Sea blindness: Seeing the importance of the sea


Increasingly, the seas are recognised as playing a crucial role in supporting healthy people and communities. The significance of the oceans is captured in the recent UN Sustainable Development Goals (2015), with Goal 14 highlighting that oceans, combined with coastal and marine resources, are essential for human wellbeing, as well as social and economic development. People are intrinsically linked to the sea; thirty‐seven per cent of the global population in 2010 lived in coastal communities.


As well as supporting industries and coastal communities, oceans have an important role in food security and regulating the global ecosystem. Despite numerous calls and initiatives aimed at strengthening public connection with our seas, it appears that, for the most part, out of sight really can mean out of mind in terms of public understanding of the relationship between society and our seas. The term “sea blindness” describes this lack of awareness of the importance of the sea for a healthy society.


The importance of the sea to UK society cannot be overestimated; for example, UK sea ports handle over half a billion tonnes of goods a year. However, a poll carried out by the charity Seafarers UK in 2014 showed that only 2% of people knew that half the food in the UK is imported of which 95% arrives by ship. The flow of this and other products is made possible by the activities of over a million seafarers employed in the global shipping industry of which over 70,000 are from the UK. In addition to supporting the movement of goods that we all take for granted, seafarers play an essential role in security and keeping the UK safe, while maritime businesses support thousands of jobs within coastal and wider communities. Organisations like the Maritime Foundation and Seavision raise awareness of the importance of the sea and the career opportunities available across the diverse range of mar‐ itime sectors. However, there is a clear paradox in that while there is a recognised lack of awareness of the importance of the sea, our coastline and links to the sea define us as an island nation. From a rich seafaring heritage through to a family day out at the coast, the sea seeps into our consciousness and helps to shape how we define our identity. Yet despite this, charities such as Seavision have to actively campaign to remind people of these connections and to enthuse people about maritime opportunities – as a society, we remain relatively unaware of all that our seas offer.


While the issue of sea blindness related to seafarers and maritime industries receives much attention, the term can also be used to refer to a lack of awareness in other areas of maritime importance. For example, in addition to their resource potential, oceans act as a sink for pollution. From the start of the industrial revolution to the present day, about one third of the carbon dioxide released by human activities has been absorbed by the ocean. Although this


40 Society of Maritime Industries Handbook & Members’ Directory 2017


has helped to mitigate climate change, a damaging consequence is an increase in ocean acidity. The UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme suggests that if we keep emitting CO2 at the current rate, by 2100 ocean acidity will have increased by 150% with considerable implications for ocean life. Already the Great Barrier Reef is experiencing the consequences of such change with bleaching caused by climate change killing almost a quarter of


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