A Special Edition: All in the Same Boat

I'm Peter Neill, director of the World Ocean Observatory.

Jacques Cousteau, the great underwater explorer, ocean advocate, global communicator, and seminal citizen of the ocean once had this to say:

"The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat."

As a unified world community, we are under siege by a pandemic and its consequences, previously unimagined. The world ocean connects us all—to both disease and its cure. Never has this global community been so real and poignant to me personally. We all know, or soon will know, someone directly or indirectly, affected through dislocation, disruption, and sadly, death. It breaks my heart.

I believe that the ocean is indeed “the great unifier,” and my work, and that of the World Ocean Observatory, in cooperation with each of you, is to demonstrate this truth even in the face of our greatest challenge. It comes down to us, to human determination to do better, and to use the power of the ocean to heal and restore.

I have no other solution but that. But I am speaking today, as if to you personally, to wish you strength and resilience, to urge your continuing collective force for ocean protection and sustainability, and to enjoin your participation as a force beyond hope, a force for the future as wide, deep, and dynamic as the ocean itself.

Be safe. Be well. Hold fast. Lean forward. For every voyage there is a destination. The sea connects all things.

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