Charlie Young  0:02  

So when you first dip below the surface, immediately you’re kind of met by this endless visibility. The waters are crystal clear blue, and you can see for 2030, sometimes even 40 metres. And in a way, it’s kind of like swimming inside a swimming pool, it’s just so crystal clear blue. And then as you’re parachuting down like an aquanaut on top of the reef, all of these vibrant colours, the reds, the oranges of the corals, start to really show and they are so vibrant and vivid. And then you start to notice all of the fish dancing above the corals, almost like insects above a meadow, above flowers. It really is like a garden, in a way. There are many similarities. Apart from hearing all of the Darth Vader like

bubbles from your diving kit, you are met by this crackling, this background crackling, white noise of just hundreds of 1000s, if not millions, of snapping shrimp and all of the cryptic life that is communicating. And then as you make your way along the reef, you might start to hear little barks and grunts of fish defending their territory. There’s quite often little fish that have quite big personalities, and they’ll bark at you to try and make you move out of their little patch. And it’s just remarkable to see such a busy world unfolding in front of your eyes, such an intricate world full of many layers, where everything has found its niche, has found its little place in such a busy world, it’s just a feast for the eyes and the senses.

Hannah Stitfall  1:55  

This is oceans, life underwater, the series exploring our oceans and the fascinating life within them. I’m Hannah Stitfall. I’m a zoologist, wildlife filmmaker and broadcaster, and I’m bringing you along as I learn everything I can about our watery planet. In this episode, we’ll dive into some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. Although coral reefs cover just 1% of the world’s oceans, they support at least 25% of all marine life, and today, we’ll be exploring the incredible wildlife that inhabits these vibrant environments. These reefs are so biodiverse, in fact, probably the most biodiverse in the world. It’s just a feast for the eyes. I swear you could just look at one patch of reefs for 10 minutes and still be seeing new things after 10 minutes of just staring at it. This is oceans, life underwater.

My first guest is Charlie young, a marine biologist, sailor and storyteller, and she’s joining us from somewhere very special. Hello, Charlie. Where are you joining us from today? So I am floating on a boat in Tobago. Now, I’ll be honest, Charlie. I mean, I’ve been following you on Instagram for quite some time, and we just had a conversation before this. I don’t know how we haven’t met in person yet, but you’ve been on this boat for quite a while, haven’t you? Yes, so I’ve actually been living at sea now for two years, and so, yeah, I ditched land. I decided that the high seas were for me, and I’ve been living on a sailboat, which I actually restored along with my fiance, and we’ve been sailing her around the Atlantic. We’ve sailed all the way from Portugal down to the Canaries to Cape Verde, West Africa, into the Amazon, and now up into the Caribbean. So you’ve been living on this boat for two years. I mean, for for the listeners, can you describe a bit about your background and how you first got interested in the oceans? Absolutely. So I’m a marine scientist by background, and what led me there really was a watery upbringing. I really like to describe it as if I was brought up in a wetsuit, because I kind of was my mum and dad forced us into wetsuits, and the whole summer was basically just spent in and around the ocean. And so really, my whole world has been shaped by water from a very young age, and that’s where my love of the ocean began. And from there, it led me down the path to want to go to university, to study, to be part of this world, to protect the ocean. And that’s where I specialised in marine science. And for many years, I had the lucky job of working in very beautiful and remote places, research stations, universities collecting data on coral reefs and other wonderful beasties that live beneath the waves. The whole time I was doing this research, I was getting opportunities to go off and do scientific expeditions and.

