Getting in Rhythm with Summer

June is Ocean Month and is the first full month of summer in the northern hemisphere. Usually, that is a hectic time for anyone in ocean conservation as gatherings are held in celebration, in negotiation, and anticipation of the challenges to ocean health. Some years, Labor Day rolls around, and I feel as though I haven’t spent any time on the water, even though I spend every day thinking about what we can do to restore abundance in the ocean.

This summer has been different. This summer, I have been close to seals and owls, osprey and porpoise—and all the life below unseen. This summer, I went kayaking for the first time in a decade or more. This summer, I camped on an island and watched the moon rise over my tent as I listened to the waves lapping on the shore. This summer, I accepted that invitation to join friends on a boat ride to dinner a few towns over and home again in a glowing sunset. This summer I got to take my grandson on his first boat ride and to see his first lobster up close and personal as it came out of a trap.  He’s not quite ready for the nutcracker and lemon butter approach to lobster, but he seemed pretty happy to be out there with us. I hope we get to do it again next year.

All of these adventures reminded me of why I do what I do.

Summer is not over, of course, and the summer weather will linger. The hurricane season is ramping up, and so too are the busy months of fall. As we look ahead to restoring the ocean’s abundance and growing the regenerative blue economy, I will also reflect on the spring and summer. Like other members of The Ocean Foundation team, we’ll be picking up the threads of various meetings and weaving them into a work plan, we will be hopeful that the hurricane season does not prove to be deadly after the horrific storms we’ve already seen this year, and we will be grateful to all of the members of our community who pitch in—for us, for their communities, and for the future.