5ThousandMillionyearsofWetnessonPlanetEarth.21StephenHarding(2009)AnimateEarth:Science,IntuitionandGaia–ANewScientificStory.(secondedition).GreenBooks.22DonAndersonevenpostulatesthattheimmenseweightofthelimestonelaiddownbycoccolithophoresandothercalcifiers,maybeoneofthedriversofplatetectonics,bysofteningtheunderlyingbasaltattheedgesofthesubductionzones,therebymakingitpliableenoughtosinkbelowtheOceancrust.InLovelock(1995)23StephanHardingandLynnMargulis(2000)WaterGaia:3.5ThousandMillionyearsofWetnessonPlanetEarth.p.43.

Chapter21BrianThomasSwimmeandMaryEvelynTucker(2011)JourneyoftheUniverse.YaleUniversityPress.Foraprofoundlymovingstoryofthisunfolding.2CallumRoberts(2012)OceanofLife:Howourseasarechanging.AllenLane,animprintofPenguinBooks.3Drake,MichaelJ.andCampins,Humberto(2006)Originofwaterontheterrestrialplanets.Asteroid,Comets,MeteorsProceedingsIAUSymposiumNo.229,2005D.Lazzaro,S.Ferraz-Mello&J.A.Fernandez,eds.c_2006InternationalAstronomicalUniondoi:10.1017/S1743921305006861.4Valley,JohnW.etal.AcoolearlyEarthGeology;April2002;v.30;no.4;pp351–4.5CallumRoberts(2012)OceanofLife:Howourseasarechanging.AllenLane,animprintofPenguinBooks.6StephenHarding(2009)AnimateEarth:Science,IntuitionandGaia–ANewScientificStory.(secondedition).GreenBooks.7Thepotentiallife-startingroleofEZwaterisexploredinmoredetailinGeraldPollack’sbookTheFourthPhaseofWateraswellasonhislaboratory’swebsite:http://faculty.washington.edu/ghp/research-themes/origin-of-life/8LynnMargulisandDorionSagan(1995)WhatisLife?UniversityofCaliforniaPress.9FitjofCapraandPierLuigiLuisi(2014)ASystemsViewofLife:Aunifyingvision.CambridgeUniversityPress.10JamesLovelock(2000)Gaia:ANewLookatLifeonEarth.OxfordUniversityPress.11LynnMargulisandDorionSagan(1995)WhatisLife?UniversityofCaliforniaPress.12MarkDenny(2008)HowtheOceanWorks:Anintroductiontooceanography.PrincetonUniversityPress.13LynnMargulisandDorionSagan(1995)WhatisLife?UniversityofCaliforniaPress.14JamesLovelock(1995)TheAgesofGaia:ABiographyofOurLivingEarth.(second

edition).OxfordUniversityPress.15Holland,HeinrichD(2006)Theoxygenationoftheatmosphereandoceans.ThePhilosophicalTransactionsofTheRoyalSociety,B:BiologicalSciences.Phil.Trans.R.Soc.B2006361,doi:10.1098/rstb.2006.1838.16JamesLovelock(1995)TheAgesofGaia:ABiographyofOurLivingEarth.(secondedition).OxfordUniversityPress.17LynnMargulisandDorionSagan(1995)WhatisLife?p.114.UniversityofCaliforniaPress.18Ibidp.135.19Ibidp.162.20Ryan,Josephetal.TheGenomeoftheCtenophoreMnemiopsisleidyiandItsImplicationsforCellTypeEvolution.Science13December2013:Vol.342no.6164doi:10.1126/science.1242592.21Love,GordonD.etal.(2009)FossilsteroidsrecordtheappearanceofDemospongiaeduringtheCryogenianperiod.Naturepp457,718-721(5February2009).22Lenton,Timothyetal.(2014)Co-evolutionofeukaryotesandoceanoxygenationintheNeoproterozoicera.Nature,Geoscience.

23Timeline:theevolutionoflife.NewScientist(14July2009)http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17453-timeline-the-evolution-of-life.html?full=true#.VkIdXIfLRS8.24Thedropinoxygenmayhavebeenduetooxygen-poordeepwaterwellinguptothecontinentalshelves.ParadoxicallythismayhaveledtoincreasingatmosphericO2levelsthatpavedthewayforlandplantstoevolve.

25Timeline:theevolutionoflife.NewScientist(14July2009),26LeeR.Kumpetal.(2005)Massivereleaseofhydrogensulfidetothesurfaceoceanandatmosphereduringintervalsofoceanicanoxia.GeologicalSocietyofAmerica.Geology;May2005;v.33;no.5;pp397–400.27CallumRoberts(2012)OceanofLife:Howourseasarechanging.AllenLane,animprintofPenguinBooks.28RecentarcheologicalresearchindicatesthatmodernhumansmigratedoutofAfricainseveralwaves.Theearliestwasprobablyaround130,000yearsagoviaacoastalroutethroughtheArabianpeninsulatosoutheastAsiaandAustralia.http://www.livescience.com/44988-humans-dispersed-earlier-than-thought.html29EncyclopediaBritannica(2013).

Chapter31Thisisamuchsimplifiedexplanationofphotosynthesis.Foramoredetailedaccount,seeforexample:TylerVolk(1998)Gaia’sBody:TowardsaPhysiologyofEarth.Springer-Verlag,NewYorkInc.

2InfactthereisaverysmallnetgainofO2overthewholephotosynthesisprocess,whichmakesupforthesmallamountofoxygensequesteredduringoxidizingreactionswithferrousrocksandvolcanicgases.

3TherearethreeinterconnectedprocessesinvolvedintheOcean’soverallcarbonaccountingsystem:thebiologicalorganicpump,thebiologicalcarbonatepumpandthephysicalcarbonpump.Combinedtheyremoveapproximatelyhalfabilliontonsofcarbon,equaltotheannualinputfromvolcanoesandrockweathering.

4Asmallamountofwatervapourreachesthestratosphereanddissociatesintohydrogenandoxygen,allowingthehydrogentoescapeintospace(D.CatlingandK.ZahnleMay2009,ThePlanetaryAirLeak.ScientificAmerican).Theinfluenceoflifeonatmosphericconditionshas,however,slowedthistoatrickle.

5PeterLissandAndrewWatson,environmentalscientistsfromtheUniversityofEastAnglia,havesuggestedthatalgalDMSproductioncoolstheplanetby4°C.SendintheClouds.NewScientist30May1998.