Charlie Young  4:59  

And I just remember thinking to myself, wouldn’t it just be amazing if I could just live on the ocean full time, completely immerse myself in this world that I study and love so much and advocate for? And then one day, the opportunity presented itself, and I just, I just went for it. And essentially, now what I do is I live on the ocean, I explore the ocean, and I dedicate my time to going in search of extraordinary wildlife and the remarkable people working to protect it and telling impactful stories about the ocean. So science communication has always been a really big part of my passion too, not only researching the ocean, but also telling impactful stories. And so essentially, what I plan to do is to continue living on the ocean, sailing around the planet, and trying to tell impactful stories as they go. And for our listeners, if you don’t follow Charlie on Instagram, you really, really should. If the oceans are your thing, Ocean’s an adventure. It’s just a wonder for the eyes, it really is. Thank you very much. That’s very kind. So you’ve worked on coral reefs all around the world, right? Which one is your favourite reef to dive on? Oh, gosh, that’s such a tricky question. That’s kind of like asking a parent, what’s your favourite child? I don’t have any children, but I I love different reefs for different reasons.

But if I had to choose kind of a reef or a part of the world that is just truly mind blowing to diving, it would have to be Raja and pat in the coral triangle. So the Coral Triangle encompasses many different countries, Malaysia, Solomon Islands, Indonesia and various other places. And rajarampat sits off of the coast of West Papua. And essentially it is just the epicentre of marine biodiversity. And these reefs are just out of this world. They’re like in Eden from the moment you dip below the surface, you are just met with the most incredible sight, of colour, of noise, of vibrancy. It’s like a bustling city. These reefs are so biodiverse, in fact, probably the most biodiverse in the world. And this part of the world is famous for many different reasons, for not only the diversity of the corals, but also because of the big schools of fish. So you know, you can be going along the reef and be completely engulfed in like a tornado of fish schooling around you, barracuda, trevally, small bait fish and other reef fish. It’s just absolutely mind blowing and more beautiful than any other place I’ve ever dived. And can you tell us a little bit about the biodiversity found in coral reefs? They are just the most biodiverse environments, and they contain everything from the big predators such as sharks to the really charismatic turtles all the way down to the tiniest of crabs and shrimp. What’s beautiful about the coral reef is, as I said, it’s made up of so many different layers, and the biodiversity there all has its own role to play. So the sharks are really at the very top of this. They’re the ones that are controlling the fish populations and ensuring the health of the ecosystem and ensuring healthy, healthy levels of fish. Then you have the much smaller creatures, say, the cleaner wrasse, which are a tiny and beautiful little fish that are kind of silvery with with a very vivid blue streak across their bodies, they’ve paved out a niche for themselves in setting up these little cleaning stations where other fish will come in and they’ll clean off the parasites and the dead skin from all the other reef fish. And it’s beautiful because it’s not only beneficial for them as they get a source of food, quick, easy meal, it also reduces the stress levels of a lot of reef fish. So it’s a bit like going to a fish spa. You know, we all love a day out of the spa. So Do re fish? This is really, truly, what I love the most about biodiversity on the roofs, is that there’s just such a diversity and variety in a life found there, you know, from the biggest to the smallest creatures, and they’ve all found a way to survive in what could be a very hostile environment. In many ways, they’re living packed together in a very small space where there’s a lot of competition, a lot of potential predators. But everything’s living in this intricate, beautiful balance. Yeah. I mean, I could go on and on, speaking about all the different life that you find there, but that’s just an example of some of the types of fish that you have. But of course, really what makes coral reefs so bad? Verse is all thanks to corals, these animals that really.

