ABOUT THE OCEAN ADVOCATE
The Ocean Advocate is run by Renée Bonorchis, who lives in Cape Town, South Africa.
I've been a journalist (mostly financial) since 1996, a scuba diver since 1999, a scuba instructor since 2013, a marine sciences student since 2021, a Two Oceans Aquarium volunteer since 2022, a turtle volunteer and member of the Turtle Rescue Network since 2023, the manager of the #NotOnOurWatch African penguin survival campaign in 2023, and in 2024 an official partner for MPA Day and #NotOnOurWatch, a contracted course designer for the Ocean Campus and a consultant to the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation. Most importantly, I've been an ocean nut since I was five years old and first saw the sea. Here's a resume.
The more I've learnt about the ocean, the more afraid I've become that the worst-case scenarios will happen. It's predicted there will be almost no hard coral left and that global fish stocks will have collapsed by 2050, that the poles will soon lose so much ice that crucial deep-water currents, which help to distribute heat around the world, will all but come to a stop.
The ocean produces more than half of the air we breathe, absorbs 25% of carbon dioxide emissions and captures 90% of the excess heat from those emissions. As the United Nations says, the sea ``isn't just 'the lungs of the planet' but also its largest 'carbon sink' – a vital buffer against the impacts of climate change.''
It's critical that we all act and that we act now. We can't wait for governments and politicians to talk and negotiate.
This website is one of my ways of acting and yes, it's a proverbial drop in the ocean, but if there are millions of drops, I still believe we can make a difference.
Part of the action I'm taking is advocating for ocean conservation by giving people an easy way to learn more about the sea in the belief that understanding leads to caring and caring leads to people taking action in their own lives.
I've been a journalist (mostly financial) since 1996, a scuba diver since 1999, a scuba instructor since 2013, a marine sciences student since 2021, a Two Oceans Aquarium volunteer since 2022, a turtle volunteer and member of the Turtle Rescue Network since 2023, the manager of the #NotOnOurWatch African penguin survival campaign in 2023, and in 2024 an official partner for MPA Day and #NotOnOurWatch, a contracted course designer for the Ocean Campus and a consultant to the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation. Most importantly, I've been an ocean nut since I was five years old and first saw the sea. Here's a resume.
The more I've learnt about the ocean, the more afraid I've become that the worst-case scenarios will happen. It's predicted there will be almost no hard coral left and that global fish stocks will have collapsed by 2050, that the poles will soon lose so much ice that crucial deep-water currents, which help to distribute heat around the world, will all but come to a stop.
The ocean produces more than half of the air we breathe, absorbs 25% of carbon dioxide emissions and captures 90% of the excess heat from those emissions. As the United Nations says, the sea ``isn't just 'the lungs of the planet' but also its largest 'carbon sink' – a vital buffer against the impacts of climate change.''
It's critical that we all act and that we act now. We can't wait for governments and politicians to talk and negotiate.
This website is one of my ways of acting and yes, it's a proverbial drop in the ocean, but if there are millions of drops, I still believe we can make a difference.
Part of the action I'm taking is advocating for ocean conservation by giving people an easy way to learn more about the sea in the belief that understanding leads to caring and caring leads to people taking action in their own lives.
The Ocean Advocate is aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality education), Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender equality), Sustainable Development Goal 13 (Climate action) , Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life below water), Sustainable Development Goal 17 (Partnerships for the goals), the UN Ocean Decade’s Challenge 9 (Skills, knowledge, technology and participation for all), the UN Ocean Decade’s Challenge 10 (Restoring society’s relationship with the ocean) and the Kumming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to protect 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030. The Ocean Advocate has been endorsed by the UN Ocean Decade as a decade activity and accepted as an official Earthshot Prize Nominator.
"The ocean is the blue heart of the planet — we should take care of our heart. It's what makes life possible for us. We still have a really good chance to make things better than they are. They won't get better unless we take the action and inspire others to do the same thing. No one is without power." Dr Sylvia A. Earle, Mission Blue
