In this weeks readings, one of the things we read was the introduction chapter of the book “The Ocean Reader” by Eric Paul Roorda. This introductory chapter aimed to introduce people to the idea that despite the ocean being something people may consider an obstacle people must cross to reach new lands, the ocean is still a place with a lot of personality and history. I found this reading to be extremely interesting because, while it may be shameful to admit, I don’t know a lot about the ocean at all. As I follow this class, I think about how society acts towards the ocean and its qualities, but I am realizing that I am part of the problem simply by not thinking about or researching the ocean. While people may not drive to the ocean to dump their trash, a lot of people are not conscious about how even littering can pollute the ocean. The ocean takes up around 70% of the world, and polluting and ruining it will undoubtedly affect the rest of the world. By keeping people uninformed, we are letting ourselves not only disrespect the ocean and its history, but we are allowing the ocean to be polluted.

Roorda makes his point clear that although we have named several different oceans, ultimately, “There is one ocean… they all connect into one ocean” (2). Naming different oceans as if they are countries is the most humanity is willing to do in order to navigate the oceans better, but when it comes to treatment and care, humanity refuses to do anything because different countries feel they have no gain. While it is important to look out for yourself, looking out for the environment directly correlates to looking out for not only yourself, but your species. One thing I want to comment on that might not be directly relevant is how fascinating it is that I am now wondering why people are so ignorant about this, but until I took this class, I was mostly ignorant about this.