Ocean Literacy

Microplastics: From rubbish bins to your next meal

A sunny day, clear skies, and warm sands. Relaxing at the beach can put one at ease and take all the troubles away. This picture asks a darker question: How much plastic can you find? During a beach cleanup, one group of volunteers collected two, one-gallon buckets weighing in at 20 pounds total. The majority of the culprits consisted of small plastic pieces (94 pieces smaller than an inch) and plastic bottle caps (42 pieces). Plastic entangled in seaweed and a nearby road means increased pollution heading out to sea. Those were just the plastics seen with the naked eye. What you think is sand could actually be bits of broken down plastic.

Most plastics have a significantly short time being used compared to how long they take to break down. A takeaway cup from our favorite coffee shops can take 30 years to break down, but that does not mean it goes away completely. They break down into smaller fragments and leach into our waterways. Microbeads were a hit with hygiene products, especially exfoliating face cleansers. Every day, people wash with face wash or exfoliating hand soap. The small plastic beads have a use for a minute or two before being washed down the drain. Water treatment plants only catch so much, with as much as 170,900 particles per kilogram reported in sewer sludge. Sewer sludge is a byproduct of waste treatment, consisting of semi-solid organic matter such as food waste, human waste, and contaminants. Sludge can be used in agriculture, meaning microplastics in sludge enter the environment. What does not end up in sludge goes into the water. Microbeads from cosmetics and skin care products slip through the treatment plants’ filters and make their way to the nearest outsource: ponds, lakes, and streams. Commercial and recreational fishing are also large contributors to plastic pollution in the ocean. Nylon nets and fishing line break or are improperly disposed of, increasing the chances of them being washed out to sea with the incoming tide.

Oceanic gyre locations

The macro- and micro-plastics that do not end up back on land are swept away by the ocean currents. The plastic gets caught in the middle of oceanic gyres, or large rotating currents, and floats together to create patches of plastic ‘land’. There are five major gyres: northern and southern Pacific Ocean, northern and southern Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean. They are located at the furthest points between land masses and are responsible for churning the ocean, making sure water flows across the globe. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located between the Americas and Asia, has the highest concentration of plastic on Earth, measuring 1.6 million square kilometers as of 2021. Ocean currents meet and create a self-rotating system where warm water meets cold water. These currents carry buoyant materials with them, which get trapped in the gyre. Once there, both macro- and micro-plastics sit static, degrading over time from the sun’s heat which introduces chemicals to the water and increases chances of ingestion. Marine animals not only eat plastic, but get trapped in nets, bags, and other plastic pieces floating loosely on these masses. Entanglement of marine mammals can alter behavioral characteristics, like decreased success with foraging and limiting mobility, or cause physical stress, causing abrasions and asphyxiation. If the animal is unable to untangle itself, it will grow with the plastic around them which leads to increased stress and mortality.

Infographic for microplastics through food web — Microplastics through the food web

Infographic explaining symbols for microplastics through food web

Macro- and micro-plastics in water systems are mistaken for food throughout the trophic levels. Located at the bottom of the food web are zooplankton. They mistake microplastic as food items and consume them, which then are eaten by fish and crustaceans. Larger predators consume their prey items until there is nowhere left to go. This causes harm to multiple species since plastic uptake accumulates through the trophic levels, or where an organism is in the food chain like in Figure 3. Research observed an equal amount of microplastic intake compared to food items in cod located in northern Alaska. The cod are not getting the nutrients they need to survive, leading to decreased health, blocked intestinal systems, and ultimately increased mortalities. For animals who rely on cod to meet their dietary and nutritional needs, there is a lack of nourishment if the cod only eats plastic. This is such a common phenomenon that researchers now take plastic into consideration when building food webs, introducing new systems solely based on plastic movement through the ecosystem. Moving up the food web, marine birds are affected by microplastics as they eat fish and use them to feed their young. Like fish, birds can also mistake plastic pieces on the beach as prey. Marine birds take in food near the ocean’s surface, and studies dating back as far as the 1960s have shown plastic in their intestinal tracts. A study in 1969 documented stomach contents of 100 Laysan albatross (Diomedia immutabilis) carcasses. Approximately 94% of the objects were buoyant, with 30% being documented as plastic. In the span of 50 years, however, increased plastic means increased consumption and more species affected.