6JamesLovelockwasthefirsttomakethelinkbetweenoceanalgaeproductionofDMS,cloudseedingandthesulphurcycle.(Oceanicphytoplankton,atmosphericsulphur,cloudalbedo&climate.Nature,Vol326,No6114,pp655-661,16April1987).

7LynnHuntSendintheClouds.NewScientist30May1998.

8ThetheoryofalgaeintentionallyseedingcloudstoenhancedispersalwasfirstdevelopedbyevolutionarybiologistBillHamiltonandGaianscientistTimLenton.(SporaandGaia:Howmicrobesflywiththeirclouds.Ethology,EcologyandEvolutionVol10,pp1-16.1998)9LynnHuntSendintheClouds.NewScientist30May1998.

10WilliamMarshall,anaerobiologistworkingfortheBritishAntarcticSurvey,culturedorganisms,includingalgae,arrivingattheAntarctic,inanairmassthathadtravelled1500kilometres

fromSouthAmerica.(LynnHuntSendintheClouds.NewScientist30May1998)Chapter41CallumRoberts(2012)OceanofLife:Howourseasarechanging.AllenLane,animprintofPenguinBooks.

2Estimatesofthecirculationtimevarybetween1,000to1,500years.

3StephenHarding(2009)AnimateEarth:Science,IntuitionandGaia–ANewScientificStory.pp136-7.GreenBooks.

4Ibid.pp136-7.5StefanRahmstorf(2002)Oceancirculationandclimateduringthepast120,000years.Nature,Vol419,12September2002.

6Thisisaverysimplifieddescriptionofahighlycomplexsystem.Foramoredetaileddescription,seeforexample,MarkDenny(2008)HowtheOceanWorks:AnintroductiontoOceanography.

7MarkDenny(2008)HowtheOceanWorks,providesagoodoverviewoftheCorioliseffectasitrelatestoOceancurrents.

8Seewww.oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/currents/03coastal3.htmlforausefuldescriptionoftheEkmantransport.

9TimLentonetal.(2008)TippingelementsintheEarth’sclimatesystem.ProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences,105:1786-93.

10CallumRoberts(2012)OceanofLife:Howourseasarechanging.AllenLane,animprintofPenguinBooks.

11MarkDenny(2008)HowtheOceanWorks.Foradetailed(althoughreductionist)overviewofthephysicalpropertiesofthethermocline.

12QuotedfromMarkDenny(2008)HowtheOceanWorks,butthisrepresentsacommonly

heldviewwithinoceanography.Whenthethermoclineisviewedfromtheperspectiveofthewholeglobalclimatebalance,wecanseethatratherthanbeingahindrance,itisinfactacriticalfactorintheoverallbalance.

Chapter51EstimatesofthetotalamountofcarbonfixedbytheOceanvaryfrom40to50billiontonsperyear.S.Volk(2003)P.Falkowski,Nature(2012),volume483.

2Foranexcellentexplanationofnutrientcyclingratiossee,TylerVolk(2003)Gaia’sBody:TowardaPhysiologyofEarth.Corpernicus,Springer-VerlagNewYorkInc.

3Again,estimatesvaryastohowmuchcarbonactuallyleavesthesurfacelayer.Thevarianceisunderstandablegiventhevastnessoftheocean.10%isatthelowerendoftheestimates;theupperrangeisaround15%.

4SeeforexampleMarkDenny(2008)HowtheOceanWorks.5Itisalsopossiblethatthereisacertainamountofleakagefromlivingphytoplankton.Onetheory(unproven)suggeststhatthisleakagemaybeanintentionalmechanismtoenhancephotosynthesisbysmoothingthesurface,therebyenhancinglightpenetration.

6Thereareseveralspeciesofforaminiferathathousesymbioticphotosynthesisingdinoflagellates.Thedinoflagellatesmaybemovedouttothepseudopodsduringthedaytocapturesunlight,andretractedbackintotheshellatnight.

7Ihavemadeanarbitrarydistinctionherebetweenlargerorganismsandthefilterfeedersamongsttheprimaryconsumers.Inreality,filterfeedingisanimportantfeedingstrategyamongstprimaryandsecondaryconsumersalike.

8Withinanecosystematoppredatorhasnopredators.Toppredatorswithinaparticularecosystemarereferredtoasapexpredators,buttheymaystillbesusceptibletopredationoutsideoftheirnicheecosystem.OnanOcean-widescale,adultorcaandspermwhalesarewithoutpeer,althoughjuvenilescouldconceivablyfallpreytolargesharksiftheybecomeisolatedfromtheirpod.Certainapexsharkssuchasgreatwhiteswouldalsobetoppredatorsoncetheyreachfulladultsize.

9AstudyconductedatthePoorKnightsMarinereserveinNewZealandshowedthatrecyclingofnutrientsbybirdsinamarineecosystemcouldhappenasadailycycle.

10Thereareapproximately250speciesoflanternfishin30generas.Mostaresmall,lessthan100mminlength.Theirtotalbiomassisunknown,butestimatesrangefrom550to660millionmetrictonnes,whichisseveraltimesthetotalannualglobalfisheriescatch.Inoceanicplanktontows,lanternfishonaveragemakeuphalfofallfishlarvaeintheplanktonlayer(Ahlstrometal,1976).

11Infactlanternfishmaybethemainfoodsourceatcertaintimesformanypelagicpredatorsincludinggiantsquid,whopredatethembelowthethermocline,butalsoforanimalssuchaskingpenguinsintheSouthernOcean,marinemammalsgloballyandmigratingschoolingfishsuchassalmonandtuna.Currentlytherearethreemainfisheriesforlanternfish:theGulfofOman,Sub-AntarcticandSouthernAfrica.Inalltheseareaslanternfisharefundamentaltothewholefoodwebandtheirdepletioncouldhavedisastrousresults.

12DrSteveNicol,AustralianAntarcticMagazine-Issue21:2011.

13AlthoughitiscalledTheWhalePump,namedbymarinescientistJoeRoman,thisphenomenonalsoreferstoothermarinemammalssuchassealsandsealionsthattraversethethermoclineduringfeedingcycles.

14RomanandMcCarthy(2010)TheWhalePump:MarineMammalsenhanceprimaryproductivityinacoastalbasin.PLoSONE|www.plosone.orgOctober2010|Volume5|Issue10|e13255.

15TheideathatwhaleswereseedingAntarcticwaterswithironwasfirstsuggestedbymarinebiologistVictorSmetacek.HisoriginalhypothesishassincebeenconfirmedbyseveralstudiesshowingthatthewhalesareliterallyactingasOceangardeners.