Are just tiny little polyps. So coral colony is essentially made up of tiny corals, which are about 90% mouth actually, and they build these beautiful coral reefs over millennia by secreting calcium carbonate skeletons. And they’re the ones that creates that the such the intricacy of reefs, of these intricate structures, they’re the ones that create, you know, the the branches, the the boulders, the nooks, the crannies, the crevices. And really, it’s corals that we have to thank for making coral reefs such biodiverse places, because they create such an intricate environment where life can find lots of different niches to survive. Now I’m gonna put you on the spot here. Do you have a favourite fish? And if so, what is it and why? Yes, I do have a favourite fish. I absolutely adore Harlequin file fish. I think that they are not only the most exquisite fish because of how beautiful they are, I insist everybody goes and now Google’s Harlequin file fish, and as the name suggests, they look like a pantomime character. They are, at least in the Red Sea, which is a place very dear to my heart. They are like an electric blue with yellow polka dot spots all over them. And when you see them on the reef, they kind of flit around very daintily like bees, and they form monogamous pairs, and so they go around in their little pairs, and they flit around like bees above the coral reef, looking for Acropora corals, which is a type of branching coral, and Harlequin foul fish only eat Acropora polyps. But what’s amazing about them is that they actually are masters of disguise. So you know, to look at them, they look quite feeble. You know, you think if a big predator comes along, they stand no chance. Well, they’ve actually developed this fantastic strategy where, by eating the coral polyp, they’re able to take the smell of that polyp to disguise themselves. So the compounds found within the tissues of the coral polyp, they’re able to use some of those compounds and molecules to actually build this disguise so that they blend in and smell like the coral itself. So as a predator goes past, they’ll quite often retreat under these, these coral heads under the Acropora and the spots make them look like they’re also covered in polyps. So they disguise themselves with the way that they look, but also then with this smell disguised. So I just, I think that they’re remarkable. You know, they’re a tiny fish, yet they’ve come up with a fantastic strategy of actually eluding predators. They’re just so beautiful to watch, so they have to hands down be my favourite fish. 

Hannah Stitfall  12:54  

I want to introduce someone to you now who knows more than most about the devastating effects of coral destruction, who Judith Castro, who is a lifelong advocate for Cabo pulmo, Mexico’s 20,000 year old reef.

Judith Castro  13:13  

Hello. My name is Judith Castro Lucero. I live in Cabo pulmo. Cabo pulmo is in Bucha, California, sur Mexico. Cabo pulmo is a national park.

Cabo pulmo is a small community. We have only one street, one main street, and we are around 300 people living here, and we are almost one family.

My fears memory is waking up because I could hear the ocean so close to me, because we were at that time, we were living closer than the ocean. You can feel it every second of my life, and also, because my father was a fisherman. Was one of the fishermen, and he gave us a lot of love to the ocean. Every morning, he said, Okay, are you ready to clean the ocean? And every morning, we had to go and clean the beach, work on the beach. And he said, You are not allowed to go swim until you clean the beach. So he was always fall in love of the ocean. That was a gift for us, for my father, from the ocean. So I grew up very close to the ocean. My grandfather, he was a free diver. He cut pearls from the shells. That was the first fishery that went down that disappeared because they they over fishing the pearls. So after that, he became a fisherman, because it was their way to to be. So let’s say I.

My father already was born in in a fisherman family. I was born in a fisherman family. So it’s, it’s been more, more than 100 years that my family had. It’s been involved in in the fishing. And I love to go fishing. I It’s one of my favourite things to do, and I did that with my father when I was little. He teach me how to do it. Obviously, I don’t do it anymore. It was great to go fishing with my father. He gave me the opportunity to learn and but also to have a lot of respect. We didn’t catch tomorrow, just what we were needing at that time.

Cabo pulmo was a fisherman camp. There were six or seven families who depends on fishing, and they were doing that for many years, until the University of La Paz came. And they came because they they hear about the reef, and they hear also that because where it is. They said, probably this reef, it was almost destroyed because of the fishermans, but also because it wasn’t just them. I mean, my family, there were other fishermen that came from other towns to fishing in Cabo pupmo. So they start to talk to the fishermen. I remember all all those meetings with a lot of coffee cups and also findings, because between the fishermen and the scientists, everybody wants to have the right information, and those meetings and those visits to the people from the university to Cabo pulmo took 10 years to decide to request to the Mexican government that we needed to protect the reef and the ocean. Well, at the beginning, only two people were totally, almost totally convinced to do that. That was my brother Mario, and my uncle Juan, and my father was the first one that said, No, I am not going to quit fishing. But with time, finally he decide, yes, I’m going to quit fishing. And also the other fishermen, and they didn’t know what they were doing, because it was something difficult to decide. They still didn’t know what else to do just fishing. It wasn’t an economic alternative at that time, so Oh my god, they had to go to keep fishing, but going farther, using more gas, more time, no fish. So those next years, four or five years, they’re worse, horrible years no money. And the people that were not agree. They were saying, We’re hungry because of you, because you took a decision, and it’s not working. And even my father, brothers and fishermen, they were thinking. They they were they make a mistake. We were so poor at that time and almost losing our hope, because we we couldn’t see the difference for for long time.