While humans do not consider themselves animals, they are part of the same food web all wildlife partakes in. Humans are high in the food chain, farming fish in artificial ponds similar to how cows are farmed for beef; this action is referred to as aquaculture. Aquatic food items are diet staples for some cultures, and tracing plastic through the food chain can help us find which, if any, specific marine species are microplastic sources. On small islands, humans use the soil itself as food, including it in spices, marinades, and bread. A study conducted in 2022 observed plastic in all soil samples on the island of Hormoz, located close to Iran. A significant amount of these plastics were fibrous materials that came from local or tourist clothing.

Single-use plastics break down over time, allowing microplastics to seep into our bodies and our ecosystems. Reusing plastic containers and bottles is harmful to a person’s health. The amount of microplastics in our waterways makes the simple act of consuming salt or drinking water from the tap hazardous, increasing one’s plastic intake. Research shows a single person ingests as much as millions of microplastics in a year, and a study conducted in 2021 found microplastics, a completely man-made material, inside women’s placentas. The plastics were linked to dyes, colorants, and stains that are found in finger paints, clothing, and air fresheners. We are contaminated before we are even born. Once inside the body, plastics break down and become part of the system, inhibiting metabolism and increasing obesity risk.

A picture of plastics in nature — It lasts longer than you think

Demand for plastic has been steadily rising across the globe since its creation in 1907. From the smallest creeks to the largest oceans, plastic is found in all water bodies. However, we see little improvement in recycling methods. Each type of plastic may require a different way to recycle it due to its chemical makeup. It is important we work more efficiently and effectively to control our plastic pollution. Increasing recycling centers as well as the efficiency of existing centers can decrease microplastic pollution. Organizations like Alliance for the Great Lakes can help clean up plastics already on coastlines and beaches. Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit organization, uses metal grates to catch debris in rivers, as well as patrol with nets in the ocean to catch stray rubbish. However, it is up to the individual to take the initiative as well. Whether it is a park, beach, or shopping mall, it is important to dispose of rubbish appropriately. Even if it is not yours, it would help the environment if you took it with you to throw it away in the proper receptacles. We must all do our part to keep the Earth plastic-free.

About the Author
Sara Dzialowy is an Aquarist Intern at OdySea Aquarium and a Master’s student in the Art of Biology through Project Dragonfly at Miami University-Ohio and Brookfield Zoo. With a focus on aquatic conservation and public education, she is passionate about inspiring others to protect marine life.

References

Alliance for the Great Lakes (n.d.) About Alliance for the Great Lakes. https://greatlakes.org/about/
Amiri, H., Hoseini, M., Abbasi, S., Malakootian, M., Hashemi, M., Jaafarzadeh, N., Turner, A. (2022). Geophagy and microplastic ingestion. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 106, 104290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2021.104290
Azzarello, M. Y., van Vleet, E. S. (1987). Marine birds and plastic pollution. Marine Ecology – Progress Series. 37. 295-303. https://www.int-res.com/articles/meps/37/m037p295.pdf
Baekeland, L. H. (1910). Bakelite, a condensation product of phenols and formaldehyde, and its uses. Journal of the Franklin Institute. 55-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0016-0032(10)90300-1
Baheti, P. (n.d.). How is plastic made? A simple step-by-step explanation. British Plastics Federation. https://www.bpf.co.uk/plastipedia/how-is-plastic-made.aspx
Bayo, J., Martinez, A., Guillen, M., Olmos, S., Roca, M. J., Alcolea, A. (2017). Microbeads in commercial facial cleansers: Threatening the environment. CLEAN – Soil, Air, Water. 45(7). https://doi.org/10.1002/clen.201600683
Butterworth, A. (2016). A review of the welfare impact on pinnipeds of plastic marine debris. Frontiers in Marine Science. 3. 149. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2016.00149
Diepens, N. J., Koelmans, A. A. (2018). Accumulation of plastic debris and associated contaminants in aquatic food webs. Environmental Science & Technology. 52. 8510-8520. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.edt.8b02515
Greenly, C., Gray, H., Wong, H., Chinn, S., Passmore, J., Johnson, P., Zaidi, Y. (2021). Observing and tracking the great Pacific garbage patch. Small Satellite Conference. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5096&context=smallsat
Iyare, P. U., Ouiki, S. K., Bond, T. (2020). Microplastics removal in wastewater treatment plants: a critical review. Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology. 6. 2664-2675. 10.1039/D0EW00397B
Kannan, K., Vimalkumar, K. (2021). A review of human exposure to microplastics and insights into microplastics as obesogens. Frontiers in Endocrinology. 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2021.724989
Kirstein, I., Gomiero, A., Vollertsen, J. (2021). Microplastic pollution in drinking water. Current Opinion in Toxicology. 28, 70-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cotox.2021.09.003
Nelms, S. E., Duncan, E. M., Patel, S., Badola, R., Bhola, S., Chakma, S., Chowdury, G. W., Godley, B. J., Haque, A. B., Johnson, J. A., Khatoon, H., Kumar, S., Napper, I. E., Niloy, M. N. H., Akter, T., Badola, S., Dev, A., Rawat, S., Santillo, D., Sarker, S., Sharma, E., Koldewey, H. (2021). Riverine plastic pollution from fisheries: Insights from the Ganges River System. Science of the Total Environment. 756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143305
Olmo-Gilabert, R., Fagiano, V., Alomar, C., Rios-Fuster, B., Compa, M., Deudero, S. (2024). Plastic webs, the new food: Dynamics of microplastics in a Mediterranean food web, key species as pollution sources and receptors. Science of the Total Environment. 918. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170719
Provencher, J. F., Borrelle, S. B., Bond, A. L., Lavers, J. L., van Franeker, J. A., Kuhn, S., Hammer, S., Avery-Gomm, S., Mallory, M. L. (2019). Recommended best practices for plastic and litter ingestion studies in marine birds: Collection, processing, and reporting. Facets. 4(1). 111-130. https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2018-0043
Ruiz, S. (2024). Giant nets to clean garbage from the ocean. The New Atlantis. 78. 86-88. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27332601
World Wildlife Fund Australia (2021) The lifecycle of plastics. https://wwf.org.au/blogs/the-lifecycle-of-plastics/
Yang, W. (2015). Through the gyre: A review on ocean plastic pollution in the great Pacific garbage patch. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 1-4.

