Abstract

Through ethnographic/narrative interviews with sea stewards, this paper reviews the findings of research on the significance of an ‘aquatic nature religion’ in the lives of these sea-connected individuals. ‘Deep blue’ examines their relationship with the marine environment on a physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual plane, and as the sea stewards dive into the watery depths, dance with waves, or try to stop illegal whaling in the southern ocean, they are confronted with the ocean’s power and their own mortality, as well as to the extent of ecological devastation. What drives them to protect the sea and what sustains them in their quest? The ocean is ‘alien space’ for humans, but sea stewards feel at home here. To explore their feelings, the paper uses Bourdieu’s notion of social capital, and proposes an ‘ecosocial capital’, reflecting the rich links between human health and wellbeing and environmental health and wellbeing and sustainability. There is surprisingly little research on blue connections, indicating perhaps the ‘ordinariness’ of watery connections as places to walk the dog or have magical holidays, but with tales of diving into kelp forests, restoring sea meadows beneath the surface, swimming with whales and skimming on waves, the sea stewards help shift the emphasis on green, to blue and green - through their stories with place, spirituality, activism and wellbeing.