But with time, let’s say another 10 years. Oh, my God,

they could see that everything was changing.

Hannah Stitfall  18:45  

We’ll hear more from Judith about the current situation in Cabo pulmo later this episode, we’re going to take a quick break now before heading back to Charlie sailboat. But while we do that, we would love if you could give us a follow on Tick, tock and Instagram. We’re at oceans pod to find out more about Greenpeace’s work to protect the oceans and how you can support go to greenpeace.org forward slash oceans. You

we’re about to head back to Charlie’s boat now, and she’s had to move locations. The beauty of being on a boat in Tobago sometimes means hot spotting. Your phone doesn’t have the best internet. So where are we now? Charlie? We’re actually in the local Marine Institute, and I’m inside their school room. So I’m surrounded by all sorts of lovely curiosities. But yes, hopefully the Wi Fi here is a little bit more stable than on the boat, and just quickly. So how did you get to the Marine Institute so quickly? Charlie, well, I hopped in my dinghy and had a very sweaty and.

Charlie Young  20:00  

Fast and rapid dingy ride over to the dinghy dock, and everyone saw me arrive, kind of flustered. Definitely realised that I was a woman on a mission, and then I ran across town into the Marine Institute. And so I do apologise if I look a little bit sweaty, because I am. It’s a great vision. You getting on your dinghy at high speed because you’ve got a podcast to do. It’s very important. Absolutely, got a commitment to the cause. That’s what it is. So Charlie, can you tell us about your first research expeditions to coral reefs, and what surprised you most about these experiences? Absolutely. So my first research expedition, which will forever hold such a special place in my heart, because it really was the beginning of my adventures on the sea, was to rajarampat, and I was joining a expedition as lead plastic scientist alongside Nat Geo photographers and other scientists. And my job essentially was to assess plastic pollution above coral reef habitats. And so there was a lot of diving, but also a lot of work involved. So I was doing Manta trawls, so essentially just dragging a big net along the surface, backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards, with another dinghy. But unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to drive that dinghy. And essentially, I was just trying to gather everything that was floating to see, you know, what’s there? Is there any plastic? And one of the most surprising things with us, although we headed off into the wild to a super remote place, so rajarampa Coral Triangle, is a very uninhabited place. It’s a marine park. There are lots of marine protected areas. There’s not many people living there, apart from some small local communities. And so, you know, you’d be very it’s very normal to think, Okay, well, these places are super isolated there. They must be pristine. But actually, what we were finding is that there was really high levels of plastic above some of these coral reef habitats. And even in some cases, we were finding corals smothered in fishing nets, yeah, which is horrible, because it’s really difficult to actually try and get a net off of a coral. Corals are quite they kind of the skin on the surface, so their tissue is I find nets get really entangled and stuck to it, kind of like trying to pick a net out of brambles. I mean, it’s pretty impossible, and you do damage to the coral itself. So it was really shocking for me to go one to this place that I had dreamt about going for so long and thinking I was just gonna have this totally like, wow, like wilderness experience, and then actually, to see the touch of man there, even there, so far away from everything, and this has been a recurring theme in so many of my expeditions, is that you go to the most remote reefs in wherever you want, and you find plastic, really. You know, for me, that was my first expedition, my first experience, really, of seeing just how widespread the impact of humans, you know really is, and this has just continued to be something that I’ve experienced, unfortunately, throughout other expeditions I’ve been on. And what would you say are the biggest threats to coral reefs that you’ve discovered in your research? Undoubtedly, climate change is the single largest threat to coral reefs. I was recently reading a book by a really prominent scientist, Professor Callum Roberts, which is called Reef life, and retells his beautiful tales of him as a young student studying Saudi Arabian reefs. And he has spent a lifetime dedicated to studying these ecosystems. And at the end of the book, he comes to the single conclusion that the only way that we will really protect reefs is if we can curb our carbon footprint, if we can really reduce emissions. So climate change is wreaking havoc in reefs in many ways, and predominantly through bleaching and acidification. And so I think most people now have seen what bleaching can do. And unfortunately, these bleaching events are just becoming more and more common. They used to happen. They began in the 80s, and they were events that would, you know, happen. These mass bleaching events worldwide were not happening, you know, say, maybe every, every 10 years. Now they’re happening every five three, you know, even now getting multiple bleaching events year on year. And so climate change really is the biggest threat the coral reefs face. And there’s a really quite a scary statistic out there that says that even if we limit increases in global temperatures to the 1.5 degree, best case scenario, as outlined in the Paris agreement, that we could lose between 70 to 90% of corals, and if we exceed the 2.5 degree increase, we could be looking at 99% coral loss by the end of the century. So coral reefs are on a nine.

