World Ocean Day, How Sports And Athletes Can Help Protect The Oceans

World Ocean Day is celebrated every year on June 8th and has been since it was introduced in Rio de Janeiro at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. The day serves to remind people of the central role oceans play in sustaining life on Earth while fostering support for their protection. As global temperatures continue to rise, protecting oceans has never been so critical.

Every sector of society has a role to play in regenerating ocean health and combating climate change, and sports are no different. In fact, the relative importance society places on athletes and sports gives them a unique platform to create meaningful change. LeBron James, Marcus Rashford and Megan Rapinoe are examples of athletes who have effectively championed social causes. Athletes and sports organizations are now beginning to understand that there is no reason they should not protect the natural environments in which they practice.

Ahead of World Ocean Day I sat down with Dr. Susie Tomson, a sport and sustainability consultant, Blair Tuke, an Olympic sailing gold medalist and founder of the Live Ocean Charity, and professional windsurfer and ocean advocate, Sarah Jackson. During these conversations, we discussed the state of the oceans and how sports can be a net positive for the environment, and help protect our seas.

Major Ocean Health Issues

Blair Tuke grew up on the water in the Bay of Islands in New Zealand. For him, the connection between ocean health and a healthy planet is obvious, he says “The ocean is our biggest ally in our fight against climate change, you can’t talk about climate change without talking about the ocean.” But our oceans are facing grave issues.

Before becoming a sustainability consultant for some of the world’s most prominent sports organizations, Dr. Susie Tomson got her PhD in Integrated Coastal Management and worked in marine and integrated coastal management for over a decade. In her expert opinion, there are three major issues that are currently negatively affecting ocean and coastal health: increasing temperatures, ocean acidification and increasing storm intensity.

Increasing Temperatures

Oceans — which cover 70% of Earth’s surface — act as a sponge, absorbing excess heat and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. They regulate temperature and transport nutrients keeping Earth’s temperature stable and its food chain intact. However, climate change is fueling a staggering rise in ocean temperatures that is tipping the balance of Earth’s delicate ecosystems.

According to NASA, oceans have absorbed 90% of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions since the 1970s. This has caused ocean temperatures to be at record highs for 15 consecutive months. The top 2300 feet of ocean water is most at risk, with temperatures rising 24% faster in surface water than just a few decades ago.

Warming waters may sound enticing for holiday-going swimmers, but in reality they are detrimental to life on Earth. Dr. Tomson notes that over 3 billion people rely on the ocean for food everyday, and increasing temperatures create a chain of negative effects such as algae blooms, coral bleaching, ocean acidification, increased storm intensity and sea level rise.

Ocean Acidification

Dr. Tomson calls ocean acidification the silent killer. It is a topic that often goes undetected and under discussed because it happens under the surface and cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Our oceans absorb 30% of the planet’s carbon emissions every year. According to NOAA, when CO2 is absorbed in seawater it creates a series of chemical reactions that increase the level of ocean acidity. Higher acidity means there are fewer carbonate ions in the water, which “are an important building block of structures such as sea shells and coral skeletons.”

Changes in ocean chemistry make it difficult for oysters, clams, corals and other sea life to develop correctly. Increased carbon dioxide also leads to rapid algae growth, such as the increasingly common “Red Tide” in Florida, which can have toxic effects on people and wildlife.

Oceans produce 50% of the air we breathe and food for billions of people. By continuing to burn fossil fuels, humans are suffocating vital ocean ecosystems. Declining ocean health also hurts our economies, with the U.S. shellfish industry estimated to lose more than $400 million annually by 2100 if ocean acidification is left unchecked.

Increasing Storm Intensity

Warmer waters also mean more severe storms. Just this year, a scientific study explored expanding the hurricane scale to include a Category 6. The study argued that the current five-category model is outdated due to the effects of climate change. Furthermore, meteorologists at NOAA are predicting the busiest ever Atlantic hurricane season this year. They expect between eight and thirteen hurricanes, with the potential for seven to be above Category 3.

As Dr. Tomson points out, half of the world’s population lives within 100 km (roughly 60 miles) of the coast. Storms already have devastating impacts on how people can move and trade, where they can live and their sources of food. An increase in their intensity and frequency would pose greater threat to our way of life.

Disconnection

A fourth issue worth bearing in mind is disconnection. While half of the world’s population lives near the coast, many people, including those in coastal areas do not always see what is happening to our oceans. Moreover, there are swathes of the population, that out of no fault of their own, have little direct connection to the ocean, it is simply out of sight, and out of mind.

Tuke, who spends roughly 250-300 days per year on the water, admits that even he was unaware of, or underestimated the significance of our oceans and the threats they are facing. Sarah Jackson reinforced the idea of disconnection, saying “I see everything first-hand on a daily basis,” but added that most people don’t get to see what she and her fellow windsurfers see.

