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- You know, at a time in human history
where we seem extremely divided,
you know, what we can take away
from the lessons in the ocean
is that cultural diversity is extremely important
to our survival, whether that's above or below the surface.
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The one big thing I've learned
by spending thousands of hours
in the company of sperm whales
is the power of a community and the strength of a family.
And you know, really familiar values
like love your grandmother,
learn from her lessons
because she's probably done it before you.
Spend time with your siblings,
because eventually they move away.
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But importantly also, you know,
respect different solutions to everyday problems.
You know, your neighbors
might have a different way of living,
a different set of solutions
of how to survive in the world that we live in,
but maybe some of those secrets
are actually really valuable to you.
And that diversity, that cultural diversity,
you know, how we learn from each other
is critically important to these sperm whales.
(bright upbeat music)
You know, I think a lot of people in the world
recognize how important the vast forests are for us,
you know, spread all over the planet,
they help us breathe and recycle the carbon dioxide
that we breathe out or produce through our industry.
But the ocean is actually a really key part of that too.
You know, they say every other breath you take
comes from the ocean.
And the sperm whales are a key part of this whale pump
that moves nutrients up and down
from the deep to the shallows
and allows these phytoplankton blooms
to really lock up carbon in the surface waters.
So you know, when we think about the fact
that, you know, human whaling reduced just the sperm whales
down to, you know, maybe a quarter
of what they were before whaling,
we've lost 3/4 of our carbon pump
in that one species.
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One of the main threats facing sperm whales right now
is marine debris.
So whether that's leftover nets from our fishing
or plastic pollution in general,
virtually no sperm whale that's washed ashore
in the last number of years hasn't been full of plastics.
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We need to create sort of bigger views
and bigger definitions of us.
We collectively can make big changes,
but it starts with believing in
and trusting in the people that live next to us,
whether they're humans or whales.
(bright upbeat music)