The Case of The Blue Lobster...

I recently found out that there is such a thing as a Blue Lobster! Who knew that? I've been working on a few illustrations inspired by the Ocean, I mentioned this to someone who said she had once seen a blue lobster washed up on the shore. Although I appreciated that the Ocean is incredibly biodiverse, with coastal eco-systems supporting people, wildlife and the climate...I had never heard of a Blue Lobster!

With a deeper dive into researching the subject (sorry pun intended) I found out some surprising facts about our oceans...including that Blue Lobsters actually do exist. Apparently a rare sight with approximately only one in two million having this genetic abnormality which causes them to have an electric blue hue. If you spot one they are considered lucky,  especially with Fishermen who consider catching one a good omen.

Here are five other facts that you may or may not know about our Oceans;

1. 70% of our planet is covered by Oceans, providing half of the Earth's oxygen.
2. According to UNESCO.org only 5% of our Seas have been explored and charted by humans, especially it's darkest depths, we know more about outer space than we do our seas.
3. 90% of goods used around the world are transported across the Ocean in over 200 million shipping containers a year!  That fact by the WWF really made me pause for thought.
4. Another sad fact of human making - it is estimated that 60-95% of plastic pollution in our oceans comes from single use plastics - (source WWF)
5. On a more positive note 135,000 common eelgrass seeds were planted by 95 volunteers on three beaches in the Firth of Forth in 2024 to help restore its seagrass beds an important natural solution to help with climate crisis. 

On the listening front, whilst there is nothing like listening to waves on the shore,  in the Studio... I did a little digging around to find a track that would be suitable inspiration...there is Led Zepplin's 'The Ocean'...too obvious? Yes, I thought so too. Then I got thinking about Haevn and 'The Sea' from their Eyes Closed album, however, my choice for this week has to be from 1991 'Closer to the Truth' by Tony Joe White  - I just love this song, especially the line " And who's gonna tell the children, How the rivers used to flow crystal blue..."

However small a change or habit we can make, I believe collectively it all helps to save our Oceans.
Thanks as always for reading this far.