Having seen what she has, Jackson now refers to ocean health and climate change as “a pretty overwhelming topic.” But she says she tries no to get bogged down in the negative, and instead is trying to use her voice as an athlete to raise awareness about the issues she sees.

How Sports Can Help

“People protect what they love, they love what they understand and they understand what they are taught” – Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Raise Awareness and Create a Connection

One of the best ways sports and athletes can be a net positive for the environment is by raising awareness and helping create a connection between fans and the issue in question. Tuke, Dr. Tomson and Jackson are doing just that.

Dr. Tomson has helped develop carbon fiber recycling programs and oyster restoration initiatives alongside SailGP and 11th Hour Racing. Tuke created the charity Live Ocean which supports marine science projects, and Jackson campaigns against plastic and sewage pollution in oceans. Tuke, notes that people such as himself, who spend more time on the water have a responsibility to speak out about these issues. He says, “If you’re an athlete out there who cares for something, step up and use your platform for good.”

Jackson agrees. The two-time vice windsurfing champion says “As athletes, we need to use our voice to put pressure, and educate people that follow us.”

In the years since she began working at the intersection of sports and sustainability, Dr. Tomson has noted a shift in approach. At first, sports organizations only focused on getting their own house in order, she says now there are parts of the industry actively championing social and environmental causes. A far cry from what she called “a pretty lonely journey,” when she started.

The unique power of the sports industry is its capacity to raise awareness and authentically draw people to a cause beyond the field. Dr. Tomson says, “If through sport we can raise awareness about the ocean and create understanding, people will protect it.”

Be Authentic and Lead

Competition is king in sports, and every athlete and sports organizations wants to be a leader and trendsetter. In order to lead on social and environmental issues, the message needs to be authentic, otherwise fans will see through it. However, this does not mean athlete’s need to be experts, or perfect to speak out.

Dr. Tomson, who has helped consulted on sustainability strategies for SailGP, F1, the Premier League, and Liverpool FC, says what is most important is finding the why. Once this is understood, an organization or athlete can speak out with authority on their topic of choice.

For athletes like Jackson and Tuke, who spend most of their waking hours on the water, ocean health is paramount to their daily lives. They want to spread this message to the world even if they themselves are not experts in ocean health. Jackson admits, “I’m not perfect, I’m never going to be perfect.” But she understands she has the authority and authenticity to speak about sewage, plastic pollution and other ocean topics because they are things she struggles with everyday as she trains and tries to compete. By sharing her stories, people around the world will have a greater understanding of what is happening.

Blair Tuke says the catalyst for him to create Live Ocean was racing around the world in the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race. During that time he felt the brutal power of the ocean and grew to understand its enormity, but also its importance to a healthy world. As an Olympic gold medalist and multiple time world champion sailor, he has found a way to help protect the environment he loves without having to become an expert himself.

He says while founding Live Ocean he and his co-partners took a year to understand how to build their charity and use it to effect positive change. They spoke to community stakeholders, researchers and indigenous peoples to better understand what Live Ocean’s role could be, and decided that it would be best to use all the charity’s funds to back new research.

He and his sailing partner Peter Burling are the face of the charity. They have the authority to speak about ocean issues because of their success in sailing, but the real work is going on behind-the-scenes where researchers are developing new techniques to monitor the ocean and address its issues. Tuke says he is especially excited by some of the solutions he is seeing, like kelp farming, which has global reach.

Leave a Positive Impact

Sports will never perfect, and neither will athletes. Travel and resource use will always be part of the industry, but the important thing is for the industry to leave a positive impact in the communities it touches. For traveling sports, like F1 and SailGP, this means creating an impactful environmental legacy plan for each city they travel to. For what Dr. Tomson calls static sports, such as cricket, soccer, and rugby, there are opportunities to improve pockets of biodiversity around stadiums and address issues like flood risk in their communities.

These small actions may seem inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but Jackson thinks that this is the way forward for athletes. She says, ““There are so many things we can do, but if we only focus on what’s bad we get into a perpetual negative cycle.” In her time as an ocean advocate she has spoken out about sewage runoff in British waters, she has found ways to reduce plastic use in her own life, including using a reusable water bottle and purchasing fewer items with plastic packaging.

Jackson also tells the story of fellow windsurfer Federico Morisio, an Italian with an engineering background who is currently trialing a recyclable windsurf board he constructed. Windsurfing equipment is almost entirely out of plastic materials. This is Morisio’s way of using his expertise to give back in a small way.

Perhaps Jackson’s most poignant point during our conversation was when she said, “If you can do something that’s positive for the world, then do it, there so much negative out there.” A clear calling card to the rest of the sports industry and its followers, who have an enormous capacity to create positive change and the protect our oceans and the natural world.