Becoming an ocean ambassador is now easier than ever before. You don’t have to be a marine biologist or award-winning scientist to take action! And it has a huge impact! You have the power to change the world! Let me guide you through the steps to be an ocean ambassador.
What is an ocean ambassador?
An ocean ambassador can be seen as a spokesperson that loves and cherishes the ocean. And that takes the required steps to protect that environment through actions and communication.
Yes, it is that simple! At OceanVibration, our motto is to share positive information through images, posts, and videos. Positive information has a much greater long-term impact than negative ones. You can create a snowball effect with a simple post. When you change one person and that person changes another, it gets the ball rolling!
Social media influencing
Social media has a bad rep.! We are all aware of that! But this is where you come in. You can flood the social media space with great positive information.
This is especially true nowadays with the new AI used in TikTok or Instagram. You are being suggested more and more content from people you don’t follow. This will allow you to create some space on the internet for people to discover the information you share.
Check out our social media network and the action we take on them:
You have a great choice of communication and can just choose the one that you enjoy the most. We cover everything from underwater pictures, drone shot, and videos. But, you can just focus on the right one for you!
Posting pictures
I really love posting pictures! It is an incredible feeling that you get when you are able to capture a magical instant!
As an ocean ambassador, what you can communicate through pictures is priceless. A great picture equals a thousand words.
This incredible picture by Norbert Rosing on climate change talks for itself. With a single picture like this, you can sensibilize a thousand people!
We post only pictures that promote interest and amazement for the ocean. It is our way of communication. We believe that you can’t protect what you don’t know, therefore we share the love.
Which type of pictures should you post as an ocean ambassador?
There is no right and wrong here unless it goes against the ultimate aim. Some good ideas would be:
- Positive shark-human interaction: sharks need our love the most. You can change the horrible picture that people have of them;
- Underwater macro photography: you will have a ton of fun doing that. Just chasing the shot is a blast in itself! Furthermore, you can share a world that is not easily accessible to many;
- Reefscape: reefs are going through hell! When you take and post pictures of a beautiful reefscape, it allows people to see what it ‘should’ actually look like. Many see the underwater world as it is today and think that is the way it is supposed to be. Open their eyes to what it should really be!
Posting underwater videos
You don’t need to be a professional underwater cameraman to shoot amazing videos underwater anymore! Action cameras like the GoPro made shooting underwater really accessible to anyone. You can film while snorkeling, swimming, and scuba diving. Scuba diving offers the best opportunity to shoot underwater videos.
Which type of videos should you post as an ocean ambassador?
Underwater videos are just awesome to watch whatever you are filming. It really allows the viewer to submerge him/herself with you in the ocean. Here the idea is very different from photos in my opinion.
Underwater videos allow you to share an experience; to make someone feel what it is like to be in the ocean. It is also the best means of communication in regard to animal behavior. It is not as easy to find specific animals underwater, let alone observe their behavior. And this is where you come in!
As there are many types of videos you can shoot, let us look at some of the more specific ones:
- Reefscapes: you can really allow the viewers to immerse themselves in the most thriving underwater environment;
- Macro videos: this speciality type of underwater video is the most jawdropping. You can film what some can’t even see with ther bare eyes;
- Marnie animals behavior: you can showcase the behavior of certain animals providing never seen before behavior;
- Wide-angle videos: wide-angle videos allows you to
Citizen science
Citizen science is one of the most powerful scientific data gathering tools available nowadays. It uses the power of a flattened world through the communication of data by anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Citizen science is when in a science project or program volunteers who are not scientists conduct surveys, take measurements, or record observations. This allows the project to open up to another level of information gathering.
Imagine doing a research project on whale sharks migration patterns. First of all, scientists can only be at one place at one time. Second, the cost of traveling, organizing and so often is astronomical! And this is where you come in as a citizen scientist!
If we take the example above, you can maybe already see how you can contribute to scientific data gathering. Let’s say for example that you go on a boat trip with some friends and come across a whale shark. All you need to do is to grab a shot of the shark’s left side between the gill and the dorsal fin. This picture shows the patterns on the shark’s skin and is used as a unique identification reference. Then; just submit your picture for identification!
Turn you passion into protection
As an ocean ambassador, you can contribute by doing any sport or activity in the sea. The most obvious sports where you can do that are scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming. That is mainly because of the time spent in the water in one single session and the increased chance of an encounter.
But those are not the only ways to participate and protect the ocean. As we have seen above, even when on a boat, you can make a difference. You can do the same on a kayak or stand-up paddle.
Furthermore, the best way to share good quality information is to immerse yourself 100% in your passion. If you are a surfer, you can learn about reefs and reef ecosystems. You can also learn about sharks and shark behavior. Only then can you share good and accurate information about your sport as an ocean ambassador.
