Recently, I had the pleasure of participating in The Ocean Race Summits. If you aren’t a sailor, you may not have heard of The Ocean Race. The Ocean Race is an around-the-world race – essentially an ocean ultra-marathon – first held in 1973. The event is often described as the longest and toughest fully-crewed professional sailing race in the world. One of The Ocean Race’s key initiatives is “Racing with Purpose,” promoting and incorporating sustainable practices to protect the health of the ocean... and leading by example. As a part of this initiative, The Ocean Race Summits bring together representatives of government, global business, industry, the scientific community, academia, and passionate ocean advocates “to explore innovative solutions to the crisis affecting our ocean.” Due to the coronavirus, The Ocean Race Summit in Newport, RI, was virtual this year. I was invited to participate as an ecologist, sailor, and an EarthEcho Youth Leadership Council alumna. Having grown up sailing and following this race for as long as I can remember, I was eager to say YES, even before I knew exactly what I was going to be doing. I was just excited to work with such an elite race and concerned group of ecologically savvy sailors.
I was specifically asked to participate in a Virtual Action Lab titled “Youth for 30 x 30.” 30 x 30 is a movement to safeguard at least 30% of the world’s ocean from exploitation by the year 2030. I shared the panel with two other young women who are current members of the Youth Leadership Council. We talked about the importance of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), the 30 x 30 movement, and why it is so important for youth to be involved. The Action Lab sessions are designed to be interactive and facilitate discussion. I had thought the discussion would focus principally on MPAs and the 30 x 30 movement, but to my surprise, most of the questions posed to the panel were about youth involvement and what professionals can do to help youth. As a recent college graduate, this was just about the most gratifying thing I could have heard. There are so many young people who have the desire and drive to make a difference. The difficulty is, people too often will not listen to some random “kid” with no backing from a university, organization, or company. In this time of COVID-19 when it is incredibly difficult to find internships – let alone jobs – this reaction can be exceedingly demoralizing for young people. Yet hearing people ask “what can we do to help you,” renewed my hope. My answer to this question: “Be a mentor and help build a strong platform. We have the drive to make things happen, we just need the platform to stand on to do so.”
Just when I thought it could not get any better, I was asked to moderate a Q&A session titled, “We’re all in this Together: Racing with a Purpose” with session panelists Richard Brisius (Race Chairman of The Ocean Race), Mark Towill (CEO of 11th Hour Racing Team), Enrique Carlin Larios (Team Sayula II, Whitbread Round the World Race 1973 winner), and Dr. Margaret Ottley (Sports Psychologist, University of West Chester, PA). It was difficult to contain my excitement sitting on a Zoom panel with these incredible people! Enrique was on the boat that won the first Ocean Race in 1973; his father was the skipper. Mark was one of my childhood heroes... from my favorite sailing movie, Ray Disney’s Morning Light. The main focus of this Q&A was to answer questions from an earlier session discussing what we can learn from The Ocean Race and how we can apply these lessons to ocean conservation. Dr. Ottley spoke from her background in sport psychology about teamwork, how ocean racing is grounded in it, and how the lessons of teamwork apply to better protect our planet. It takes openness, discipline, courage, mastery, diversity, and “meeting each other exactly where they are.” When we come together as a team, we can solve the problems plaguing our oceans.
Richard Brisius’ dream and vision are to see the ocean as healthy and abundant as it was when The Ocean Race began back in 1973. It wasn’t perfect then, but there were twice as many fish and only 1% of the amount of plastic we see in the ocean today – a sad reality.
Mark Towill’s “ah-ha moment” occurred during his first Ocean Race off the Malacca Straits when he decided the environment was broken. This was a part of the world in which he had never raced, and it was so different from anything he had ever seen. It looked like he could have stepped off the boat and walked to shore on the big pieces of marine debris and fishing nets. He felt the responsibility to do something. Personally, I related to his story as during my Semester at Sea (SEA) sail aboard a tall ship, we found plastic in every net tow we conducted – from large to microscopic pieces. This discovery broke my heart and was one of many “ah-ha moments.”
Participating in The Ocean Race Summits was inspiring – not only to be surrounded virtually by such amazing sailors and advocates, but the sense of unity and urgency we shared. As a young scientist just entering this field, this gives me tremendous hope for the future of our oceans.
Watch a recording of the Virtual Action Lab “Youth for 30 x 30.”