What’s at stake as we observe World Oceans Day

Ever since the first humans beheld the vastness of the ocean, its majesty has inspired our art, culture, and imagination. From Homer’s “The Odyssey” to Jacques Cousteau’s “The Silent World” to the current summer blockbuster remake of “The Little Mermaid,” the ocean provides us with the imagery and themes to capture our stories and motivates us to face the unknown.

We live at a time when our children are struggling with mental health, the lingering impacts of the pandemic, and anxiety brought on by the climate crisis. As biodiversity loss threatens ecosystems globally, our extraordinary ocean seascapes and the marine life found there must be communicated broadly if we are to inspire the young people whose engagement and action will be critical to the protection of our planet in the next century.

The theme of this World Oceans Day, marked today, June 8, is Planet Ocean: Tides are Changing. It’s an important reminder that we get to decide what sort of blue planet the next generation of artists, visionaries, and innovators will inherit. We choose whether to leave behind abundance and inspiration or degradation and loss.

With nearly 40% of the U.S. population living in coastal counties and 80% of tourism taking place in coastal areas, ensuring that our nearshore waters are thriving, free of pollution, and accessible for recreation and sustainable fishing will help us secure the immense benefits that nature brings our communities and society.

The current generation of young people will live a life increasingly shaped by climate change and technology. They will spend much of their lives and careers in a demanding digital realm that competes for their attention with the natural world. All the while, the natural world will continue to face threats resulting from the climate crisis.

The good news is that important global efforts at ocean conservation are underway. In the past year alone, multilateral agreements by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Convention on Biodiversity have extended critical protections to globally threatened shark species and committed to protect 30% of the land and sea by 2030.

As today’s leaders in government and civil society work to protect our oceans and biodiversity, they ensure not only a healthier planet in the near term, but they inspire our youth to do the same through the careers they choose, the daily habits they adopt, and the consumer choices they make. Indeed, by protecting the right of future generations to be awestruck by the deep blue, we are preserving the connections and experiences that are vital to human health and well-being.

We must not only fight to protect nature but help our young people find ways to connect with it. From pushing for outdoor curricula in schools, to expanding opportunities for youth to participate in coastal restoration projects. Efforts like New York’s Billion Oyster Project engage young people to appreciate the work of millions and millions of simple mollusks to clean our water and provide storm resilience as they did for centuries until overfishing and pollution took their toll on New York City’s harbor.

We are living in a decisive moment where our actions to slash greenhouse gas emissions and protect nature would mean a future of possibility for our children and grandchildren, while continuing business as usual is a bet on perpetual uncertainty and irrevocable loss. We must use institutions like our accredited zoos and aquariums to teach kids about conservation if they are to navigate a changing world and appreciate the grounding presence of nature.

At WCS, we know how to do this work — at the New York Aquarium, for example, we have a program to train the next generation of youth ocean advocates to build political support for the policies and actions we need to take, like the creation of the Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of New York.

It’s my hope that we can come together and act for our youth; that we can protect the majesty of the deep blue so that future generations can unlock its secrets and vast potential. If we fail to meet this moment, if we fail to safeguard this precious natural resource, we may lose out on the opportunity to discover the thing that could end up being the key to advancing life itself.

In “Part of Your World,” the hit song from “The Little Mermaid,” Ariel asks: “What would I give to live where you are?” For us humans, we need to be asking, what would we give to save Ariel’s world, the oceans?