Search right now, and it doesn’t matter what we do, we can obviously keep trying to restore corals, which is kind of like trying to put a plaster over a massive open wound. And so I hope that fixes it, and it does have a benefit, because it’s helping to keep reefs together, which supports fish populations and means that they’re still there, but that is that’s not how we’re going to save reefs. The way we will save reefs is by curbing our carbon emissions. What would be the repercussions if our coral reefs did disappear? Well over half a billion people worldwide rely on coral reefs as either a source of income, protein, or for livelihoods. So it would have not only a devastating effect on the all the marine life, 25% of marine life is found on reefs. So it wouldn’t just impact marine life itself, but it would also have such a knock on effect for people. You know, coral reefs are these incredible ecosystems that provide so many benefits, not just for for marine life, but for humans in coastal defence. So they help protect against coastal erosion. A lot of commercially important fish species that local coastal communities rely on as a source of income and food, you know, come from coral reefs, and lots of animals rely on reefs for either their whole life cycle or a part of their life cycle. So losing these environments would have just catastrophic impacts in our ocean and in ways I don’t think we even truly understand or comprehend now. So I am a firm believer that we can’t afford to lose them, and I would hate to be part of the generation that sees the decline of this just, you know, spellbinding environment, and not only because of all of that, but also because they can instil such a sense of wonder. I think many people have connected with the ocean in such a way, on such a deeper way, because they’ve experienced just the wonder of a coral reef. There’s nothing like it, you know, I don’t think you can look at a coral reef and, you know, not be wowed. It’s just an otherworldly place. And I think that we need it as an ambassador for our oceans, as a way to try and connect people, so that they can care and connect with it. So losing coral reefs, in my opinion, is something that we just can’t We can’t afford to lose them, and how can we as a global community better protect these ecosystems? It might seem like a world away when you’re voting for politicians in your country that put climate change at the front of their agenda. That might not feel like that’s connected to coral reef restoration or trying to protect these ecosystems, but it is. You know, ultimately, we are all contributing to climate change. We’re all part of it, and the global north is significantly contributing more to global carbon emissions. So we need politicians that put climate change at the top of their agenda and want to try and incorporate measures to reduce the amount of carbon that we’re producing. So first and foremost, vote for people that care about the environment, because it does impact the whole world, even if you’re living in the UK, it impacts coral reefs in the tropics. Secondly, support coral restoration. Coral restoration is fire fighting, the issue on the front lines, and is really important because it maintains coral populations on reefs. It helps to maintain the structure, to mean which in turn, supports the fish and the different species that rely on it. So this is helping to bolster livelihoods. So definitely get behind coral restoration. It has its place and its its use. Those are probably the two greatest things that we can kind of do to try and try and protect coral reefs. And I would say also for anyone that maybe lives within the vicinity of a coral reef. You know, there are other things that impact corals too, not just climate change, you know, poor water quality, coastal development, you know, agricultural runoff. You know, if you’re somewhere where you can actively get involved in efforts to try and reduce these additional pressures, then, yeah, just, just get involved. There’s lots that can be done. And I think that’s just the most important thing. Get involved. Try do what you can now. You touched there a bit on supporting coral restoration projects. I was going to ask you, what are the solutions currently for trying to save corals, and are we seeing them working? Yeah, so coral restoration, I would say, is probably the single biggest thing that is happening right now. Can you tell us about how these coral restoration projects work? I mean, did they go out and replant the corals? Yeah, it’s actually a really cool process. So I’ll take the example of a project actually, that’s based here in the Caribbean. They’re called coral Vita. An exciting year. I’ll be going to visit them later this year.