16Theremaybemultiplefactorsaffectingkrillpopulations,includingseaicedeclineandseasurfacetemperaturechanges,butthesealonearenotenoughtoaccountforthedeclineinoverallproductivityinAntarcticwaters:VictorSmetacek(2008)AreDecliningAntarcticKrillstocksaresultofglobalwarmingorthedecimationofthewhales.AlfredWegenerInstituteforPolarandMarineResearchBremerhaven,Germany.Off-printofchapterfrom:ImpactsofGlobalWarmingonPolarEcosystems,CarlosM.Duarte(ed.)FundacionBBVA,2008http://www.fbbva.es

17Calculationssuggestthisbiologicalturbulentmixingcouldbeassignificantasmixingcausedtidalandwindturbulence.(DrSteveNicol,2011,AustralianAntarcticMagazine-Issue21).

18Thisisanongoingscientificdebate,withestimatesoftherateofmixingrangingfromnegligibletosignificant.

19Thistrickleof‘new’nutrientsarrivesprimarilyviariversaswellasairbornesources.Thesevereoverloadingofnutrientsinrivers,causedbyhumanactivity,iscreatingametaboliccrisisinmanyareasoftheOcean,astheoverloadofnutrientsoverwhelmsthenaturalnutrientcycle.

Chapter61Thesocalled‘halfsecondrule’isbasedontheworkofconsciousnessresearcher,BenjaminLibet,whodescribedthisdelayas‘subjectivebackwardreferralofsensoryexperience’.

2ThisisaconceptdevelopedbythegreatFrenchphenomenologist,MauriceMerleu-Ponty,anddescribedwitharticulateclaritybyTimIngoldinhisbookBeingAlive(2012).

3Forathoughtprovokingexplorationofinteroceptionsee:StephenHarrodBuhner(2014)PlantIntelligenceandtheImaginalRealm:Beyondthedoorsofperceptionintothedreamingoftheearth.BearandCompanyBooks.

4Quotedfrom:FitjofCapraandPierLuigiLuisi(2014)ASystemsViewofLife.Chapter12,MindandConsciousness,providesawonderfulexplorationoftheroleofcognitioninthelifeprocess.

5FitjofCapraandPierLuigiLuisi(2014)ASystemsViewofLife.p.256.6StephenHarding(2009)AnimateEarthChapter7.Frommicrobestocellgiants.

7OttesenE.A.etal.(2013)Patternandsynchronyofgeneexpressionamongsympatricmarinemicrobialpopulations.PNAS,vol.110,no.6,E488-E497;doi:10.1073/pnas.1222099110.

8StephenHarding(2009)AnimateEarth.p.159.

9Gorby,YuriA.(2006)ElectricallyconductivebacterialnanowiresproducedbyShewanellaoneidensisstrainMR-1andothermicroorganisms.PNASJuly25,2006,vol.103no.30.

10Fromthedocumentary:DoestheOceanThink,intheseriesThroughtheWormhole.www.sciencechannel.com

11QuotedfromAlickBartholomew’sexcellentbookTheStoryofWater;SourceofLife.(2010)p.174.

Chapter71Mollo,E.etal.(2014)Sensingmarinebiomolecules:smell,taste,andtheevolutionarytransitionfromaquatictoterrestriallife.Front.Chem.2:92.doi:10.3389/fchem.2014.00092.2Boehm,T.andZufall,F.(February2006)."MHCpeptidesandthesensoryevaluationofgenotype".Trendsinneurosciences29100–7.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/163372833Hasler,A.D.andWisby,W.J.(1951)DiscriminationofStreamodoursbyfishesandrelationtoparentstreambehaviour.Am.Nat.85:223-238.4VisioninaShell:ThestoryofCrustaceanVision.http://archives.evergreen.edu/webpages/curricular/2011-2012/m2o1112/web/crustaceans.html5DrJamesWoodandKelsieJacksonAnIntroductiontoCephalopodVision.www.cephbase.utmb.edu6Myyearsofinteractingwithhumpbackwhalesshowedmejusthowimportantvisionaboveandbelowthesurfaceistothem.Theywouldoften‘spy-hop’verticallywiththeirentireheadsabovethewater,sotheycouldwatchouractivitiesontheboat.Sometimesindividualswoulddothisforminutesonend,completelystationary.7Fields,R.D.(August2007)"TheShark'sElectricSense"ScientificAmerican.Retrieved2December2013.8http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_ray9Thereisalsoasecondtheorythatsuggestslightsensitivechemicalreactionsmayplayaroleforsomespecies,butit’sunclearastowhetherthismightbeaviabletheoryforOceandwellers.10http://www.livescience.com/49468-turtles-migration-magnetic-field.html11http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b05vj8hq/shark-episode-212http://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/biology/13MapofLife-"Laterallinesysteminfishandotheranimals"http://www.mapoflife.org/topics/topic_443_lateral-line-system-in-fish-and-other-animals/October22,201414ConvergentEvolutionisveryapparentamongstwidelyvaryingOceandwellers.CambridgeUniversity’s‘MapofLife’websiteprovidesanoutstandingoverviewofConvergentEvolution.www.mapoflife.org

15Narwhals,Monodonmonoceros~MarineBio.org,IncMarineBioConservationSociety.http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=33616JenniA.Stanley,CraigA.Radford,AndrewG.JeffsLocation,location,location:findingasuitablehomeamongthenoise.ProceedingsoftheRoyalSociety,doi:10.1098/rspb.2012.0697.Published26July2012.17LillisA.,EgglestonD.B.,BohnenstiehlD.R.(2013)OysterLarvaeSettleinResponsetoHabitat-AssociatedUnderwaterSounds.PLoSONE8(10):e79337.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0079337.18AninterviewwithSteveSimpson(July21,2010).Amazingreefs:howcorals'hear'.http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0721-neme_corals_simpson.html19OngoingresearchintheareaoflarvalsettlementusinghabitatsoundscapesisraisingmanyquestionsabouttheeffectsofanthropogenicnoisepollutionintheOcean.Butequallyimportantisthelossofbiologicalsoundsthroughoverfishingandhabitatdestruction.Ibelievetheevidenceisalreadypointingtowardsspeciesspecificsoundrecognition,andfurtherresearchwillconfirmthatsomespecies,crayfishforexample,aremorelikelytosettleonareefthatalreadyhasadultcrayfishinresidence.

