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Creating Collective Memory

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  • UNCLOS Maritime Zones

    This image shows the maritime zones split up. There are Archipelagic waters, Territorial waters, the Exclusive economic zone, and the High seas.
  • Cusk-Eel

    Striped Cusk-eels adapted to hunting prey in the absence of light by evolving to possess pelvic fins on their chin. By possessing pelvic fins on their chin, cusk-eels can use the sense of feel more to locate invertebrates, crustaceans, and other small bottom-dwelling fishes. As a result the cusk eel acts as a selective pressure to invertebrates, crustaceans, and fishes to prevent the disruption of the ecosystem.
  • Pollution Sculpture

    By: Pam Longobardi Pam uses a collection of plastic pieces collected from the ocean to create the sculpture. She has removed many pounds of plastic from beaches and utilized them into her art work.
  • Snailfish

    To adapt to the extreme pressure of the hadal zone without a shell, snailfish contain do not contain any air spaces. Instead, hadal snailfish possess gelatinous goo underneath their skin to combat the extreme pressures. As a fish with fins, snailfish possess the capabilities to consume amphipods, decapods, and polychaetas. As a result snailfish act as a selective pressure to regulate the populations of amphipods, decapods, and polychaetas to prevent the disruption of the ecosystem.
  • Beluga whale

  • Sound of Beluga whale

    Audio sound of beluga whale. Sounds from commercial ships can easily disrupt the high-pitched sounds emitted from Beluga whales.
  • Cuttlefish

    Cuttlefish
  • Oil Cleanup Efforts

    Members of Plaquemines Parish Inland Waterway Strike Force clean up oil on the water’s surface in Jackass Bay, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. Photo by Julie Dermansky.
  • Turtle After BP Oil Spill

    A juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtle heavily oiled from the BP Disaster along the Louisiana coast in June 2010. Photo by Blair Witherington.
  • Bowhead whale

  • Fiddler Crab

    A Fiddler Crab. Known for their one claw that is significantly larger than their other, among the males of the species.
  • 심청전 Dive 편

    In late 2021, Harvard student Julia Riew was saddened by the lack of Korean representation in Disney's animated princess films. South Korea has a rich history of folktales, thus inspiring Riew to draw upon ""The Tale of Shimcheongjeon,"" also known as ""Sim Cheong: The Dutiful Daughter."" The main moral of this folktale is to highlight the filial piety, sacrifice, and redemption that Sim Cheong undergoes throughout her struggles to restore her blind father's sight. In doing so, she sells herself to sea merchants and learns that she must sacrifice herself to the sea. Impressed by her filial piety, the Dragon King, also known as the Sea King, returns her to the human world. In this act of self-sacrifice, Sim Cheong is reborn with truth and reunited with her father. The sea plays a large role in Shimcheongjeon as it is associated with the ""Kingdom of Truth."" Her act of drowning and appearing in the Kingdom of Truth marked the ""death of the existence of one's self."" Thus allowing her to become “the truth” in her resurrection. Once she returns to the human world with her true mind she is able to teach those around her that it is not them who are blind, but it is the eyes of their minds which are blind. Riew composes this song to encapsulate the moments leading up to Sim Cheong's final dive into the sea, highlighting the power that the sea holds to drive Sim Cheong's decision. When Sim Cheong states ""all of this fish in the sea can't stop me, all of the waves in the world can't rock me,"" we see the definitive strength, intensity, and energy that the ocean provides in comparison to Sim Cheong's ultimate decision. In Shimcheongjeon, the ocean is the inspiration for clarity as well as power within ancient Korea. This song was animated by Cobb Studio in collaboration with LG for the LG gram 360 commercial.
  • Giant Amphipod

    Found in the deepest part of the ocean giant amphipods can reach a size of 141 millimeters with a weight of 45 grams. Amphipods serve the environmental role of decomposers as they recycle dead matter back into the environment to allow other trophic levels to benefit.
  • Sound of Bowhead whale

    Audio sound of bowhead whale. Sounds from commercial ships can mask these sounds and disrupt the natural communication that occurs between whale groups.
  • Brittle Star