Year or early next year, should I say. And essentially, they have a coral farm. So the way to imagine it is, is that they have all of these small fragments of corals in these big aquarium settings, usually shaded so outside, and they’ll have a flow through system so water from the sea can come in, and these corals can sort of live in their nice little tanks and grow. And essentially, once they get to a certain size, they will then be taken and out planted onto the reef. So they’ll be either stuck on adhesively or actually behind me, here is a good example of how some coral nurseries work. So this is actually just pvc piping that’s been sort of designed into a cross, a cross shape, and lots of small fragments of corals are hung off of these pvc piping. They’re put out into the reef environment where they can grow, and once they get to a certain size, they’ll then be out planted directly onto the reef. So basically what it is is it’s kind of like taking the kids into like a crash, helping them grow and, you know, get stronger and learn how to how to be, you know, and then they’re set off into the big, wide world and plonked on the reef. And then they hopefully will then continue to grow there and through these projects, are we seeing the coral reefs returning? Yes, in some places there has been success, but the problem lies in that there are now more and more bleaching events happening. And take the example of the Maldives. So in the 80s, it got hit by mass bleaching, and coral cover declined drastically. You know, it took a massive dive, and then the corals were slowly but surely, kind of building back then, few years later, another mass bleaching event came along and knocked them out. So yes, there are success stories in the Bahamas, for example, they are having success in trying to restore reefs. And there are, there are places that are finding that by restoring these reefs that they are actually managing to to rebuild themselves. But the problem lies is that, you know, any reef that’s out there is at the mercy of climate change, and this problem that is just growing. So although there might be improvements now, it is a real worry of you know, will actually any of these, these coral reefs, survive in the future if we don’t do something about climate change now? Well, Charlie, listen. Thank you. And I must just say to the listeners, if you want to follow Charlie’s journey, is it is incredible. And she said to me, before we got on this, she’s spending another few more years out on the open ocean, aren’t you? You’re going all over the place, yes, but she has started her own podcast called voyage to the wild. So please do go and have a listen to that, because you’re I mean, how long are you going to be away for now? Well, we are not really planning to come back to land anytime soon, so we at least plan to be sailing around the Atlantic for for the foreseeable four years. The next part of my voyage is going to take me through the Caribbean and into Central America, and then after that, we’re going to trade the tropics for the colder northern climates and go on some adventures up there. But as you say, everyone can follow along if you simply just put voyage the wild into Spotify Apple podcasts or online, the podcast will come up and yeah, you can follow along on the adventure. It’s a raw, wet, wild adventure, but hopefully everyone will enjoy following

Hannah Stitfall  33:33  

Well, Charlie, it’s been lovely to see you, and I look forward to carry on following your journey as well. Lovely to see you. Take care, darling. Thank you. You too. Thanks.

