Cry Of The Ancient Mariner

Four centuries ago, poet John Donne wrote that no man is an island entire to himself. On Midway an albatross gagging on a toothbrush taught me that no island is an island. The lesson of finiteness is not merely one of limits but also of potential. In the oceans, less is truly more: less trash, less habitat destruction and catching fewer fish now will mean more food later on for both humanity and wildlife. The oceans make our planet habitable, and the wealth of oceans spans nutritional, climatological, biological, aesthetic, spiritual, emotional and ethical realms. Like the albatross, we need the seas more than the seas need us. Will we understand this well enough to reap all the riches that a little restraint, cooperation and compassion could bring?

Safina, founder of the National Audubon Society's Living Oceans Program, is author of Song for the Blue Ocean