1. “The most important part is to take on the challenge of protecting the ocean as if your life depends on it-because it does.” – Sylvia A. Earle
2. “I can still feel that leap of enthusiasm, and real joy, at the prospect of finally getting out to the beach, and running around. But probably the most important thing, to me, aside from just the freedom of it and the power of it, was the kind of creatures that you could see along the beach, that you can’t find anywhere else.” – Sylvia Earle” – Sylvia A. Earle
3. “It has taken about four billion years for living systems, mostly in the sea, to transform the lifeless ingredients of early Earth into the Eden that makes our lives possible, and less than a century for us to destabilize those rhythms.” – Sylvia A. Earle
4. “What we must do is encourage a sea change in attitude, one that acknowledges that we are a part of the living world, not apart from it.” – Sylvia A. Earle
5. “Many of us ask what can I, as one person, do, but history shows us that everything good and bad starts because somebody does something or does not do something,” – Sylvia A. Earle
6. “We are going to change the world from this point onward, one way or another. Either from what we do, or what we fail to do.” – Sylvia A. Earle
7. “Sharks are beautiful animals, and if you’re lucky enough to see lots of them, that means that you’re in a healthy ocean. You should be afraid if you are in the ocean and don’t see sharks.” – Sylvia A. Earle
8. “Places change over time with or without oil spills, but humans are responsible for the Deepwater Horizon gusher – and humans, as well as the corals, fish and other creatures, are suffering the consequences.” – Sylvia A. Earle
9. “When I first ventured into the Gulf of Mexico in the 1950s, the sea appeared to be a blue infinity too large, too wild to be harmed by anything that people could do.” – Sylvia A. Earle
10. “We still have 10 percent of the sharks. We still have half of the coral reefs. However, if we wait another 50 years, opportunities might well be gone.” – Sylvia A. Earle
11. “Far and away the biggest threat to the ocean is ignorance. It’s a lack of understanding that what we put in, what we take out matters—not just to the ocean, but matters to us. The ocean cannot be regarded as the planet’s ultimate dumpster or the ultimate place to get free food.” – Sylvia A. Earle
12. “The Exxon Valdez spill triggered a swift and strong response that changed policies about shipping, about double-hulled construction. A number of laws came into place.” – Sylvia A. Earle
13. “I love music of all kinds, but there’s no greater music than the sound of my grandchildren laughing; my kids, too.” – Sylvia A. Earle
14. “The best scientists and explorers have the attributes of kids! They ask question and have a sense of wonder. They have curiosity. ‘Who, what, where, why, when, and how!’ They never stop asking questions, and I never stop asking questions, just like a five year old.” – Sylvia A. Earle
15. “Success underwater depends mostly on how you conduct yourself. Diving can be the most relaxing experience in the world. Your weight seems to disappear. Space travel will be available only to a few individuals for some time, but the oceans are available to almost everyone – now.” – Sylvia A. Earle
16. “We’re still under the weight of this impression that the ocean is too big to fail, that the planet is too big to fail.” – Sylvia A. Earle
17. “I hope for your help to explore and protect the wild ocean in ways that will restore the health and, in so doing, secure hope for humankind. Health to the ocean means health for us.” – Sylvia A. Earle
18. “Ice ages have come and gone. Coral reefs have persisted.” – Sylvia A. Earle
19. “Everybody can make choices that will make peace with the natural world.” – Sylvia A. Earle
20. “Forty percent of the United States drains into the Mississippi. It’s agriculture. It’s golf courses. It’s domestic runoff from our lawns and roads. Ultimately, where does it go? Downstream into the gulf.” – Sylvia A. Earle
21. “Thanks to generations of curious, daring, intrepid explorers of the past, we may know enough, soon enough, to chart safe passage for ourselves far into the future.” – Sylvia A. Earle
22. “Our job is to keep what is working intact and not destroy what we have got.” – Sylvia A. Earle
23. “Health to the ocean means health for us.” – Sylvia A. Earle
24. “Let’s talk trash…. Only we humans make waste that nature can’t digest.” – Sylvia A. Earle
25. “This much is certain: We have the power to damage the sea, but no sure way to heal the harm.” – Sylvia A. Earle
26. “If the sea is sick, we’ll feel it. If it dies, we die. Our future and the state of the oceans are one.” – Sylvia A. Earle
27. “You should ask where your food is coming from.” – Sylvia A. Earle
28. “I suggest to everyone: Look in the mirror. Ask yourself: Who are you? What are your talents? Use them, and do what you love.” – Sylvia A. Earle
29. “With knowing comes caring.” – Sylvia A. Earle
30. “Like a shipwreck or a jetty, almost anything that forms a structure in the ocean, whether it is natural or artificial over time, collects life.” – Sylvia A. Earle
31. “Humans are the only creatures with the ability to dive deep in the sea, fly high in the sky, send instant messages around the globe, reflect on the past, assess the present and imagine the future.” – Sylvia A. Earle
32. “Our near and distant predecessors might be forgiven for exterminating the last woolly mammoth, the ultimate dodo, the final sea cow, and the last living monk seal for lack of understanding the consequences of their actions. But who will forgive us if we fail to learn from past and present experiences, to forge new values, new relationships, a new level of respect for the natural systems that keep us alive?” – Sylvia A. Earle
33. “Even if you never have the chance to see or touch the ocean, the ocean touches you with every breath you take, every drop of water you drink, every bite you consume. Everyone, everywhere is inextricably connected to and utterly dependent upon the existence of the sea. Early” – Sylvia A. Earle
34. “Use your power to do whatever it takes to secure for humankind an enduring place on this little blue speck in the universe – our only hope.” – Sylvia A. Earle
35. “Every time I slip into the ocean, it’s like going home.” – Sylvia A. Earle
36. “There’s plenty of water in the universe without life, but nowhere is there life without water.” – Sylvia A. Earle
37. “Knowing is the key to caring, and with caring there is hope that people will be motivated to take positive actions. They might not care even if they know, but they can’t care if they are unaware.” – Sylvia A. Earle
38. “No water, no life. No blue, no green.” – Sylvia A. Earle
39. “Our past, our present, and whatever remains of our future, absolutely depend on what we do now.” – Sylvia A. Earle
40. “With respect to the ocean being the heart of our blue planet: We are often asked, ‘How much protection is enough?’ We can only answer with another question: How much of your heart is worth protecting?” – Sylvia A. Earle
41. “If you think the ocean isn’t important, imagine Earth without it. Mars comes to mind. No ocean, no life support system.” – Sylvia A. Earle
42. “The oceans deserve our respect and care, but you have to know something before you can care about it.” – Sylvia A. Earle
43. “Most of life on Earth has a deep past, much deeper than ours. And we have benefited from the distillation of all preceding history, call it evolutionary history if you will.” – Sylvia A. Earle
44. “We need to respect the oceans and take care of them as if our lives depended on it. Because they do.” – Sylvia A. Earle
45. “I want everybody to go jump in the ocean to see for themselves how beautiful it is, how important it is to get acquainted with fish swimming in the ocean, rather than just swimming with lemon slices and butter.” – Sylvia A. Earle
46. “Everyone has power. But it doesn’t help if you don’t use it.” – Sylvia A. Earle
47. “The single non-negotiable thing life requires is water.” – Sylvia A. Earle
48. “With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea. No matter where on Earth you live.” – Sylvia A. Earle
49. “Knowledge is the key to making a difference.” – Sylvia A. Earle
50. “I’ve always said, ‘Underwater or on top, men and women are compatible.’” – Sylvia A. Earle