Aquacultures & Fisheries

What the Fish Are Telling Us About Marine Biodiversity and Ocean Health Around Tenerife

Tenerife sits in the eastern Atlantic like a crossroads. Positioned roughly 300 kilometres off the northwest coast of Africa, the island intersects the paths of the Canary Current, warm subtropical surface waters, and the deep cold upwellings of the Atlantic basin. The result is one of the most ecologically productive marine environments in the northern hemisphere, a place where bluefin tuna from the Mediterranean share waters with tropical reef species and migratory whales from the polar ocean. What lives in these waters, and how those populations are changing, tells us something important about the health of the broader Atlantic system.

The Anatomy of an Exceptional Marine Environment

The waters around Tenerife support approximately 400 species of fish, a number that reflects the unusual convergence of marine provinces that the island straddles. [1] Its seafloor topography is dramatic: the island drops away steeply from the coast, reaching oceanic depths within just a few kilometres of shore. This proximity of shallow coastal habitat to very deep water creates conditions that support both reef-associated species and the large pelagic predators of the open ocean, sometimes within sight of the same beach.

In the deeper offshore waters, the Canary Islands are internationally recognised as one of the finest big game fishing destinations in the world, and for good reason. Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) pass through in their thousands between December and April, migrating northward toward Mediterranean spawning grounds. These are not small fish. Individuals regularly exceed 250 kilograms, and the largest bluefin recorded in these waters approach 450 kilograms. [2] Their spring passage coincides with dense schools of Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) and smaller baitfish that concentrate near the island, drawing the giants in from the open Atlantic.

Blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) and white marlin (Kajikia albida) are present from spring through autumn, the two billfish species that define Tenerife’s reputation among dedicated sport anglers. Spearfish (Tetrapturus belone) inhabit the deeper offshore trenches. Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri), and mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) complete a pelagic assemblage that few locations outside the tropics can match. [2]

Closer to shore, the volcanic reef structures support a different community. Atlantic amberjack (Seriola dumerili), barracuda (Sphyraena viridensis), grouper (Epinephelus spp.), and European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) inhabit the rocky substrates, alongside numerous wrasse species, bream, and moray eels. The deeper sandy bottoms, where slow-jigging techniques are most effective, hold species less visible to tourists but central to local gastronomy: red porgy (Pagrus pagrus), sargo (Diplodus sargus), and various sparids that have been fished by Canarian communities for centuries. [3]

Reading the Signals: What Is Changing

The richness of this marine environment is not static, and the signals coming from the water are mixed. On one hand, the resident cetacean populations tell a story of relative stability. Whale Watch Tenerife, which has logged cetacean sightings systematically since 2018, recorded 17 different species in both 2018 and 2023, with short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) present on nearly every survey day. [4] In 2025, orca sightings and encounters with fin whales were notable additions to the year’s record. [4] The continued presence of these apex predators is generally a positive indicator of ecosystem function.

