08/06/2026
The ocean produces every second breath you take.
Not the forests. The ocean. It covers 71% of this planet, absorbs 90% of the excess heat generated by climate change, and feeds 3 billion people as their primary source of protein. We have explored less than 20% of it. We know more about the surface of Mars than the bottom of our own ocean.
And we are filling it with 8 million tonnes of plastic every year.
Coral reefs, which shelter 25% of all known marine species, have lost half their coverage in 30 years. Ghost fishing gear, 640,000 tonnes of it abandoned annually, kills marine life silently and continuously. Ocean temperatures are breaking records every year without exception.
But here is what is also true. When we protect ocean ecosystems they recover. Marine protected areas work. Coral restoration works. Sustainable fishing practices work. The ocean has sustained life on this planet for 3.5 billion years. It has extraordinary capacity to heal, given even a fraction of the space it needs.
June 8 is World Ocean Day. Not a day to feel guilty about the ocean. A day to feel responsible for it.