Contents Introduction 6 chapter one you are ocean Everything Is Connected to Everything Else 8 Can’t Live Without You 10 Aerodynamics 10 Drink Up 11 Current Events 11 Our Watery Friends 12 We All Scream for Ice Cream 13 Salty Medicine Chest 14 The Happiness Factor 15 chapter TWO ocean overload One Fish Two Fish 16 Where Has All the Sea Life Gone 17 Plastic Tsunami 18 Alien Hitchhikers 19 Everything Must Go Somewhere 20 Too Much of a Good Thing 21 Climate Calamity 21 In Hot Water 22 Periscope Up 22 Naked Oysters 24 Change Opportunity 25
chapter THREE operation ocean rescue Ocean-Friendly Living 26 Be Seafood Wise 28 Beat the Plastic Binge 29 Get the Toxins Out Part 1 29 Plant a Tree for the Sea 30 Praise for the Negawatt 30 Buying Less and Buying Smart 32 Jump on the Energy-Efficiency Boat 32 chapter FOUR be an ocean hero Many Hands Small Work 34 Beach Bash 34 An Ounce of Prevention 37 Get the Toxins Out Part 2 38 Nature Knows Best 38 Start a Ripple Effect 40 Be a Citizen Scientist 40 Oceaneers 41 Sea into the Future 42 Acknowledgments 44 Resources 44 Glossary 46 Index 47
Introduction Even though I grew up in the flat dry prairie in the middle of Canada far from the ocean I dreamed of scuba diving and becoming a marine biologist I didn’t see the ocean until I was twelve when my family visited my grandparents in Maine I remember the salty smell and the endless view across the waves I spent hours at the shore checking out the crabs and clams the squishy sea cucumbers and the beached sea jellies with their stinging tentacles I went back to the prairie but the ocean wouldn’t let me go When I grew up and moved to the west coast to study biology I learned why Life on Earth started in the ocean The salt content of our blood and tears is similar to seawater In a way we are all ocean It was like my ocean magnet was pulling me back to where I started Humans haven’t been kind to the ocean We’ve used the ocean as a bottomless lunch bowl and as a garbage dump Walk along the seashore hop in a boat or dive underwater and you’ll see that the ocean is complaining In Dive In you’ll travel the Seven Seas and find out why the ocean matters whether you live on its shores or far inland Learn why the ocean is an amazing place and what you can do to keep it that way Are you ready to dive in I celebrate my birthday near the ocean whenever I can A NN ERIK SSON 6
Children age ten or older can become certified divers and have fun exploring marine ecosystems M A FELIPE IS TOCK COM My Marine Life I learned to scuba dive at age 19 in a swimming pool in Edmonton Alberta a thousand miles from the Pacific Ocean My first ocean scuba dive was at the Ogden Point Breakwater in Victoria British Columbia a designated marine sanctuary When I jumped in the water with all my gear on I was astonished by the sea life Colorful fish and sea anemones sea stars and even a baby wolf-eel I didn’t want to stop Since then I’ve been diving in the Pacific Atlantic and Indian Oceans I guess I’m a thalassophile a person who loves the ocean Diving in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico was a great adventure G PL A NGE 7