On the other hand, the EU-funded OCEAN CITIZEN restoration project documented concerning trends at the base of the food web when it began its work on the island in 2024. Fish populations associated with rocky reef habitats have declined significantly compared to historical baselines. Seagrass meadows (Cymodocea nodosa), which serve as nurseries for juvenile fish and feeding grounds for sea turtles, have retreated across multiple coastal areas due to sedimentation, pollution, and rising water temperatures. Rocky reefs have been degraded by a combination of physical disturbance and the effects of ocean acidification. [5] These are not peripheral problems. Reef habitats and seagrass meadows are foundational to the productivity that ultimately supports the entire marine food web, from the smallest reef fish to the bluefin tuna and the pilot whales that hunt above them.

The Atlantic regulatory framework governing commercial fishing has also evolved. EU fisheries ministers, meeting in December 2025, set 2026 catch limits with 81 percent of total allowable catches in the northeast Atlantic at maximum sustainable yield levels — an improvement on previous years, though the failure to agree a mackerel quota for 2026 due to disputes with non-EU countries was a notable setback. [6] For sport and recreational fishing around Tenerife, a growing culture of catch and release has taken hold among charter operators, particularly for bluefin tuna, billfish, and other large pelagic species. Most reputable charters now apply mandatory release for bluefin tuna, reflecting both changing regulation and a shift in the values of visiting anglers. [3]

What the Fish Are Actually Telling Us

Marine ecosystems are exceptionally good at communicating ecological stress, if we know how to listen. The presence of 28 cetacean species, including year-round resident pilot whales, tells us that the deep-water food web west of Tenerife remains productive. The decline of reef fish populations and seagrass cover tells us that the shallower coastal zone is under sustained pressure from human activity. The continued migration of bluefin tuna past the island tells us that large-scale Atlantic management is beginning to take effect after decades of overfishing. The appearance of orcas and large baleen whales in 2025 tells us that the waters retain the biological richness to attract ocean wanderers from across the hemisphere.

Tenerife’s marine environment is neither pristine nor beyond recovery. It occupies a contested middle ground where genuinely exceptional natural heritage coexists with the pressures of one of Europe’s busiest tourist destinations. Paying attention to what lives here, in all its scientific specificity, is the first step toward deciding what kind of relationship the island will have with its sea.

Sources

Wikipedia: Tenerife — fauna and marine ecology
FishingBooker: Tenerife Fishing — The Complete Guide for 2026, fishingbooker.com, January 2026
FishingBooker: Canary Islands Fishing — The Complete Guide for 2026, fishingbooker.com
Whale Watch Tenerife: Tenerife Whale Watching Season — cetacean sighting data 2023-2025, whalewatchtenerife.org
OceanCitizen EU: Reclaiming Tenerife’s Ocean, oceancitizen.eu, September 2024
European Commission Oceans and Fisheries: Fisheries ministers agree fishing opportunities for 2026, December 2025, oceans-and-fisheries.ec.europa.eu

Feature Destination

Tenerife’s Whale Sanctuary and Coastal Ecosystem: Why the Teno-Rasca Marine Reserve Matters for the Atlantic

There are few places in Europe where you can watch a pod of short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) year-round from a small boat, barely twenty minutes from shore. Tenerife is one of them. The waters along the island’s southwestern coast host one of the most biodiverse marine corridors in the Atlantic, a stretch of deep, warm sea that has earned formal protection at both Spanish and European level — and a designation that no other place on the continent shares. Understanding what makes this ecosystem extraordinary is also, increasingly, a matter of understanding what threatens it.

