The ocean provides food for billions of people. But even those who don't touch seafood and never set foot on a beach are connected to the ocean. The ocean is so integral to our climate that declining ocean health will fuck with every single person on this planet in some way.

Marine protected areas affect the lives of countless people. I could even argue, as MPA affect the global climate, they influence everyone.

Colorful fish swimming over just as colorful coral or hiding between the roots of mangrove forests. The coastal ecosystems have long fascinated humans. They are the part of the ocean most people stand a chance to interact with, to see, to explore.

If I told you there was a simple way to increase human well-being, alleviate poverty, lower inequality, facilitate adaption against climate change, increase catch for fishers, and grow larger fish that reproduce a lot, you'd probably call me a dreamer.

Gently gliding through the waters, rays look peaceful and calming. As close relatives of the sharks, this shows how arbitrarily humans prescribe characteristics to animals. Rays are calm and majestic, sharks are dangerous killers. And then, the very first topic I find during my research is shark abortions. Yes, shark abortions. But let's start at the beginning.

Scientists and activists have been yelling to protect the ocean. There is even a rise in demand for action from the general public. Politicians keep signing pledges. Clearly, ocean protection is a big deal. But what's the state of things? Where are we and where do we need to go?

From humpback whales feeding on tiny life to crabs living on plastic islands, there is a lot of life on and near the ocean surface. Today, we'll talk about the upper layer of the ocean: the Sunlight Zone, with all the life it has to offer.

There are two groups of jawless fishes, and I can't even decide which one is creepier: the lampreys or hagfishes?

The short version is that lampreys are fish with mouths that don't have a jaw but rings and rings of teeth. They feed on blood and tissues, which probably loses them quite a few sympathy points for most people. Hagfish are more eel-shaped and fucking slimy. Seriously, whatever slimiest experience you've had, it's probably nothing in comparison.

So, let's dive in and find out why these creeps are actually pretty fucking cool:

The ocean is huge. The open ocean is a pretty vast space with a whole lot of what feels like nothing. But there's a lot more life there than you think--and, don't worry, I'm not talking about plankton.

What's a fish? Sounds like a simple question, right? Unless we are talking about your dinner, figuring out what a fish actually is, might be a lot harder than you think. After all, a seahorse is a fish but a whale isn't. So, what the duck is a fish?