World Ocean Day 2024 – Awaken New Depths
On our blue planet, where more than 70% of the surface is covered by ocean waters, there is a day dedicated to celebrating this invaluable component of the earth’s make-up. Officially designated by the United Nations General Assembly in 2002, World Ocean Day (WOD) is celebrated annually on 8th June. The international day supports the implementation of worldwide Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and fosters public interest in the protection of the ocean and the sustainable management of its resources. Every year the United Nations selects a theme for the day, with “Our Oceans: Opportunities and Challenges” (2010), “Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet” (2015), “Gender and Oceans” (2019) and “The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods” (2021) being among past themes. In 2024, the theme for the day was “Awaken New Depths”.
This year’s selected theme was meant to signal and encourage broadening of imagination and interest about the ocean and even more so, about parts of the ocean that ‘john public’ may not encounter or consider on a regular basis. It therefore included emboldening conservation and protection of the deep ocean and offshore areas far removed from the immediate coastline. Indeed, as phrased poignantly on the official website for WOD (https://unworldoceansday.org/): “If the world is numb to numbers, motivating momentum will require opening minds, igniting senses, and inspiring possibilities to protect our planet’s beating heart. We need to awaken new depths within our own.”
The ocean and what lies within its waters has been central to a number of pop culture creations and literary masterpieces. We can immediately think of Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”, lore surrounding the lost city of Atlantis, the mythical Kraken sea-monster, the box office hits “Aquaman” and “Finding Nemo” and, not to be forgotten, “SpongeBob Square Pants” which revolves around a yellow sea sponge living in a submerged pineapple and who interacts with a host of aquatic friends. These, and many others like it, have sparked curiosity and helped pique interest in what lies within our largely unexplored ocean.
Given its ubiquity, the ocean will persist as a source of inspiration for stories, movies and other forms of creative and cultural expression. Alongside this though, and perhaps complementarily, it will also continue being a source of wonder. This is because an overwhelming majority of our vast ocean remains unexplored. Some put the figure as high as 80%. To put this into perspective, scientists have made more accurate maps of the surface of the moon, Mars and Venus than they have of the sea floor. The remoteness and the extreme conditions that can be found at depth make exploration and scientific knowledge gathering about these parts of ocean challenging.
Technological advancement, especially since the turn of the century, has aided in diminishing the knowledge gap that exists about the ocean, but there is still a huge amount to learn and understand. In parallel to this quest for knowledge and enlightenment however, also driven on the back of technological advancements, there is a race to exploit this new frontier. The deep ocean, far removed from our shores, has been the focus and proposed site of a number of largely untested and still emerging activities such as deep sea-bed mining and ocean fertilization for carbon capture and storage.
On the surface of it, some may have been tempted to misinterpret this year’s WOD theme of “Awaken New Depths” as a clarion call for humanity to venture out into these distant, obscure regions and capitalize on the unencumbered space and resources that are available there. This however was not the intent, at least not primarily. Central to the message of this WOD was protecting “our planet’s beating heart”. Consequently, awakening new depths had a focus on demystifying what exists in this uncharted expanse, appreciating the abundance of life it sustains and garnering a greater understanding for how the ocean and its associated ecosystems function, including with regard to regulating the planet’s climate.
Small island States such as Trinidad and Tobago, lack the resources to carry out independent expeditions into the far-flung reaches of the of the ocean. While expense is a limiting factor, there is certainly no lack of enthusiasm to participate in deep sea research and to contribute to the ongoing knowledge quest. Fortunately, there is good news. An international agreement recently negotiated and adopted at the United Nations has developing the marine scientific research and technological capacity of States party to the Agreement as one of its many objectives. It will do this by, among other things, providing resources and encouraging equitable partnerships in the conduct of marine scientific research. This Agreement which deals with the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (the BBNJ Agreement) is now open for signature. The Institute of Marine Affairs was involved in helping negotiate the BBNJ Agreement on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago. It is also involved in ongoing efforts to have the country sign and ratify this international agreement.
Small Island Developing States are intimately connected to the ocean and its resources, economically, socially and culturally. However, we face resource constraints which inhibit us from being world leaders in the conduct of marine scientific research, especially in the far reaches of the ocean. In line with this year’s WOD theme of “Awakening New Depths”, the BBNJ Agreement is one tool that can serve to rouse us, who with our creativity, ingenuity and abundance of natural talent, can be considered the sleeping giants poised to make a meaningful and enduring impact.
By Kahlil Hassanali, Senior Research Officer, Institute of Marine Affairs