Benefits Below the Surface
Written by Carleigh Stokes
Featured image courtesy of Ben Idris via pexels.com showing an underwater kelp forest.
An entire ecosystem exists below the surface in our oceans and although it seems out of reach, there are more benefits than one would think from the waters. The ocean has integrated itself into many people’s daily lives and continues to give back in numerous ways.
Starting with the more obvious benefits, the ocean’s biodiversity and beautiful seascapes produce abundant economic wealth for coastal regions. Whether through tourism, commercial fishing and/or other resources used to create various products/services, the ocean generates a vast amount of financial stability. Many locals in third-world regions rely on the ocean for their income through fishing or various trades.
According to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the ocean economy “contributed USD $307 billion to the U.S. GDP and supported 3.3 million jobs.” Specifically, tourism and recreation account for 73% of those employed with an additional 25% generating jobs through offshore mineral extraction. Not to mention, the trade routes taken by over 90% of cargo ships worldwide trek through the oceans, along with cruise ships and other commercial vessels.
Economic interests aside, the healthcare industry also discovered that the ocean benefits humans on an even deeper level through vaccines and medical care generated using resources directly from the ocean. Modern day drugs such as antibiotics and anti-inflammatories are beginning to be produced using aquatic invertebrate species. Some of these new medicines include w-conotoxin MVIIA created using mucus from the cone snail to serve as a pain-killer and the drug Ecteinascidin from tunicates that is “being tested in humans for treatment of breast and ovarian cancers and other solid tumors.”
These medicines and others used to help with cancer treatments are abundantly in development using the ocean’s resources and have proven to be effective through ongoing research studies. Studies are currently ongoing to generate treatments for cystic fibrosis and other untreatable conditions. These same scientists are also looking for sustainable ways to use these medicines without taking up the oceans resources and disrupting the natural food webs in many marine ecosystems.
On a broader level, the ocean benefits the health of not only humans but the entire planet as a whole. Primary-producers of oxygen such as phytoplankton, zooxanthellae, which can be found microscopically in all coral species, and other aquatic photosynthesizers, such as kelp and algal plankton, produce approximately 70% of the Earth’s atmospheric oxygen supply, according to National Geographic. The ocean also has an effect on the speed of climate change as it is able to hold large amounts of carbon dioxide to slow the increasing temperature and in turn lessen sea level rise. Although these reserves have a negative effect on the ocean acidity levels, as increased carbon dioxide and pollution also increase the speed of ocean acidification, the carbon dioxide that is prevented from entering the Earth’s atmosphere is an enormous contributor to slowing climate change.
Oxygen production is key to fighting climate change and the increasing carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere, which would not be sustainable without the ocean. But there are also a multitude of other natural barriers the ocean provides, specifically through coral reef systems. Coral reefs provide a physical barrier to coastal areas to help protect against natural disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis and everyday erosion.
It’s a two-way system that humans benefit from both sides as the biodiversity (used for fishing and other trades) is sustained and healthier because of the lessened pollution. The protection reefs provide for many coastal regions and towns helps to “prevent loss of life, property damage and erosion.” The several million people protected by these reefs benefit every day and the tourism that is able to be sustained through the remaining towns and reef systems also thrives because of this protection from the ocean’s coral reefs.
Although the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society works directly with the marine mammal and sea turtle populations, we would not be able to do the work we are doing without the benefits the ocean provides to all of us. The marine species are able to thrive in New York because of the health of our oceans which can be further protected by you. Keep in mind the products you use and how their ingredients and packaging could impact pollution levels in the ocean. Eliminating common polluters such as non-biodegradable straws and single-use plastics from daily use as much as possible can only benefit the waters near you. It’s important to respect the ocean and give back to it as much as it clearly gives to us.
Even if you do not feel you directly reap the benefits of the ocean, there is an overwhelming butterfly effect that happens from all of the aforementioned benefits the ocean provides. Keep that in mind when you are in the water and looking to learn more. NOAA and the Ocean Conservancy offer great resources and everyday examples to directly give back to the ocean through your actions.
Carleigh Stokes is an intern at AMSEAS working with our Business and Public Relations team.