Thank you, Sylvia Earle

[intro music, ocean sounds]

Welcome to World Ocean Radio…

I’m Peter Neill, Founder of the World Ocean Observatory

Some twenty years ago, when I was considering the creation of the World Ocean Observatory. I identified a number of scientists and policy leaders on which to test the idea – of an internet-based, inclusive presentation of ocean resources and issues for global access and education. It was a new idea, first presented as a recommendation of a 1998 Independent World Commission of the Future of the Oceans, an attempt to formulate and prioritize issues and actions to inform the world population of the value of the sustainable ocean to the future of human survival.

Reactions ranged from disbelief to skepticism to cautious encouragement to overt enthusiasm. Among the latter category was Dr. Sylvia Earle, already a reputed marine scientist, underwater vehicle pilot, and earnest, avid communicator and advocate for the ocean as a place for knowledge and significant fundamentally related to so many aspects of civilization --- from health to culture, from energy to trade, from community to culture. She was a proven professional, a quiet advocate, and relentless educator. And she was astonishingly accessible to someone like me, without qualification, but with a bright idea. She was an Elder in the making, and her counsel, support, and agreement to become the first member of the World Ocean Observatory Advisory Board was a huge contribution to the confidence required to begin.
She is today a Super Elder, the senior advocate and model for us all. Through her organization, Mission Blue, she has provided information, vision, and endless advocacy for the creation of Marine Protected Areas, officially designated offshore areas, especially rich in marine plant and animal life, that are the most immediate, accessible areas to protect from incursion and damage from fishing, dredging, mining, and other consumption-driven practices that would so easily destroy those resources as an area of knowledge and vitality endemic to a healthy ocean, thus to the health of us all.
The success of MPAs may be the single most practical achievement of decades of ocean research and policy. It’s application is direct, effective, and measurable worldwide.

She has been a relentless communicator and public figure: yes, at all the academic and policy conferences, but, as importantly, as a visitor to innumerable schools, at every level, for kindergarten to post-doctorate programs, not to mention the thousands of appearances at organizational meetings, film projects, social media presentations, and every other place where a calm, articulate, convincing argument for ocean study and conservation is required.

She could make her point in any setting: from the TED talk to the cartoon strip. Once I saw her present to a club meeting of America’s most accomplished yachtsmen. Sylvia was not just a vegetarian, but she spoke directly against the harvest, indeed, the over-fishing of marine species. After she completed her remarks, the doors opened from the kitchen and in came waiters with 90 servings of swordfish, already endangered, but highly appreciated as a game fish and eating experience by the assembled members. Sylvia modestly folder her napkin, politely excused herself, and left the entitled premises in protest.
Sylvia today is an elder’s elder, with a spirit that is forever young, a commitment that will extend long into the future, and a graceful example of how knowledge, experience, commitment, logic, energy, and determination can make a difference in this world. As a rising elder myself, I am in awe of her perseverance and understanding of how the ocean feeds us, nurtures us, unites us, and provides safety and solace to us all. She has been described as “her deepness,” by my definition a reservoir of life, light, and meaning. And for that, I just want to say “thank you, Sylvia!”

We will discuss these issues, and more, in future editions of World Ocean Radio.

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[outro music, ocean sounds]