We‘re no islands
The power of community spirit and our responsibility to help create it
Long Beach,10th February 2024.
In true South African fashion, I smile to myself, any water sport equipment possible is represented here today. From surfboards to surf skis and paddleboards, freediving buoys and fins, inflatable rings (and dogs), to kayaks and simple snorkeling. and swimming gear – the air is filled with laughter and anticipation to today’s event, an excitement to be here together.
Thank God I made it in time. I wasn’t part of the local WhatsApp group where the change from Fish Hoek beach to Long Beach was announced and I am lucky to have caught an Uber just in time be surrounded by fellow ocean lovers and water enthusiasts, passionate ocean advocates and curiously intrigued souls that all came together in Simon’s Town to celebrate the importance that hope plays in marine conservation.
I am not from South Africa. One aspect I have loved about my time here so far is to have been engulfed by people who understand the wish, a yearning almost, to preserve the beautiful blue that our hearts long for, that provides for us on a daily basis.
In fact, when I ask people what the sea gives them the question is often met with a sigh that indicates deep gratitude and boundless love that words cannot quite express.
The local community from the Cape Town area rallied in absolute joy to honor the very Dr Sylvia Earl – the David Attenborough of ocean conservation, a legendary oceanographer and public figure in her own right, and founder of Mission Blue. Her organization has worked on inspiring action to explore and protect the oceans for more than 14 years, and is the initiator behind the so-called Hope Spots.
Scientifically speaking, Hope Spots are sites of special interest that are critical to the health of the ocean. Intentionally, they are areas to encourage the public to actively take part in having a positive impact in their protection, and to improve the life of local communities.
Since its foundation in 2009, Misson Blue has launched 159 Hope Spots around the world, six of which are found along the South African coastline, one of which is False Bay.
I have been blessed to be able to explore this stunningly beautiful corner of the world for the past few weeks, and every day I fall in love just that little bit more.
Mere meters from shore you can submerge yourself in a wondrous world that I often liken to an artist’s most creative masterpiece.
I could fill pages over pages with the sheer bewitching sphere beneath the surface, but I want this to be about the people.
Because my experiences underwater are only rivalled by the beauty of the kind souls I have met along the way.
Both regularly leave me returning home with a full heart. And so, I decided to join the False Bay Hope Spot Paddle-Out last weekend to get to know the community that has welcomed me here a little better, and to understand what gives them hope.
The concept of hope is something I have thought about often, and explored deeply. So much so that a few years ago I decided to write an entire series about it, shedding light on what hope meant to different environmental conservationists and whether it is what
truly drove them in their daily work, in a field that sometimes threatens to weigh down the most passionate of hearts.
Some say that Hope Spots are designed to provide local communities with hope. I wonder whether it works the other way around? Isn’t it the people I met that symbolize hope for the area? At the very least, it is a reciprocal relationship.
That day, I spoke with entrepreneurs, owners of waste management businesses, educators, communication strategists, climate change scientists, administrators, and owners of guest houses; to name a few. I have always found it crucial to stress that one does not have to have a strictly environmental profession to be an environmentalist. It is the love for the ocean and its creatures, and our recognition of its importance that makes us ambassadors – not just how we make a living.
When I initially ask Willow about hope, there is a big pause, followed by an even bigger smile. “The increasing connection to the ocean that people are discovering around the world. I hope the more people care, the more they will be inclined to help protect it”.
And then she mentions the term active hope, something that was new to me. She explains to us that it references to actively choosing to see the negatives, but recognizing that change is possible. Especially when you think about the number of people involved.
“The [environmental] field is people of past, present and future, and there are hundreds of thousands of us all working as a team, in different ways. Musicians, climate change activists and scientists, artists, advocates, lawyers, sailors.. all of those [and beyond] contribute to the bigger picture” , is what Willow tells me, continuing how the sense “that this team is growing and that we are all in it together” is what gives her hope.
That day, I spoke with entrepreneurs, owners of waste management businesses, educators, communication strategists, climate change scientists, administrators, and owners of guest houses; to name a few.
I have always found it crucial to stress that one does not have to have a strictly environmental profession to be an environmentalist. It is the love for the ocean and its creatures, and our recognition of its importance that makes us ambassadors – not just how we make a living.
When I initially ask Willow about hope, there is a big pause, followed by an even bigger smile. “The increasing connection to the ocean that people are discovering around the world. I hope the more people care, the more they will be inclined to help protect it”
A lot of what I hear that day heavily underscores Willow’s sentiment. Lisa finds hope “in events like this, having different influences and people that are part of our daily lives” , and she tells me how inspiration finds her when witnessing people pushing the envelope continuously, every single day. For Gail, “hope comes through people and organizations that do these kinds of things that get us together, like today” . Not from the Cape Town area, for John, relating to the ocean is a new thing - a new exploration every day.
Joining the Paddle-Out was inspiring, he says, “as so many people with strong feelings for the ocean have come together, and you become part of that sentiment. By joining, you can add a body to the movement, and just add that little bit by simply taking part” , he tells me.
When I ask him about hope, he has a beautiful way of putting it, adding to what Victoria and Lisa said before him. “Hope needs to be linked to a few other things, like ways to change attitudes or to spread the word that is experiential rather than merely images. Today was an experiential event” , he says, “an experience that stays with you and makes you relate better to the ideas behind it”
And it isn’t just about us adult environmentalists. The experience needs to be lived by children, too. Children, everyone I speak to that day agrees, are crucial to be involved in ocean conservation and advocacy. Melanie is convinced that “children are starting to see and notice that things have to change” , and to her that is hope right there.
Similar to John, Victoria feels that the awareness and inspiration that events like the Paddle-Out bring about need maintaining by bringing young children a routine that fosters connection with the ocean in a fun – or in John’s words – experiential way.
Making a difference must involve fun, we all agree, and it is something I remember writing years ago. Why would anyone want to join a movement that appears miserable? Amelia feels that we have a long way to go in terms of environmental education, and agrees that children are key as they bring home information, slowly creating an upwelling of awareness, and hopefully change.
When asked what the ocean provides her with, she answers with “a sense of calm. Immersion in the water brings you peace of presence, being truly in the moment” . It’s something she’d like to see brought to young children, especially those with a more traumatic upbringing. “Get kids in the water, they’ll take that feeling and experience home. It uplifts them, and hopefully has an effect on parents, too”.
She agrees with John, that it takes more than just reading about something these days that we can quickly forget, drowned out by the noise of our daily lives. “It takes a group dynamic that causes a ripple effect, something like today that keeps your memory going and that stays with you for longer” , she says with such genuine feeling.
Overfishing, pollution, microplastics, impacts of our consumer choices, climate change- it has been years of trying to bring these issues into the public’s eye. And. whilst we all agree that more work needs to be done, there also is a consensus that these days it is more about how we ago about it, shifting our focus from the problems to how we can help as individuals.
More importantly though, it is the recognition that we aren’t alone, and that we can create bodies of movement to inspire better.
I remember Melanie’s genuine feeling of responsibility to use her very own professional background as much as possible to create a platform for others’ voices to be heard, to create more of what we all experienced that morning. She also mentions a mentality shift of “us vs. them”, and it really strikes a chord with me.
Having a conservation background, I have often said the field can feel lonely and be mistaken for a bunch of us pointing the fingers at them – when I wished those psychological, apparent barriers could come tumbling down to make environmentalism more inclusive, less fenced.
The importance of people finding each other, if for nothing more than love for the same blue space, cannot be underestimated. Just as in life, we need to know that we are not alone in this.
And as such the Hope Spots do exactly what they were designed to achieve – bring us all together.