We need to respect the oceans and take care of them as if our lives depended on it. Because they do.

Why is it that scuba divers and surfers are some of the strongest advocates of ocean conservation? Because they've spent time in and around the ocean, and they've personally seen the beauty, the fragility, and even the degradation of our planet's blue heart.

There are now more than 4,000 places in the sea around the world that have some kind of protection. The bad news: You have to look hard to find them. What you find instead is destructive fishing, mining, gas and oil exploration.

If the sea is sick, we'll feel it. If it dies, we die. Our future and the state of the oceans are one.

We have been far too aggressive about extracting ocean wildlife, not appreciating that there are limits and even points of no return.

We have the capacity to alter the nature of nature. No, we don't have just the capacity - we are altering the nature of nature, the natural systems that cause the planet to function in our favor.

The next 10 years could be the most important in the next 10,000.