The Call of the Ocean

The ocean draws us in. It just does. It’s magical, it’s powerful, it’s bigger than anything we know. The blue hues and crisp roars offer us reprieve and a sense of calm. We immediately feel tiny as we look into its vastness.

But why are we so drawn to water?

Hardly anyone understands the ocean better than legendary big wave surfer Laird Hamilton. From his upbringing in Hawaii to a surfing career spanning decades, Hamilton understands the ocean from the inside out. In his book, Liferider: Heart, Body, Soul, and Life Beyond the Ocean, Hamilton explains why we just can’t stay away.

“When you’re in seawater you’re in rich company: seawater is alive with energy, nutrients, life forms. … There is a transfer of chemicals, of energy, happening between you and the ocean. You can feel and you can experience it, and I think that’s one of the things that draw us to be in the ocean. It’s more than just the pleasure of riding a wave, or the beauty of paddling your board or sailing, whatever. I think there’s something deeper that calls us to go—and part of that can be that it’s the place that we’ve come from. I mean, all life comes from the ocean. There’s an old understanding at work there. Time moves differently there. And we have evolved to embrace that.”

Isaac Newton would say that energy is due to the gravitational forces of the moon and the sun on the tides, and he’d be right. However, our affinity for water flows deeper than physics. Our bodies are mostly made up of water, and we need to drink water to survive, making our connection to the ocean and other water sources essential. Watching the waves rise and crash inspires vitality. The scent of salt air and the languid beauty of ripples caressing seashells offer quiet serenity.

Oceanographers, marine biologists, surfers, paddle boarders, sailors, fishers, deep-sea divers, swimmers and infinitely more make water part of their daily lives. Perhaps we should too.

TEXT BY FATIMA RIZZO