Ocean Hoptimism

Sharks, DNA, and a Breakthrough in the Fight Against Illegal Fishing Imagine this scene: a patrol boat intercepts a trawler suspected of...

How a Bay Area Experiment is Turning Ocean Despair Into Community-Powered Hope and Action Open a news feed and the ocean often appears as...

Toward a Coates-Framed Ocean Ethic A recent podcast conversation between journalist Ezra Klein and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates began with...

Nostalgia, Environment, and Justice in the American Psyche Every few years the country re-litigates a feeling: things were better then....

Pattern Recognition, Humans, and the Ocean Ever spotted a face in the moon? Or a dog in the clouds? That phenomenon, pareidolia , isn’t...

Why We Must Resist the Hollowing Out of Science There is a unique kind of anguish that comes from watching something you’ve devoted your...

Eating for the Ocean When we picture “saving the ocean,” most of us think of beach cleanups, recycling, or banning single-use plastic....

Conservation is more than saving species—it’s saving worlds. Every creature lives within its own Umwelt, a unique sensory reality. A jellyfish bloom might be nuisance to us, but feast or threat to others. Each extinction erases not just lives, but entire ways of sensing and being. Protecting biodiversity means safeguarding these countless realities, ensuring the planet remains a mosaic of coexisting worlds.

A Bold Bet to Save Corals or a Dangerous Distraction? On Florida’s reefs, the silence is deafening. Once-vibrant stands of staghorn and...

Naming the Grief of Living Through Environmental Losses Ever felt grief for a place while still living in it? The fire-scorched hills you...

Why Aesthetics Belong in Conservation When we talk about ecological restoration, we usually talk about function: fish returning, corals...

Why Caring About the Ocean Isn't Enough We often hear people say they care about the ocean, wildlife, or the planet’s future. Polls...

An Invitation to Rethink Conservation Sometimes a piece of writing has the power to unsettle what we thought we knew and open a doorway...

How the Dive Industry Sells Conservation Without Delivering It Scuba diving generates up to $20 billion per year globally . It’s often...

The Story of Manta Tow Reef Surveys When you read headlines about the state of coral reefs. declining cover, bleaching outbreaks,...

Why Optimism Is a Radical Act “Hopium peddlers.” That’s the label sometimes thrown at those who dare to carry optimism in environmental...

Why Caring for the Ocean Means Caring for Ourselves At Ocean Hoptimism, we believe something simple but radical: protecting the ocean...

Why Perception Matters as Much as Reality Did you know your sense of biodiversity might matter more to your mental health than the actual...

What Psychology Teaches Us About Hope in the Face of Ocean Crisis At Ocean Hoptimism, we talk a lot about resilient optimism. But what...

Why Feeling Wrecked Doesn't Mean You're Out of the Fight You love the ocean. Maybe you’ve given your time, your weekends, your heart....