Time - USA (2022-04-25)

96 TIME April 25/May 2, 2022

that can generate income for our na-

tions and communities, but they have

to work hand in hand. At the end, it’s

not a Planet Earth; it’s a Planet Ocean.

Can’t some of this go too far,

though? Take ecotourism: Do you

worry about too much of a good

thing, as with the Galápagos? You

need to fi gure out your carrying ca-

pacity, like how many tourists can

you have before it goes overboard

and it’s not good for anybody. On the

other hand, some of the tour groups

that swim with mantas go out with

fi eld sheets and collect data on where

they are seeing the mantas and what

time they encountered them and

what they were doing.

The oceans are an afterthought

to many people. You either don’t

live near one, or if you do, you

may think of it as so huge that we

couldn’t possibly hurt it. How do

you wake people up to the dam-

age we can do? The challenge is, as

terrestrial creatures, we just see the

ocean as this blue mat. But you have

to understand everything that’s tak-

ing place under the mat, this huge

diversity of life. Every drop of water

has life in it. And we also have to

understand that we depend on the

ocean, that it aff ects climate, that it

makes our planet habitable.

Is there a recent moment in your

work that was especially memo-

rable or moving to you—that made

you grateful to have the job you

do? Recently we had an art webinar

with kids and we had a local fi sher-

man join. And the faces of the kids

talking to the fi sherman for the

fi rst time were like they were talk-

ing to an astronaut. They were ask-

ing, “What are you cooking? What

are you doing?” It’s those tiny things

that transform me.

—JEFFREY KLUGER

What is the focus of your group
Planeta Océano? We work in marine
conservation, engaging and empow-
ering local communities, from kids to
teachers to fi shermen to government
offi cials to companies. And we’re
bringing them together to protect the
oceans through research, education,
and sustainable development.

You mention fishermen, but they
would seem to be a natural enemy
of a group like yours. How do
you work together? Our fl agship
manta ray protection project is a
good example. Fishermen were re-
porting giant mantas getting entan-
gled in fi shing nets, and when that
happens, it’s not just the manta that
gets harmed, it’s the fi shing liveli-
hoods. So we work with them and
talk to them about how to avoid that.
Some of the fi shermen collect data
for us. When sea turtles are acciden-
tally caught, the fi shermen would
just consume the meat, but one of
them took to measuring the turtles
and releasing them, and his col-
leagues would approach him and say,
“That looks cool. Can I help?”

There seems to be a particular
place in your heart for manta rays.
How come? They’re these magi-
cal, majestic creatures. Your fi rst
encounter with a manta, you’ll re-
member forever. They’re also super
intelligent. They have a very large
brain size, and they’ll come and look
at you with their huge eyes.

You frequently use the term blue
economy. What does that mean?
It’s a fairly recent trend in which
we’re talking about the ocean as a
space where a lot of sectors are op-
erating: fi shing, tourism, coastal
development, ports, shipping—up
to 80% of what we ship interna-
tionally goes through the ocean. So
there’s all these diff erent activities

Who are the bad

guys in your

work? Is there

any group that

you think of as

a particular foe

or challenge?

10 QUESTIONS

Kerstin Forsberg The Peruvian marine

biologist on our ocean planet, working with

fi shermen, and the miracle of manta rays

FRANÇOIS SCHAER—ROLEX