20DavidRothenberg(2008)ThousandMileSong.BasicBooks.21ThedeepsoundchannelisalsocalledtheSOFARchannel,whichstandsforSoundFixingAndRanging,andwascoinedbytheUSNavy.22ThiswasconfirmedwhentheUSnavydecidedtodeclassifyandsharedecadesofsonarsurveillancerecordswithwhaleresearchers.ItturnedoutthattheNavySonarofficerwhowas‘evesdropping’ontheunsuspectingfinwasabletopickthefaintresponsesfromfinwhalesofftheSpanishcoast.(DavidRothenberg,2008,ThousandMileSongp.199).23DavidRothenberg(2008)ThousandMileSong.p.200.24JamesT.Fulton(2015)DolphinBiosonarEcholocation:ACaseStudy.http://neuronresearch.net/hearing/files/dolphinbiosonar.htm25JohnStewartReidandJackKassewitz(2013)ConversationswithDolphins.StoryMerchantsBooks.26Herzing,D.L.(2004)SocialandNon-SocialusesofEcholocationinFree-RangingStenellafrontalisandTursiopstruncatus.In:AdvancesintheStudyofEcholocationinBatsandDolphinspp.404-410.Springer-VerlagPress.

Chapter81RikoRikoCavewasmeasuredusinglaserbeamsin2001andatthatpointwasthelargestseacavebyvolumethathadbeenmeasuredanywhereintheworld.Itisquitelikelythatthereareother,largercavesthathaveyettobemeasured.2Researchershavefoundthatoctopushave60%oftheirneuronsintheirarmsandonly40%intheirbrains.SyMontgomery(2011)DeepIntellect:Insidethemindoftheoctopus.https://orionmagazine.org/article/deep-intellect/3MarcBekoff(2007)TheEmotionalLivesofAnimals.p.31.NewWorldLibrary.4‘Thinklikeafishlives’,isinspiredbyphenomenologistanddirectorofTheNatureInstitute,CraigHoldredge,whoremindshisstudentsthatwhenstudyingplantstheyneedto‘thinklikeaplantlives’.www.natureinstitute.org

5Phenomenologyhasitsrootsinthe18thcenturyworkofpeoplelikeJohannWolfgangvonGoethe,butwasformalizedasascientificmethodbytheGermanphilosopherEdmundHusserl(1859-1938).ForabrilliantjourneyintophenomenologyreadTheSpelloftheSensuousbyDavidAbram.

6SneddonL.U.,BraithwaiteV.A.,andGentleM.J.(2003)DoFishhaveNociceptors?Evidencefortheevolutionofavertebratesensorysystem.ProceedingsoftheRoyalSociety,LondonSeriesB270(2003)pp.1115-21.7VictoriaBraithwaite(2010)DoFishFeelPain?OxfordUniversityPress.8Ibidp.153.9Brown,Culum(2015)FishIntelligence,sentienceandethics.AnimalCognition.January2015,Volume18,Issue1,pp1-17.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-014-0761-010PascalFossatetal(2014)Anxiety-likebehaviorincrayfishiscontrolledbyserotonin.Science13June2014:Vol.344no.6189pp1293-1297,doi:10.1126/science.1248811.

11Bshary,R.Hohner,A.Ait-el-Djoudi,K.andFricke,H(2006)InterspecificcommunicativeandcoordinatedhuntingbetweengroupersandgiantmorayeelsintheRedSea.PloSBiology4,23932398.

12Vail,A.L,Manica,A.andBshary,R.(2014)Fishchooseappropriatelywhenandwithwhomtocollaborate.CurrentBiology24:R791-R793.13Thisfascinatingaccountofgrouper/eelfriendshipwasrecountedonthewebsite

www.mongabay.cominrefutationoftheclaimthatthereisnoaltruisticbehaviourassociatedwiththegrouper/eelrelationship,asstatedinthepaperbyBsharyetal(2006).14Bshary,R.andSchäffer,D.(2002)Choosyreeffishselectcleanerfishthatprovidehigh-qualityservice.AnimalBehaviour63,557-564;andBshary,R,andWurth,M.(2001)CleanerfishLabroidesdimidiatusmanipulateclientreeffishbyprovidingtactilestimulation.ProceedingsoftheRoyalSocietyofLondonB268,1495-1501.15Raihani,N.J.,Grutter,A.S.,andBshary,R.(2010)Punishersbenefitfromthird-partypunishmentinfish.Science327,171.16IlaFrancePorcher(2014)TheSharkSessions.TatePublishing&Enterprises(17Jun.2014)ISBN-13:978-1629022635.17IlaFrancePorcher(2014)CognitioninSharks.X-RayMagazine.Issue60May2014(pp68-73).18Anexampleoftheresearchfocusrelatingtomother,calfandescortgroups.Spitz,S.S.,Herman,L.M.,Pack,A.A.,&Deakos,M.H.(2002)TherelationofbodysizeofmalehumpbackwhalestotheirsocialrolesontheHawaiianwintergrounds.CanadianJournalofZoology80,1938-1947,2002.

19Underwaterphotographerandnaturalist,TonyWu,hasspentmanyyearsinteractingwithhumpbackwhales,andhasalsonotedthemorerelaxeddemeanorofmothersandcalveswhenanescortispresent.Tonyhasalsodocumentedasingleescortstayingwithamotherandcalffor16days,travelinglongdistanceswiththemanddefendingthemagainstothermales.www.tonywublog.com/journal/swimming-with-humpback-whales-in-tonga-2011-part-6

Chapter91RupertSheldrake(2009)ANewScienceofLife.IconBooksLtd,London.2Ibid.3RupertSheldrake(2011)DogsThatKnowWhenTheirOwnersAreComingHome:TheunexplainedPowersofAnimals.p.261.ArrowBooks.4Ibid.p.259.5Despiteintenseresearch,nophysicalmechanismhasbeenfoundtoexplainthenearinstantaneousresponseoftheschoolasawhole.Seeforexample:Sheldrake(2011)ThePresenceofthePast:MorphicResonanceandtheHabitsofNature.pp357-359.IconBooksLtd.London.6Ibid.pp252-259.7Inmainstreamevolutionarybiology,themechanismbywhichculturaltransmissionoccursisnowahotlydebatedtopicamongstbiologists.Theneo-Darwinistview,articulatedinthe‘selfishgene’theoryespousedbyRichardDawkins,hasbeenthedefaultstory,butthisischallengedbytheeminentHarvardbiologist,E.O.Wilson,whohasproposedamulti-level‘groupselection’process,whichtakesintoaccounttheveryrealaspectsofaltruismandempathyinthenaturalselectionofbeneficialbehaviouraltraits.See:MartinA.Nowak,CorinaE.Tarnita&EdwardO.WilsonTheevolutionofeusociality.Nature466,1057–1062(26August2010)doi:10.1038/nature09205.8RupertSheldrakeprovidesseveralexamplesofhownewpatternsofbehaviourevolveandspreadthroughculturaltransmission.See:ThePresenceofthePast.pp.259-267.9Seeforexample:Brain,J.Williams,(2011)RevisitingtheGanzfeldESPDebate:ABasicReviewandAssessment.JournalofScientificExploration,Vol.25,No.4,pp.639–661,20110892-3310/11.10FromadocumentaryinterviewwithAnimalCommunicator,AnnaBreytenbach.