A Marine Sanctuary Unlike Any Other in Europe

The Teno-Rasca Special Area of Conservation (ZEC Teno-Rasca) runs along roughly 80 kilometres of Tenerife’s western coastline, from the Teno Massif in the north to Punta Rasca in the south. It covers approximately 76,648 hectares of ocean, reaching depths of around 2,000 metres at its farthest southern point, and it forms the largest Special Area of Conservation in the Canary Islands within the European Natura 2000 network. [1]

What sets this stretch of water apart is geography. The island rises steeply from the ocean floor, and the deep underwater trenches close to shore create conditions that would normally only exist far out to sea: cold, nutrient-rich upwellings meeting warm surface waters, producing a dense food web that supports an exceptional concentration of marine life. Up to 28 species of cetaceans have been recorded here. [2] Most remarkable among them are the short-finned pilot whales, a resident population that does not migrate and can be reliably observed on almost any given day of the year, making Tenerife one of the very few places on Earth where this is possible. [3]

Alongside the pilot whales, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) maintain a permanent presence, while Atlantic spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis), striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), and occasional transient species such as fin whales, sperm whales, and orcas are recorded seasonally. Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) and green turtles (Chelonia mydas) inhabit the waters throughout the year, and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) are occasional visitors. [1]

Beneath the surface, the seabed is equally rich. The reserve contains sandbanks, rocky reefs, marine caves, and extensive meadows of seagrass known locally as sebadales — underwater prairies of Cymodocea nodosa that function as nurseries for juvenile fish, feeding grounds for sea turtles, and significant carbon sinks. These habitats are listed under the EU Habitats Directive as priority ecosystems requiring active conservation. [1]

In January 2021, the World Cetacean Alliance formally designated the Tenerife-La Gomera marine area as Europe’s first Whale Heritage Site, and the third in the world, recognising not only the ecological richness of the zone but also the island’s commitment to responsible marine tourism practices. [2] Mission Blue, the ocean conservation organisation founded by marine biologist Sylvia Earle, has also declared the area a Hope Spot in support of further protection efforts. [1]

Why the Coastal Crisis Threatens What the Reserve Protects

Recognition and legal protection do not automatically translate into good environmental outcomes, and the Teno-Rasca reserve exists within a broader coastal context that is under serious pressure. Tenerife welcomed 16.3 million visitors in 2025, and the strain that level of tourism places on the island’s infrastructure is becoming visible in its waters. [4]

The same coastline that contains Europe’s whale sanctuary also borders one of Spain’s most troubled wastewater management systems. Environmental NGO Ecologistas en Acción documented that approximately 57 million litres of wastewater are discharged into Canary Islands seas every single day, and the Court of Justice of the European Union formally condemned Spain in late 2025 for failing to adequately treat urban wastewater, identifying at least 12 critical locations on Tenerife alone. [5] While the worst contamination has been concentrated in the north and south of the island rather than in the heart of the marine reserve itself, discharges of this scale and consistency create cumulative effects across an interconnected ocean system. Microplastics, pharmaceutical residues, and nutrient pollution from sewage all move with currents, affecting the entire marine corridor.

The EU-funded OCEAN CITIZEN project, which selected Tenerife as its primary pilot site for marine restoration in 2024, has documented what decades of compounding pressures have already done: once-thriving fish populations have declined significantly, rocky reefs have been damaged, and seagrass meadows have retreated in several areas of the island due to a combination of pollution, overfishing, and rising ocean temperatures. [6] The project is working to address these losses through seagrass replanting, coral restoration including gorgonians and black coral populations, drone-based monitoring, and community engagement programmes designed to connect local residents to the conservation process.

There is also a contested infrastructure question. For several years, plans have existed to construct a new commercial port at Fonsalía, a location that sits within the Teno-Rasca conservation zone. Critics, including the international marine conservation organisation OceanCare, argue that the project was only made possible because the relevant coastal section was cut out of the protected area designation, not because it was less biodiverse. Local civic groups have organised in opposition under the name Plataforma Ciudadana Salvar Fonsalía. [7] The outcome of this dispute will have direct implications for the ecological integrity of Europe’s flagship whale sanctuary.

The Bigger Picture

Tenerife’s marine environment represents something genuinely irreplaceable in a European context. A resident population of pilot whales, 28 recorded cetacean species, seagrass meadows, deep-water reefs, and sea turtles, all within 12 nautical miles of a major tourist island, is a combination that exists nowhere else on the continent. The Teno-Rasca designation, the Whale Heritage Site status, and the OCEAN CITIZEN restoration programme all reflect a serious scientific and institutional recognition of what is at stake.

What is needed now is the political and economic will to match those designations with real infrastructure investment, consistent enforcement, and honest public communication about the health of these waters. The sea does not lie. And the pilot whales, whose ancestors have made this coastal channel their home for longer than any human record, are paying attention.

