More data is available now than ever before about the rapidly accelerating threats to ocean health and the solutions for addressing those threats. Our Shared Seas collects this data and packages it in ways that support ocean conservation policy, practice, and philanthropy. Our purpose is to move beyond documenting challenges facing the ocean and to advance dialogue and decision-making around evidence-based solutions for the ocean.
How to use this site
Our Shared Seas offers:
- Threat Primers provide an orientation to the threats facing the ocean and recent trendlines by issue area
- Solution typologies include a narrative and visual overview of the landscape for ocean solutions, both holistically and by issue area
- Funding report featured original analysis to track funding levels and trends for marine conservation globally
- Insights posts highlight perspectives from thought leaders and recent research from the field that can be shared with decision-makers
- Deeper Dives include thematic featured on timely ocean topics that contribute to the ocean solutions space
- A calendar of upcoming ocean events around the world helps the community navigate opportunities for action
- A Downloads library with a curated collection of ocean data, reports, and presentations on issues that are relevant in today’s marine conservation sector
Our Shared Seas is designed for those new to the field and seasoned practitioners alike. As an open-access resource, the site features materials—including charts, visuals, and slides—that can be downloaded for external use. Users can also print each individual page by clicking the “Print” icon in the upper right-hand corner.
The Threats and Solutions chapters are organized by five issue areas: Climate Change, Unsustainable Fishing and Farming, Pollution, Habitat and Biodiversity, and Industrial Impacts. Users who are interested in a specific issue (e.g., equity, governance, plastics) can search for individual topics using the Search bar in the upper right-hand corner of the navigation bar.
Our Story
Our Shared Seas (OSS) is a project of CEA Consulting and was launched in 2019 with the generous support of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and Oceankind. In 2024, Our Shared Seas welcomed funder collaborative Oceans 5 as the new funding partner, and is grateful for their support to continue our content development on issues of importance to ocean conservation practitioners and the philanthropic community.
Our backstory: We created Our Shared Seas: A 2017 Overview of Ocean Threats and Conservation Funding to serve as a primer on ocean threats, trends, and the funding landscape as an information guide for the marine community. In 2019, we updated the primer and launched it as a web-based resource: www.OurSharedSeas.com. The website allowed ocean advocates, funders, and others to access key data in an easy-to-use, searchable format.
Since then, we have continued to expand our offerings to provide relevant information to support ocean conservation and advance the dialogue around evidence-based ocean solutions. We will continue to feature new content on a regular basis, including our most recent update to our seminal ocean funding report.
Stay in the Loop
Sign up for our newsletter to be the first to learn about new research digests, expert insights, and relevant ocean events. We value your time and will share only periodic updates with quality content.
To join the dialogue on ocean solutions in real time, follow @OurSharedSeas on Twitter.
Want More Information?
Email our team at oursharedseas@ceaconsulting.com.