Although not a follower, I agree with the philosophy that we may be better stewards of our planet. Walking in Ed Ricketts footsteps instilled that into me. Much of his work stemmed from our ability "see" things in nature and to question or interpret their purpose.
I see pearls differently than others. I don't disagree with the concept of beauty and profit, insomuch as why things are in a place and a time. Oddly enough, one of the greatest truths I've grasped came from the mouth of an eight year old girl. "Big fish eat little fish and that's just the way it is." I would like to believe that we can coexist with all other creatures, but that's not reasonable. We have canine teeth and large livers, hence we've evolved to eat other animals for survival. As humans, we can debate the subjectivity of that, while most other planetary creatures cannot. I've learned it's not one way or the other, it must be a balance.
Studying ocean sciences opens doors to greater things. I've collected acorn barnacles for spinal cord research, collected the glue from byssal threads to replace stitches in open heart surgery and monitored the uptake and retention of biotoxins in seafood. These things improve our quality of life. In a world of largely viewed "been there, done that", our oceans are woefully under-studied for the potential of so much more.
For all my years at Clayoquot, I've combined biology, paleontology and archaeology to generate a profile of changes in the earth's climate over the last three centuries. Moreover, how reactions between carbon dioxide, carbonate ions and acidification are replicated in science. The mean annual thickness of sea shells is an indicator of all of this. Though lain before us to "see", it mostly falls on deaf ears.
Not everything in nature can be explained.