Sources

Teno-Rasca Marine Strip Special Area of Conservation overview, TenerifeDolphin.com and TenerifeWhaleWatching.com
AD Boat Rental: Tenerife — Europe’s First Whale Sanctuary, adboatrental.com
Whale Watch Tenerife, whale watching season data 2023-2025, whalewatchtenerife.org
Timeout: Tenerife Is Investing €81 Million Into A Massive Coastal Clean Up, timeout.com, March 2026
BritBrief: Health alert for Canary Islands — tourists warned about beach water pollution, britbrief.co.uk, January 2026
OceanCitizen EU: Reclaiming Tenerife’s Ocean, oceancitizen.eu, September 2024
OceanCare: Whales and Dolphins Off Tenerife in Danger, oceancare.org

Issue 131 - April 2026

Small Islands and the Currents of Change: A Case Study on Ocean Literacy Through Storytelling in the Caribbean

Katrina Khan-Roberts as Mertrina the mermaid holding ocean literacy children's books alongside fellow Caribbean authors at a book fair in Trinidad and Tobago — *Katrina Khan-Roberts as Mertrina alongside fellow Caribbean authors at a community book fair in Trinidad and Tobago, showcasing Mertrina’s ocean literacy book series for children.*

There is more to see on a small island than just sun, sea and sand. I know I caught you with those ‘s’ words, but, alas, we now meet the ‘s’ word that so deters many of us. Science. There is so much science at play in small islands, qualitative and quantitative. As a young girl visiting the beach of my island home, I could see in short time-frames how my favourite place was changing. Shells swapped for plastic caps, wildlife disappearing and simply the taste of the sea water changing from what it was. I felt so helpless, seeing all this happening and not being able to do anything about it.

As I got older the talk of the time was ‘global warming’ and I came up with crazy, nonsensical ideas about refrigerating the perimeter of the ice caps, super condensing forests and even harnessing energy from active volcanoes… Well, maybe not all of the ideas were crazy but in the mind of a 10 year old in the 90’s from a country without internet at that time and leaders who prioritized oil and gas, they were. I also loved Mermaids, so the people around me didn’t take my imaginings seriously.

I learned by living. This is something very distant now, children have all the answers at the tip of their thumbs and only a scroll or keyword away. In my youth, my imagination brought me closer to understanding. As I got older still, I realized that learning is different for everyone, and education without entertainment is definitely less engaging.

Time flowed on, just like water, and I fulfilled the childhood dream of an academic career in the natural sciences with Marine Biology being a focus. I then diversified into the social sciences, finding myself enjoying the fusion of fields, realizing I had a knack for blending many different skillsets. It seems my imagination picked up these capacities and I had an epiphany. When I brought together my art, scientific academics and childhood dreams, I was able to create Mertrina, a mermaid character that bridges ocean literacy and fantasy.

I learned from the children I interacted with that the Ocean has grown into even more of an unknown, even more unreachable and unfathomable than when I was little, even when the coast is a few minutes drive away. We see the ocean every day as Islanders yet we are disconnected from it. We don’t even know how to swim. Our education system is focused on academia, and sometimes the day is so full we don’t get the time to even imagine. I thought about my own childhood and how meeting a mermaid talking about the ocean and how to protect it would have impacted me. Through different books with different writing styles and presentation of the same science, I felt I could reach every type of learner.

The reality of a grown woman creating something quirky is one not very accepted in many societies. No one sees the struggle as a graduate to find employment, the constant short term contracts and patriarchal workplace systems. There is a great deal of competition, as well as corruption, and archaic perceptions, that bar capable and competent women and dare I say mothers, from being adequately employed. I was always under qualified, over qualified or expecting, all barriers to securing a job apparently. In order to survive, desperation becomes the catalyst and from it anything is possible. Thus at age 30, Mertrina the Mini Marine Biologist Mermaid was brought into the world.

With Children in Mermaid Tails — *Katrina Khan-Roberts and young ocean explorers on a Trinidad coastline.*

My hope is to bring wonder back, to connect everyone, not just children, to the water. Juggling everything is never easy, but I do hope to be able to find a balance that will allow me to attain at least a little stability in this unstable human world. We must reconnect with nature, understand where our ecosystem services are coming from and try to conserve our natural resources. I advocate widely for nature based solutions and the integration of local indigenous traditions and knowledge in these activities. Through poetry, visual art and storytelling, we can transform behaviours and change the trajectory of the decline we are seeing first hand.

Mertrina lives in the Caribbean Sea, but as we know all water is connected so we don’t know where she will visit one day! Sea you soon!