11WilliamJLong(2009)HowAnimalsTalk.p.55.DoverPublicationsInc.12Foranexcellentoverviewoftheexperimentalresearch,includinganin-depthlookatwhytelepathyandother‘paranormal’phenomenacontinuetoattractsomuchscientificskepticism,See:DeanRadkin(2009)TheNoeticUniverse.CorgiBooks,TransworldPublishers,London.13Seeforexample:Radkin(2009)TheNoeticUniverse;Sheldrake(2011)ThePresenceofthePast.Seealso:http://noetic.org14FrankRobson(1988)PicturesintheDolphinMind.SheridanHouseInc,NY.15WadeDoak(2012)GaiaCalls.DivineArts,California.16BernardMoitessier(1974)TheLongWay.GranadaPublishingLtd,London.17JimNollman(1985)DolphinDreamtime:TalkingtotheAnimals.London:AnthonyBlond,Quotedin:HeathcoteWilliams(1988)WhaleNation.pp123-124.JonathonCapeLtd,32Bedford

Square,London;Chapter101TheDeathoftheOceansbyAlexRenton,Newsweek,11/07/2014.2http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-point-of-no-return-climate-change-nightmares-are-already-here-20150805?page=73http://www.skepticalscience.com/pollution-part-1.html4SilviaA.Earle(2009)TheWorldisBlue:HowourfateandtheOcean’sareOne.NationalGeographicSociety.5http://www.skepticalscience.com/pollution-part-2.html6PastconstraintsonthevulnerabilityofmarinecalcifierstomassivecarbondioxidereleasebyAndyRidgwellandDanielaN.Schmidt.NatureGeoscience,publishedonline:14February2010|doi:10.1038/ngeo755.Seealso:http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2010/02/18/205525/ocean-acidification-study-mass-extinction-of-marine-life-nature-geoscience/7De’ath,G.etal.(2009)DecliningcoralcalcificationontheGreatBarrierReef.Science,323:pp.116-119.8Guttuso,J.P.etal.(2015)ContrastingfuturesforoceanandsocietyfromdifferentanthropogenicCO2emissionsscenarios.Science,349no.6243.9CallumRoberts(2012)OceanofLife:Howourseasarechanging.AllenLane,animprintofPenguinBooks.10Kawaguchi,S.etal.(2011)WillKrillfarewellunderSouthernOceanacidification?BiolLett.2011Apr23;7(2):288–291.Publishedonline2010Oct13.doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0777.11Beaufort,L.etal(2011)Sensitivityofcoccolithophorestocarbonatechemistryandoceanacidification.Nature,Vol476,4August2011.12TheOcean’sSurfaceLayerHasBeenWarmingMuchFasterThanPreviouslyThought.http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/10/06/3576234/ocean-surface-warming-faster/13https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/20150714OveHoegh-Guldbergetal.BleachingandRelatedEcologicalFactors.CRTRWorkingGroupFindings2004-2009.15http://www.oceanscientists.org/index.php/topics/ocean-deoxygenation16DanielG.Boyce,etal.(2010)Globalphytoplanktondeclineoverthepastcentury.Nature466,591–596(29July2010)17http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2010/07/29/206497/nature-decline-ocean-phytoplankton-global-warming-boris-worm/18LeeR.Kump,etal.(2005)Massivereleaseofhydrogensulfidetothesurfaceoceanand

atmosphereduringintervalsofoceanicanoxia.Geology;May2005;v.33;no.5;pp.397–400.19SteveConner(2011)Vastmethane'plumes'seeninArcticoceanasseaiceretreats.http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/vast-methane-plumes-seen-in-arctic-ocean-as-sea-ice-retreats-6276278.html20StefanRahmstorf(2002)Oceancirculationandclimateduringthepast120,000years.Nature,VOL419,12September2002www.nature.com/nature21Hansen,J.etal(2015)Icemelt,sealevelriseandsuperstorms:evidencefrompaleoclimatedata,climatemodeling,andmodernobservationsthat2°Cglobalwarmingishighlydangerous.Atmos.Chem.Phys.Discuss,15,20059–20179,2015.www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/15/20059/2015/doi:10.5194/acpd-15-20059-2015.22http://www.reefresilience.org/coral-reefs/stressors/climate-and-ocean-change/sea-level-rise/23McLeod,ElizabethandSalm,RodneyV.(2006)ManagingMangrovesforResiliencetoClimateChange.IUCN,Gland,Switzerland.24BrianPalmer(2015)DevilandtheDeepBlueSea.http://www.onearth.org/earthwire/devil-deep-blue-sea

25Jackson,J.etal.(2012)StatusandTrendsofCaribbeanCoralReefs:1970-2012.GlobalCoralReefMonitoringNetwork.26CallumRoberts(2012)OceanofLife:Howourseasarechanging.27http://panexplore.com/our-work/ocean-toxins/

28http://www.bluevoice.org/news_sharedfate.php29MarcusEriksenetal.(2014)PlasticPollutionintheWorld’sOceans:Morethan5TrillionPlasticPiecesWeighingover250,000TonsAfloatatSea.PLoSONE|doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0111913December10,2014.30LucyC.Woodalletal.(2014)Thedeepseaisamajorsinkformicroplasticdebris.TheRoyalSocietydoi:10.1098/rsos.140317.Published17December2014.31JonathanAmos(2015)Plasticwasteheadingforoceansquantified.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-3143251532JonathanAmos(2015)Seabirds'blightedbyplasticwaste'.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-3410801733Allsopp,M.etal.PlasticDebrisintheWorld’sOceans.Greenpeace.34CallumRoberts(2012)OceanofLife:Howourseasarechanging.35Ibid.36http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/14/stranded-whales-ocean-navy-sonars37Myres,RansomA.andWorm,Boris(2003)Rapidworldwidedepletionofpredatoryfishcommunities.Nature,423:pp.280-283.38Worm,B.etal.(2006)Impactsofbiodiversitylossonoceanecosystemservices.Science314:pp.787-790.39http://fishcount.org.uk/farmed-fish-welfare/numbers-of-fish-used-for-feed-in-aquaculture40AplayonwordsandtheseeminglydeterminedadherencebytheFAO(andalmosttheentireglobalfishingindustry)topersistwith‘MaximumSustainableYield’asamodelforfisheriesmanagement.TheStateofWorldFisheriesandAquaculture:Opportunitiesandchallenges.Foodand

