WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:06.319 --> 00:00:10.379 No matter what your zip code. No matter what you see out of your living 00:00:10.379 --> 00:00:19.770 room window of your back porch, you are first and foremost a citizen of a planet and a citizen 00:00:19.770 --> 00:00:25.730 of an ocean planet. It's not a postcard and it's not just a pretty place to get your feet 00:00:25.730 --> 00:00:30.339 wet. The ocean is your life support system in a very real, direct way. It's as important 00:00:30.339 --> 00:00:36.780 for us all to take care of it as it is important for us to take care of our own homes and look 00:00:36.780 --> 00:00:44.739 after our families. "#EarthIsBlue", what better way to say it? People take care of things 00:00:44.739 --> 00:00:50.449 that they know are important or that they've fallen in love with. The first step to engaging 00:00:50.449 --> 00:00:54.760 folks in fabulous places like the National Marine Sanctuaries is to, you know, is get 00:00:54.760 --> 00:01:01.469 the word out there. The United States has 14 sanctuary sites and NOAA is charged with 00:01:01.469 --> 00:01:06.429 establishing them and running them and stewarding them so that they protect and help conserve 00:01:06.429 --> 00:01:12.070 all of the critters and great ocean assets that exist within them. They don't belong 00:01:12.070 --> 00:01:19.070 to NOAA they belong to all of the citizens of the United States, just like our parks. 00:01:19.070 --> 00:01:23.180 The ocean is one of those... one of those places that is the archetype of that combination 00:01:23.180 --> 00:01:31.960 of power and fragility that struck me when I looked out the window of a space shuttle. 00:01:31.960 --> 00:01:36.020 We launched on my first flight from Kennedy Space Center in Florida and eight and a half 00:01:36.020 --> 00:01:44.640 minute later we were over England and 200 miles above the planet. When the engines finally 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:49.049 cut off I lifted my gaze and looked over the shoulder of the crew member in front of me 00:01:49.049 --> 00:01:55.520 and saw out this panoramic set of six windows this broad arc of the limb of the earth. Sullivan 00:01:55.520 --> 00:01:59.290 on Radio: "We haven't seen that much that hasn't been spectacular from this altitude." 00:01:59.290 --> 00:02:05.659 It was all blue and white and it was absolutely stunning and without even thinking about it 00:02:05.659 --> 00:02:10.350 and totally unable to help myself I blurted out "wow, look at that!" Sullivan on Radio: 00:02:10.350 --> 00:02:15.440 "We'll be very proud and very honored that so so many people will get to share..." You 00:02:15.440 --> 00:02:21.389 quickly discover we never should have named this planet "Earth", that suggests terrestrial 00:02:21.389 --> 00:02:27.019 rocks, soil... and most of what you see from orbit is in fact the blue. Or if it's not 00:02:27.019 --> 00:02:32.709 the blue it's the white that is the water that hasn't yet fallen back into the blue. 00:02:32.709 --> 00:02:37.540 This program that we're doing here today, "Earth is Blue", is a product of the sanctuary 00:02:37.540 --> 00:02:45.320 office wanting to be sure you know those great blue places. Social media gives us a really 00:02:45.320 --> 00:02:50.690 powerful avenue to do that. "You should see that view out there!" "Shark up!" We really 00:02:50.690 --> 00:02:55.060 can be nimble and showcase a lot of the different aspects - a lot of the different connection 00:02:55.060 --> 00:03:01.010 points - in the sanctuaries that people can take advantage of. One is: they are places 00:03:01.010 --> 00:03:06.260 of really special national or international significants, from a natural resource or archaeology 00:03:06.260 --> 00:03:12.150 or cultural history point of view can be hugely powerful connection points. The second thing 00:03:12.150 --> 00:03:18.310 is: just setting aside those special places and leaving them in various degrees undisturbed 00:03:18.310 --> 00:03:23.820 ensures that we have safe zones, if you will, in the ocean where natural resources of the 00:03:23.820 --> 00:03:34.239 ocean can continue to flourish even as human population grows and the planet changes around 00:03:34.239 --> 00:03:43.060 it. It's hugely powerful: we stand on the shore and listen to the roar of the waves. 00:03:43.060 --> 00:03:47.810 That's part of the drama and power that draws us and attracts us and impresses us about 00:03:47.810 --> 00:03:54.859 the ocean. But it can give us a false sense that is so immense and so powerful that it 00:03:54.859 --> 00:04:01.970 will always be fine and nothing we could ever do could ever matter. So the ocean is both 00:04:01.970 --> 00:04:10.290 hugely powerful and exquisitely life-giving. We truly do live on a blue planet. Help draw 00:04:10.290 --> 00:04:15.630 others to the opportunity, the obligation and the imperative, but also the fun and the 00:04:15.630 --> 00:04:17.090 real joy of taking care of the ocean.