I loved being at sea in the Corps. It was the wide, uncertain, wonder of it all. It was so new to me as a teen, free of the bonds of home and land itself.

I still think of it when I see wide swaths of whitecaps, their foam blowing in the wind; the feeling does capture you forever.

But in 1960, as a young Marine on the Rockbridge heading to the Med, I’d hear, “ Now hear this, give her a cleans sweep down for and aft, empty all trash over the fantail.”

Today that would be greeted by all aboard with WTF?

“Civilization” at that time, considered the ocean a deep-sea dumpster; all would dissolve in the endless depths. 

Today, we know better. Well most of, that is some of us, well more and more of us, yeah that’s it—know better.

You no doubt have heard of the plastic trash island in the Pacific that’s twice the size of Texas. Boyan Slat, founder of the Ocean Cleanup, says that the globe produces 400 million tons of plastic each year, that’s the weight of a thousand Empire State buildings—per year. See NY Times piece:

Sure the basic problem is production; we need to find a way of packaging that’s fully degradable. But until that time comes we need to stop using so much single-use plastics, (Can you include, “no plastic utensils” in your take-out home order?) We need to stop letting plastics pollute our shores, get into our oceans, into our sea life—and into us.

That’s right, you can ingest micro-plastics that will stay in your body, and in your childrens’ growing bodies. From Science News: “In recent years micro-plastics have been found in all parts of the human lung, in maternal and fetal placental tissues, in human breast milk and human blood.”

That island of plastic is largely the result of undeveloped nations’ poor, or non existent, recycling systems:

But we all can do much better and set an example to the world of what needs to be done: use less plastic, and recycle what we do use.

Sunday, June 10th, Stewards of the Sea, founded by Laura O’Shaughnessy, hosted a discussion group at the Skudin Surf Camp on our Long Beach boardwalk.

The discussion included a zoom link with Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jaques Cousteau, famed oceanographer, film maker and author. Fabien carries on the family’s love for the sea by advocating beach and ocean cleanups. He’s seen here in this 2018 video at our Long Beach cleanup

To increase awareness of the need for clean beaches and seas, Stewards of the Sea performs a local up-cycling program. Up-cycling in this case involves using debris found on our Long Beach shore to create works of art. My sweetheart, Cheryl, with the Steward’s team and supporters, created a surf board art mosaic out of beach trash: That’s how I heard about Stewards of the Sea.

Sure, most of us love to sail the sea or trek its shores. We love to see dolphins leap and whales breach. They grab our hearts, they lift us up with them. Such wonder does the sea give us. But we don’t want to know of shorebirds entangled in monofilament or ribbons, dolphins’ bellies full of plastic bags, or whales wrapped in man-made cord—but it happens too many times.

This earth we share has many wonders, the mountains, the forests, the “amber waves of grain.” But the sea, for me and most of you, holds a special place. To see it, to put camera down and embrace it, is to surrender to its thrall.

We all need to be better stewards of the sea and the life within. And we all can help with one tiny effort, one small piece at a time. Just as tiny pieces of litter result in a beautiful mosaic so can collective effort protect our wondrous sea. Our cleanups, our protests and petitions, encouraging the end of single use plastics, all work as a mosaic of effort toward a safer sea.

As Fabien Cousteau said about Stewards, “Friends of the ocean can impassion and empower people in local communities to encourage others, especially young people to do better than we have for our planet.”

Fabien’s grandad, Jaques Yves Cousteau: “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”

It’s been decades since I sailed the big mother, the birthplace of us all. Both she and I have endured the toll of time.

I will shrug off this bag of bones, but the sea will remain until we, and it, explode in a sea of space gas.

But now the sea can cradle developing life and hold more wonder for unknown generations. For that life, and those descendants, we need to honor her, care for her and—just be good stewards of her.

Be well,

Leebythesea

Pease see also:

U.S.M.C and Epiphany at Sea: https://leebythesea.me/2021/01/06/u-s-m-c-and-epiphany-at-sea/

Angels in our Midst: https://leebythesea.me/2020/11/15/angels-in-our-midst/

Life and the Sea: https://leebythesea.me/2020/10/14/life-and-the-sea/

Aren’t We Better Than This? :https://leebythesea.me/2021/04/28/arent-we-better-than-this/

Polymer Poop: https://leebythesea.me/2019/11/09/polymer-poop/

Balloon Doom; https://leebythesea.me/2019/09/23/balloon-doom/

Fantail Follies: https://leebythesea.me/2018/04/27/fantail-follies/

Whales, Their Song and Dance: https://leebythesea.me/2016/11/12/whales-their-song-and-dance/