AgricultureOrganisationoftheUnitedNations(FAO),(2014).41http://worldoceanreview.com/en/wor-2/fisheries/illegal-fishing/42DaviesRWD,etal.(2009)Definingandestimatingglobalmarinefisheriesbycatch.MarinePolicydoi:10.1016/j.marpol.2009.01.003.43DouglasJ.McCauleyetal.(2015)Marinedefaunation:Animallossintheglobalocean.Science,vol.347,no.6219;doi:10.1126/science.1255641.44Thisaverageincreaseinfishingeffortisevenmoredisturbingwhenindividualspeciesareconsidered.CallumRobertsandhiscolleagueshaveestimatedthatsomespeciesrequireupto500timestheefforttocatchtodayastheydid100yearsago.CallumRoberts(2012)OceanofLife:Howourseasarechanging.AllenLane,animprintofPenguinBooks.45Ibid.46AlannaMitchell(2008)SeaSick:Thehiddenecologicalcrisisoftheglobalocean.Pier9,animprintofMurdochBooksPtyLtd.47IvanValiela,etal.(2015)MangroveForests:OneoftheWorld'sThreatenedMajorTropicalEnvironments.http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/51/10/807.full48http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2985630.stm

Chapter111JoannaMacyandChrisJohnstone(2012) ActiveHope:Howtofacethemesswe’reinwithoutgoingcrazy.NewWorldLibrary.2BillPlotkin(2008)NatureandtheHumanSoul:CultivatingWholenessandCommunityinaFragmentedWorld.NewWorldLibrary.3Forabeautifullywrittenandinsightfulintroductiontothis‘wayofseeing’,see:EmmaKidd(2015)FirstStepstoSeeing:APathtowardslivingattentively.FlorisBooks.4Iamofcourseparaphrasingthesaying,‘Bethechangeyouwanttoseeintheworld’,widelyattributedtoGandhi.5WerunaFacebookpagecalled,‘Just-Pick-It-Up’,whichencouragespeopletosharetheirplasticpicking-upexploits.6CallumRoberts(2012)OceanofLife:Howourseasarechanging.p.282.7Ibid.

Chapter121Forexample,recallthestoryofwhalepooandthenaturallyamplifiedecosystemofAntarcticafromChapter5.2Ecologistscallthis‘mediatednutrienttransfer’.3VladimirVernadsky(1863-1945)wasamongstthefirsttoarticulatethisideaoflifeformsasprimarilynutrientdistributors.(seeStephanHarding(2009)AnimateEarth:Science,IntuitionandGaia–ANewScientificStory.(secondedition)p.62-63.GreenBooks.4JulieC.Ellis(2005)Marinebirdsonland:areviewofplantbiomass,speciesrichness,andcommunitycompositioninseabirdcolonies.PlantEcology181:227–241doi10.1007/s11258-005-7147-y.5Doughty,ChristopherE.etal.(2015)Globalnutrienttransportinaworldofgiants.Ecology.http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/10/23/1502549112.full.pdf

6SylviaEarle(2009)TheWorldisBlue:HowourfateandtheOcean’sareone.p.56.NationalGeographicSociety.7Ibid.8Ibid.p.270.9TapuandtabuareasarecommonthroughoutOceania.TheEnglish‘taboo’isderivedfromtabu.InMaoricultureatapumeans‘sacred’or‘setapart’andisoftenusedinconjunctionwith‘rahui’toindicateanareaas‘underaban’.Rahuiinitsbasicmeaningis‘toencompass’.Rev.MaoriMarsden(1992)KaitiakiTanga:ADefinitiveIntroductiontotheHolisticWorldViewoftheMaori.http://www.marinenz.org.nz/documents/Marsden_1992_Kaitiakitanga.pdf10Thegoalof10%,agreeduponin1997,wasoriginallysetfor2012buthassincebeenextendedto2020.11http://mission-blue.organdhttps://marine-conservation.org12http://www.marinereservescoalition.org13CallumRoberts(2012)OceanofLife:Howourseasarechanging.p.276.AllenLane.14Rev.MaoriMarsden(1992)KaitiakiTanga:ADefinitiveIntroductiontotheHolisticWorldViewoftheMaori.http://www.marinenz.org.nz/documents/Marsden_1992_Kaitiakitanga.pdf15Establishedin1977,thetinymarinereserveatGoatIslandreceivesmorethan375,000visitorsperyear.http://www.marinenz.org.nz/documents/leigh_eco_impact.pdf16ThePoorKnightsMarineReservegetsmorethantwicethenumberofvisitorsthanhikerswalkingtheworldfamousMilfordtrackinFiordland.http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/267902/search-for-new-marine-arrivals

SelectedBibliographyforFurtherReading

OceanRelatedAnderson,Ian(2007)TheSurfaceoftheSea:EncounterswithNewZealand’sUpperOceanLife.ReedPublishingNZLtd.

Barnes,R.S.K.&Hughes,R.N.(1999)AnIntroductiontoMarineEcology(thirdEdition).BlackwellScienceLtd,aBlackwellPublishingCompany.

Carson,Rachel(1951)TheSeaAroundUs.StaplePressLimited.

Clover,Charles(2005)TheEndoftheLine:Howoverfishingischangingtheworldandwhatweeat.RandomHouseBooks.

Cousteau,Jacques-YvesandDumas,Frederic(2004)TheSilentWorld.NationalGeographicBooks,reprintedition.

Denny,Mark(1995)AirandWater:TheBiologyandPhysicsofLife’sMedia.PrincetonUniversityPress.

Denny,Mark(2008)HowtheOceanWorks:anintroductiontooceanography.PrincetonUniversityPress.

Doak,Wade(1981)DolphinDolphin.Hodder&Stoughton.

Doak,Wade(1988)EncounterswithWhalesandDolphins.Hodder&Stoughton.

Doak,Wade(2012)GaiaCalls:SouthSeaVoices,Dolphins,SharksandRainforests.DivineArts.

Dudzinski,KathleenM.,andFrohoff,Toni(2008)DolphinMysteries:Unlockingthesecretsofcommunication.YaleUniversityPress.