To wrap up this episode, we have an inspiring story of coral reef recovery. Earlier, we heard from houdie about the devastating effects of overfishing on the reefs in Cabo Pulmo. However, once the University of La Paz reached out to the local community. They developed a plan to restore the ecosystem. Let’s hear how their efforts turned everything around.

Judith Castro  34:14  

June 6, 1995 the Mexican government declared a capable moisten National Marine Park, and the next day, June 7, the fisherman’s realised what they did. So everything started to change very, very slowly, but finally, we could see that their effort was now as successful it took so many years, it took so many difficult times, so many learning lessons. But now we are so proud about what they did, because now Cabo pulmo is one of the most robust marine reserves in the world. There’s. Species that were not here anymore, and also the size of the fish. They’re huge. And we have the sharks back that’s so important for us. But also the blue whale that we didn’t have them for long, long time, many, many years, and now they are back to Cabo pulmo, the orcas, they’re back. I mean, we didn’t see him for many years, and now almost once every two weeks, we can see the orcas coming and crossing the park and and because there’s a lot of food, so for us, for the community, but also, and most important, for fishermen who quit fishing, this is so great. I can tell you, I was trying, and I could see how they suffer for that. Change a lot, and the families do, and now we feel so proud and or so painful. So for us, it’s very important that the people who visit Cabo pulmo, they should have a lot of respect for the ocean, for the reef, because it’s so fragile ecosystem we need to take care of that being been watching every day what’s going on with the reef, but also how we learned more than 30 years ago. We need to teach the tourists also what to do or what not to do in the reef. Very, very important. My motivation is, first of all, my father that gave me this mission. I miss him so much. And he said, once, he said, when I was child, I saw so many sharks in Cabo pulmo, but we kill all of them. You won’t see that again. Never because we killed them. And he died 16 years ago. He didn’t see that the sharks are back. What he said, we won’t see again. Now we have them. I feel like this like a mission. I feel this like my father legacy. When I was child, I I had to leave so many hard things, and I was angry because I was leaving that, but now I understand it was necessary, because in this mission, I couldn’t do it if I didn’t live what I live when I was child, if I didn’t see what I what I saw when I was child, mostly because my father had a lot of love to the ocean. So that’s it’s my motivation, my my mission. And I really, really believes in nature. I really believe that we as Planet residents, we need to do something. We have to do something. And it’s not a task for people who lives in the beach or close to the beach or close to the ocean. It’s every farthest task, even if you’re in the city, you’re eating fish. Because there’s an ocean, you have to do something too. It’s something that you need to do now, protect the reefs, protect the oceans, do something now, we are on time. Camo pulmo is the best example of that. We are on time. And even if you’re living in the city, far away from the ocean, even you have to do something to protect the ocean.

Hannah Stitfall  38:51  

Next week, we’ll be deepening our connection to the ocean in an episode that explores how ocean health and human health are intertwined

Dr Easkey Britton  39:00  

when you cross that threshold from land to sea and take your first step into the water, you enter this other world, really, and then everything changes. So when you’re out in the water looking back at the land, it’s a view that maybe not many of us get in our day to day lives. So even that alone, I think, has an effect.

Jessica Pita  39:16  

My dive buddy just kind of started like whacking me underwater, and then he didn’t know how to tell me that there’s a shark, so he’s trying to scream shark. And then eventually he just went with singing the jaws theme tune.

Hannah Stitfall  39:35  

This episode was brought to you by Greenpeace and Crowd Network. It is hosted by me, wildlife filmmaker and broadcaster Hannah Stitfall. It is produced by Vicki Wright, Catalina Noguera, Robert Wallace, George Sampson, Kate Stevens, Steve Jones and Christina Irivnak. Sound design is by Crawford Blair. The music we use is from our partners, BMG, Production Music. The team at Greenpeace is James Hansen, Alex Yallop, Jeane Meyer, Marta of charik. Flora Hvesi, Becky Malone and Alice Lloyd Hunter, archive, courtesy of Greenpeace. Thanks for listening. See you next week.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai