Think of the last headline you saw about the oceans. Was it about microplastics? Depleting fish stocks maybe? Or climate-breakdown induced sea level rise? Whatever it was, it was likely not something particularly cheering. “The things that we tend to focus on when we think about oceans and human health are the bad things,” says Claire Eatock, a research project manager at the University of Exeter. “Like when we have an algal bloom and everybody gets sick, or when we have an oil spill, and it affects all the wildlife, or when there’s overfishing.”
But what about the benefits that oceans provide for us? The boost to mental health and wellbeing that a seaside excursion can have; eating sustainably-caught fish and seafood in line with the seasons, just as we’re told to do with produce; or how tourists can contribute to citizen science. “There is this intuitive sense that being by the coast is good for us,” says Eatock, but there isn’t much research to back that up.”
One way to address this is to first understand where the research gaps are. Eatock was the project manager for a pan-European project, based out of the University of Exeter with eight international partners, that aimed to do just that, as well as provide a space for academics working on public health and oceans, to collaborate. “We’ve got great research going on around oceans, great research going on in public health and medicine,” says Lora Fleming, the principal investigator for the project, “and they’re not talking to each other.”
Called Seas, Oceans and Public Health in Europe (Sophie), the three-year EU Horizon 2020-funded project culminated in 2020 with a “strategic research agenda”, led by the European Marine Board. This comprehensive document “outlines the research needed to answer fundamental questions in the field of oceans and human health” and also includes a meta-analysis of existing research around oceans and human health. Its findings could inform future European policy and potential research funding.
The Sophie strategic research agenda concentrated on three key areas: sustainable seafood for healthy people; “blue spaces”, tourism and wellbeing; and marine biodiversity, medicine and biotechnology. Its list of recommendations for further investigation is extensive, everything from how microbial and chemical pollution affects the health of marine ecosystems and human health through consumption, to understanding the physical and mental benefits of interacting with coastal areas.
In terms of the effects of interacting with the marine environment on human health, Fleming says there are big gaps in our knowledge. When the team conducted a literature review, which looked for any analysis of human health effects as a result of marine exposures, it turned up very little. “For plastic pollution, we found only one paper that showed an actual human health outcome,” she says. Given the huge amount of media coverage of ocean plastic, this blindspot is surprising. It highlights the need for a more joined-up approach between disciplines, something recent research out of the University of Exeter’s Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science points to as well.
This particular study, published in Trends in Microbiology last year, looked at the prevalence of sea-surface plastics in areas of intensive aquaculture. The team found hotspots within these aquaculture zones, where microplastic concentration was high. It is known to scientists that antimicrobial resistant bacteria and other pathogens can live on microplastic surfaces, but critical questions remain in understanding the effects on human health and marine ecosystems that these pathogens present. For example, bivalves such as mussels or oysters are filter-feeders and can take in microplastics. But what happens when these species are eaten by humans? Further research in this area is paramount, say the authors of the study.
A deeper understanding is also needed around the benefits to health that time spent in and around the sea can provide. Josep Lloret, a professor of marine biology at the University of Girona, is trying to fill that gap through his work as the Roses Oceans and Human Health chair. The University of Exeter was involved in setting it up and Lloret sat on Sophie’s expert panel.
Founded in Roses, a town in the Catalan region of Spain, the chair fosters knowledge and partnership between regional stakeholders involved in oceans and human health. This Mediterranean area has a rich history of fishing, tourism and seafaring, and thus provides an ideal place to study how these industries can work together for positive health outcomes. For instance, Lloret is currently coordinating a social prescribing study with cancer patients, alongside physician Eva Fontdecaba. “We bring them to the sea and we analyse mental health aspects before and after doing [certain activities].” There are 40 patients participating and they do activities such as snorkelling, swimming and walking along the beach.
Understanding in a scientifically robust way, the benefits to health and wellbeing that a trip to the seaside can have, could be hugely helpful to the medical community and wider society, explains Eatock. Alongside Sophie, a sister project called H2020 Blue Health, also out of the University of Exeter, is tackling these questions. “How do people living by the coast feel? And on a practical level, is the antidepressant bill lower?” says Eatock. “If you linked these things properly, you could potentially save really large amounts of money.”
Whether it’s through eating nutritious seafood or feeling a sense of peace after taking a coastal stroll, the health benefits provided by our oceans are potentially immeasurable. Similarly vast are the ways humanity has adversely affected marine creatures and systems. “A healthy ocean is integral to our health and wellbeing,” says Fleming. So if we exploit the ocean to the detriment of its health, it comes back to haunt us.”
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