Earle,SylviaA.(2002)SeaChange:AmessageoftheOceans.Fawcett;1stBallantineBooksEdeditionEarle,SylviaA.(2009)TheWorldisBlue:HowourfateandtheOcean’sareone.NationalGeographicSociety.114517thStreet,N.W,Washington,D.C.200036.

FrancePorcher,Ila(2010)MySunsetRendezvous:CrisisinTahiti.StrategicBookGroup.

Getten,MaryJ.(2014)CommunicatingwithOrcas:Thewhalesperspective.Smashwordse-bookedition.

Grescoe,Taras(2008)DeadSeas:Howthefishonourplatesiskillingourplanet.PanBooks.

Lovelock,James(2000)Gaia:ANewLookAtLifeOnEarth.OxfordUniversityPress,Oxford,GreatClarendonRoad,OX26DP.

Lovelock,James(1995)TheAgesofGaia:ABiographyofOurLivingEarth(secondedition).OxfordUniversityPress.

Mitchell,Alanna(2008)SeaSick:Thehiddenecologicalcrisisoftheglobalocean.MurdochBooksPtyLtd.

Moitessier,Bernard(1973)TheLongWay.GranadaPublishingLtd.

Nichols,WallaceJ.(2014)BlueMind:Howwatermakesyouhappier,moreconnectedandbetteratwhatyoudo.Little,Brown.

Reid,JohnStewartandJackKassewitz(2013)ConversationswithDolphins.StoryMerchantsBooks.

Roberts,Callum(2012)OceanofLife.Howourseasarechanging.AllenLane,animprintofPenguinBooks.

Robson,Frank(1988)PicturesintheDolphinMind.SheridanHouseInc.NY.

Rothenberg,David(2008)ThousandMileSong:WhaleMusicinaSeaofSound.BasicBooks,amemberofthePerseusBooksGroup,NewYork.

Sardet,Christian(2015)Plankton:WondersoftheDriftingWorld.UniversityofChicagoPressLtd.

Thorne-Miller,Boyce(1999)TheLivingOcean:UnderstandingandProtectingMarineBiodiversity(secondedition).IslandBooks.

Wharram,James(2001)TwoGirlsTwoCatamarans.CrocieraTotaleEdizioni.

Whitehead,HalandRendell,Luke(2015)TheCulturalLivesofWhalesandDolphins.TheUniversityofChicagoPress.

GeneralAbram,David(1996)TheSpelloftheSensuous:Perceptionandlanguageinamorethanhumanworld.VintageBooks,adivisionofRandomHouse,INC,NewYork.

Berry,Thomas(1999)TheGreatWork:Ourwayintothefuture.BellTower,NewYork.

Capra,Fritjof(1996)TheWebofLife:Anewscientificunderstandingoflivingsystems.FirstAnchorBooks.

Capra,FritjofandLuisi,PierLuigi(2014)TheSystemsViewofLife:Aunifyingvision.CambridgeUniversityPress.

Coats,C.(1996)LivingEnergies:AnexpositionofconceptsrelatedtothetheoriesofViktorSchauberger.Gateway,animprintofGill&MacmillanLtd.

Evernden,Neil(1992)TheSocialCreationofNature.TheJohnHopkinsUniversityPress.

Harding,Stephan(2009)AnimateEarth:Science,IntuitionandGaia–ANewScientificStory.(secondedition).GreenBooks.

Kidd,Emma(2015)FirstStepstoSeeing:APathtowardslivingattentively.FlorisBooks.

Long,WilliamJ.(2009)HowAnimalsTalk.DoverPublicationsInc.

Lovelock,James(2000)Gaia:ThePracticalScienceofPlanetaryMedicine.GaiaBooksLtd.

Lovelock,James(2009)TheVanishingFaceofGaia:Afinalwarning.AllenLane,animprintofPenguinBooks.

Macy,JoannaandJohnstone,Chris(2012)Activehope:Howtofacethemesswe’reinwithoutgoingcrazy.NewWorldLibrary.

Margulis,LynnandSagan,Dorion(1995)WhatisLife?UniversityofCaliforniaPress.

Naess,Arne(2008)Life’sPhilosophy:reasonandfeelinginadeeperworld.UniversityofGeorgiaPress,Athens,Georgia.

Plotkin,Bill(2008)NatureandtheHumanSoul:Cultivatingwholenessandcommunityinafragmentedworld.NewWorldLibrary.

Pollack,GeraldH.(2013)TheFourthPhaseofWater:BeyondSolid,LiquidandVapor.EbnerandSonsPublishers.

Radin,Dean(2009)TheNoeticUniverse:TheScientificEvidenceforPsychicPhenomena.CorgiBooks.

Sheldrake,Rupert(2011)DogsthatKnowwhentheirOwnersareComingHome:Theunexplainedpowersofanimals.ArrowBooks.

Sheldrake,Rupert(2011)ThePresenceofthePast:MorphicResonanceandthehabitsofNature(secondedition).IconBooks.

Swimme,BrianandTucker,MaryEvelyn(2011)JourneyoftheUniverse.YaleUniversityPress.

Vernadsky,Vladimir(1986)TheBiosphere:AnabridgedversionbasedontheFrencheditionof1929.SynergeticPress,Inc.

Volk,Tyler(2003)Gaia’sBody:TowardaPhysiologyofEarth.Corpernicus,Springer-VerlagNewYorkInc.

Westbroek,P.(1992)LifeasaGeologicalForce:DynamicsoftheEarth.TheCommonwealthBookFundBookProgram.

RecommendedOrganisationsandWebsitesThereare literally thousandsoforganisations involved inOceaneducationandconservation.ThelistoforganisationspresentedhereareonesthatIfinduseful,butisbynomeansadefinitivelist.

OceanEducationhttp://www.howfishbehave.cahttp://marinebio.orgMarineBioConservationSociety.http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/welcome.htmlNationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration(NationalOceanService)http://phys.org/journals/marine-ecology-progress-series/Peerreviewedresearcharticles.http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/WoodsHoleOceanographicInstitution.http://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/index.php?q=content/one-big-oceanWorldOceanObservatory.

OceanAdvocacyandConservationwww.oceanspirit.orgOurownorganization,devotedtoraisingawarenessabouttheOceanasalivingsystemandadvocatingforOceanprotection.WealsohaveaFacebookpagehttps://www.facebook.com/OceanSpirit-387861044708999/?ref=bookmarkshttp://missionblue.orgDr.SylviaEarle’sorganization,devotedtoprotecting20%oftheOceanby2020.http://www.marinereservescoalition.orghttp://www.pewtrusts.org/en/projects/global-ocean-legacyhttps://marine-conservation.orghttp://oceana.orgwww.oceanswatch.orgagrassrootsOceanconservationorganization,workingwithislandcommunitiestoprotectmarineecosystems,whileprovidingsustainablelivelihoodsforcommunities.