    A brittle star, a member of the echinoderms family.
  • Skyscraper (The Bruges Whale)

    The 38-foot-tall sculptural whale “Skyscraper (the Bruges Whale)”, created by STUDIOKCA, is composed of over 10,000 pounds of plastic waste collected from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. This sculpture, located in Bruges, Belgium, draws attention, in a heavily traveled area, to the oceans’ pollution in a visually appealing formation.
  • Amhrán Na Farraige

    "“Amhrán Na Farraige” was featured in the original motion picture soundtrack, Song of the Sea. It is sung by Lisa Hannigan and composed by Bruno Coulais in Irish Gaelic. Song of the Sea is an animated film that explores the longing, searching, and complexities of love as Ben and his sister, Saoirse, are caught between different elements: the land and the sea. Ben is a young boy who lives on an island with his father, a lighthouse keeper, and his pregnant mother. However, once his mother gives birth to his little sister Saoirse, she disappears and leaves the family behind. As a result, Ben resents his sister since her appearance is directly linked to his mother's disappearance. Their grandmother deems the lighthouse an unfit place to raise children and decides to relocate the children to the mainland. In doing so, their grandmother, Granny, removes the white sealskin coat given by the children's mother to their father, which also strips Saorise of her selkie abilities. On the way to Granny's house, they are attacked by Macha's (Goddess of War) owls and Saorise gets kidnapped. In Ben's journey to find Saorise and return her to her seal coat, he stumbles upon a holy well. Here he learns that his mother's departure is due to her selkie nature and not a result of his sister's birth. Now fueled by a newfound love for Saorise, Ben battles the elements to defeat Macha and save his sister from her death. Throughout this song, the repetition of the phrase ""Amhrán na farraige,"" also known as the Song of the Sea, emphasizes the symbolic significance that the sea holds. The sea is home to both tranquility and restlessness which is reflected in Ben's desire for a sense of peace and connection as he grapples with his relationship with his sister and acceptance of grief and loss.
  • Sound of commercial ship

  • The Sea

    The Sea was composed and sung by HAEVN, a Dutch music duo centered in Amsterdam. The duo consists of singer/songwriter Marijn van der Meer and film music composer Jorrit Kleijnen. In an interview with Genius Music, Jorrit stated that the duo "often quote the subject of water. [...] [They] find water and the sea are a nice metaphor for what we can not fathom. When you are at sea, you feel that your head is empty, but at the same time, it is such a powerful and great thing that you can not comprehend [it]. It is both liberating and intimidating. [They] tried to capture that in the lyrics and music of The Sea.' " We see here in HAEVN's piece that the ocean and the emotions connected to this vast body of water is the root of inspiration for the duo's album Eyes Closed. This album draws the feelings of the push and pull within the ocean currents and reflects them upon the turmoil of love. As Marjin states in a later interview, " 'You just feel with this music that you jump into the deep!' "
  • Only to The Ocean

    "Only the Ocean" by Jack Johnson is a song that captures a sense of contemplation and reflection through one's connection to the ocean. While the song doesn't explicitly state how the ocean inspires the lyrics, it evokes feelings of the change, abyss, and mystery that is often associated with the ocean. Oceans are a powerful metaphor that symbolize the depths of human emotions and the vast expanse of the unknown. This song uses this connection to the ocean to portray one’s resilience as one faces the unpredictability of life's journey. Additionally, the ocean, with its vastness and eternal rhythm, offers a sense of continuity and connection to something larger than oneself.
  • [Untitled]

  • Sea The Damage

    This piece is a mural created by students from the Aitkenhead Primary School, located in North Lanarkshire. These children used plastic bottles as the medium to create 3D models of fish and filled the bottles with plastic straws to illustrate the microplastics that the fish consume from pollution. The “SEA THE DAMAGE” and the tearful eye is created with plastic bottle caps to further emphasize the need for change in oceanic life.
  • Sound of commercial ship

    Audio sound of man-made noise made by commercial ships that disrupt the natural sound of marine animals
  • Entertainment

  • Our noisy oceans: ship traffic risks to marine life

    Infographic map of ten of the busiest ports and channels in the oceans worldwide and the marine animals being impacted by noise pollution