Through the Lens: Non-Profits

Oceans make up about seventy-one percent of our planet. Although we live and spend most of our time on land, oceans play one of the most vital roles in our existence. All beings depend on the seas in order to go about living their day to day lives. Therefore, it is shocking to realize that in all our existence, despite the technological advances we have made, humans have only explored around five percent of the oceans (according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). To know that there is still so much to learn about and from the oceans is eye-opening and expands the minds to possibilities for the future. The people who orchestrate the research and expeditions which allow us to learn more about the oceans and the potential they hold are known as non-profit organizations. According to Wikipedia, non-profit organizations are those which dedicate themselves to thoroughly understanding a social issue and focus on promoting awareness for it, rather than aiming solely to make a profit. There are many non-profits revolving around the protection, preservation, and exploration of marine life.

Non-profit organizations such as the She Shepherd Conservation Society, the Oceanic Preservation Society, and Mission Blue are all involved in the issue of marine conservation. The She Shepherd Conservation Society focuses to end the killing of many marine animals (especially dolphins and sharks) and the habitat destruction that comes with it. The Oceanic Preservation Society are a team of artists passionate about marine life who wish to share knowledge about marine life and spread awareness for the crisis happening in our waters. Mission Blue is a non-profit founded by Sylvia Earle, an incredible Marine Biologist, with the goal to protect and explore the seas. These are just a few of the many non-profits oriented around marine life. Scientists, other marine biologists, and oceanographers involve themselves with these types of non-profit organizations for a variety of reasons. One reason is due to their curiosity to discover what is hidden in the remaining ninety-five percent of unexplored ocean. The oceans have been known to give us incredible things we have used in medicines, to advance technology, and improve our overall quality of life; and that is just with the five percent we have explored! It is unimaginable what the rest of the oceans possess to teach us, and it is with this curiosity that some scientists which to support non-profits interested in the same mystery. Another reason people support non-profits is because they want to help raise awareness that the oceans need help. Non-profit organizations focused on protecting the seas get a lot of support from people who realize that there is a crisis happening in the seas because the life in the oceans are dying and it need to be saved. Another reason people support marine based non-profit organizations is because they want to promote the education of marine life throughout the world. Organizations like The Oceanic Preservation Society takes mind-blowing photographs of ocean life and have documented changes in quality of life. With these, they wish to educate others of what exactly is taking place in the seas and come to conclusions as to what causes these changes. The spreading of knowledge is vital for any change to occur, which is why scientists support these organizations.

Although I am only a freshman college student, there are still many things I can do to get involved with these non-profits. One thing is spread word about them through the use of social media. The impact social media has on spreading knowledge is evident and using that to make others aware of groups of people who wish to better the world is a great way to get others involved. Another way I can involve myself is to get into contact with these groups and see what they believe is the best way for others to help them achieve their goals. I can also volunteer at some of these organizations to gain a hands-on experience with the issue and gain a deeper understanding for it and how it directly impacts me. These are all acts that qualify for upper level citizens on the Justice-Oriented citizen model. There are some challenges in the pursuit of involving myself in these organizations. The main one would be distance and location. This is hard because the issue involves oceans and I do not live near an ocean. A way around this is travel. Going to the group involved in the issue will have a greater, more intimate impact on volunteers. The most important thing to realize when looking through this lens is the fact that there is so much more in life to gain than a monetary profit. Helping better the world and forming a community of others with the same goal is more valuable than any monetary gain. Knowledge will always be worth more than money. This concept is what makes non-profits more real than other organizations.

I chose the Ted Talk with speaker David Gallo titled, “Deep Ocean Mysteries and Wonders”. In this talk, Gallo begins by explaining that we have only explored five percent of our oceans. He builds on that fact by going into detail and describing many of the discoveries we have made with that five percent of explored oceans. He talks about how initially, scientists believed that life didn’t exist in the deepest parts of the oceans. This was because there were poisonous volcanic eruptions taking place regularly in the deep ocean and because there was no light. They were surprised to learn that they were wrong. Life exists in every part of the ocean. This idea of having beliefs proven wrong is fascinating to me because the more we learn the more room we have to question what we have been taught. Since we still have ninety-five percent of our oceans to explore, that is a lot of potential to learn new things.  He then talks about the equipment scientists have used to explore the oceans and the amount they have been able to teach others about the oceans. Although I could not find a video directly connecting ocean life to non-profits, I chose this one because without non-profits, scientists like Gallo would not have been able to explore the seas. This made me realize that without non-profits, we would not have made the advancements we have achieved and life would not be the same. Thankfully, passionate people like Gallo have organizations made of other passionate people to allow us to learn about our world and continue exploring. And as long as they are relevant, non-profits are the key to allowing us to explore the remaining ninety-five percent of the oceans.

https://www.ted.com/talks/deep_ocean_mysteries_and_wonders

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