SpecificIssueshttp://www.globalcoralbleaching.orghttp://www.sharksavers.orghttp://www.planetwhale.com/org-565_WDCS_The_Whale_and_Dolphin_Conservation_SocietyWhaleandDolphinConservationSociety.http://uk.whales.orgWhaleandDolphinConservation(worldwide).

PlasticPollutionhttp://www.plasticfreeocean.orghttp://www.5gyres.org5GyresInstitute,carryingoutresearchintheOceangyres.

http://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.orgThePlasticPollutionCoalitionhttp://www.plasticoceans.netPlasticOceanshttps://www.facebook.com/Just-Pick-It-Up-412517525469577/OurFacebookpagedevotedtoJust-Picking-Upplasticandmakingadifferenceeveryday.

SustainableSeafoodhttp://www.goodfishguide.orgMarineConservationSocietyhttps://www.msc.orgMarineStewardshipCouncilhttp://wwf.panda.org/how_you_can_help/live_green/out_shopping/seafood_guides/WWFseafoodguideshttp://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/oceans/which-fish-can-I-eat/Greenpeace’sseafoodguidesGeneralInterestwww.natureinstitute.orgTheNatureInstitute(phenomenology).http://noetic.orgInstituteofNoeticSciences(researchintotelepathyandotherparanormalphenomena).http://faculty.washington.edu/ghp/ProfessorGeraldPollark’swaterresearchlaboratory.www.schumachercollege.org.ukSchumacherCollege,Devon,UK(HolisticScience,GaiaTheory,scienceofqualities).http://www.animalspirit.orgInter-speciescommunication.http://www.sheldrake.orgDrRupertSheldrake.

IndexThefollowingindexisfromtheprintversionofthisbookandwillnotmatchthepagesinthiseBookedition.PleaseusethesearchfunctionofyoureReadingdevicetosearchfortermsofinterest.A

ampullaeofLorenziniAnderson,DonanimamundianimisticAntarcticaanthropogenicArcheanArcticArthropodsautopoiesis

Bbasin-widetiltBateson,GregorybehaviouralhabitBekoff,ProfessorMarcBentham,Jeremybio-moleculesbiologicalcarbonatepumpbiologicalorganicpumpbio-magnificationbio-sonarBraithwaite,VictoriaBrown,AssociateProfessorCulumCcalcifiersCambrianExplosionCapra,FritjofCarson,Rachelcephaliclobescephalopodscetaceanschemoreceptionciliacleanerfishcnidarianscoccolithophorescoelacanthcognitiveethologycomplexitytheorycopepods

coralreefscorallinealgaeCorioliseffectCousteau,JacquesYvescovalentbondCretaceousctenophorescupulaculturaltransmissioncyanobacteriaDDarwin,Charles(OntheOriginofSpecies)(TheExpressionofEmotionsinManandAnimals)deadzonesdeepsoundchanneldiatomsdifferentialcalculusdimethylsulphide(DMSdimethylsulphoniopropionate(DMSPdinoflagellatesDoak,WadeandJan

EEarle,SylviaechinodermsecholocationecologicalroleEdiacaranEkmantransportelasmobranchselectro-communicationelectro-locationelectroreceptioneukaryotic(cells)euphoticzoneEZ(water)

FfeedingedgeTheFoodandAgriculturalOrganisationoftheUnitedNations(FAO)foraminiferafourthphase(water)FrancePorcher,Ila

GGaiaGaiatheorygeo-engineeringgill-rakersGlobalOceanLegacyProjectGoatIslandMarineReserveGondwanalandGorgy,Yuri

GreatPacificGarbagePatchGroth,RobGulfStreamgustationgyre

HHarding,StephanHerzing,Deniseholarchieshumpbackwhalehydrodynamichydrologicalcyclehydroniumions

Iiridophoresinter-facial(water)interoceptioninvertebrates

JJohnstone,ChrisJung,C.G.

KKingdomsofLifekrillknowledgeprocess

LlanternfishlaterallineLenton,TimlimbicsystemliquidcrystallineLong,Williamlong-termcarboncycleLovelock,JamesMMacy,JoannaMaeWanHomagnetitemagnetoceptionmangrovesmantarayMarineConservationInstituteMarineReservesCoalitionMarineStewardshipCouncil(MSC)MarsMaturana,Humberto

Maui’sdolphinMaximumSustainableYield(MSY)mechanoreceptormelonmetabolicprocessesMHCgenesMioceneMissionBlueMitchell,AlannaMoitessier,BernardmorphicfieldsmorphicresonancemorphogenesisMotherTeresamysidshrimpsmysticetes

NnanowiresNature,Journalofneocortex,NewsweekmagazineNewton,IsaacnociceptorsNollman,Jimnon-lineardynamicsNorthPacificGyrenudibranchsnutrientindicatoralgae(NIA)OOceanMindOceanSpiritodontocetesolfactionommatidiaOntheOriginofSpeciesoxygenminimumzonesPPaleocene-EoceneThermalMaximum(PETM)PangeaPermianExtinctionpersistentorganicpollutants(POPs)phenomenologyphoto-dissociationphotoreceptorsphotosynthesisphotosynthesisersphotosynthesisingphytoplanktonpinipedsplanetesimalsplanktonic

PlatoPlotkin,BillpolarregionspolarisedlightPollack,GeraldPoorKnightsMarineReserveProjectInterlockprokaryoticProterozoicprotoctistaprotoctistspseudopodspterapods

Qquantumcoherencequantumjazzquorumsensing

RradiolariansredtidesremorarhabdomeresrhinophoresRobson,FrankRoberts,ProfessorCallumRollingStonemagazineRothenberg,DavidSSagan,CarlsalinitySchauberger,VictorseabirdssentienceSheldrake,RupertsilicaterockweatheringspeciesismspiculestromatolitessulphurcyclesuperorganismSystemsViewofLife

TTangaroatapuTarlton,Kellytectonicplatestelepathythermalmixing

thermoclinethermohalineTimaeustrilobitestrophiclevels

UultravioletTheUnitedNationsConventiononBiologicalDiversityVVarela,FranciscoVenusvertebrates

WweakhydrogenbondwhalepumpwhalingWilliams,Heathcote

Zzooplankton