The world’s oceans have a fundamental impact on the planet. They regulate the climate, produce 70% of the world’s oxygen, define communities and economies and offer us innumerable mental and physical benefits.

Many of us think of the rainforests as the lungs of the planet, but in reality microscopic phytoplankton in the sea are responsible for creating much more of the Earth’s oxygen.

Not only that, they also absorb CO2, an essential process in regulating the global climate. Of course, our seas are also home to a vast array of life, from microorganisms to sponges and from dolphins to the gargantuan blue whale (weighing in at a whopping 170 tons and up to 30 meters in length).

The fish and seafood we consume, and which are vital to the subsistence of some coastal communities, depend on healthy seas, and global industries such as transport, shipbuilding and tourism revolve around them. Much of our sport, recreation and relaxation takes place on or by the water, and simply looking at the sea has been found to be highly therapeutic, not to mention the medicines we source from our seas.