Hello! I am Jenna Morgan, and I am a Junior English major at LMU. I have always had a passion for literature and for the ocean, and this course has allowed me to mix both! For me, the ocean has always represented freedom, adventure, the unknown, but also danger and fear of the unknown. Many people today know that we have explored less of our oceans than we have of outer space. I believe this needs to change. If we are going to destroy our oceans through climate change and pollution, the least we could do is more research to understand the delicate balances that we are disturbing, so that we may come up with a way to reduce the harm we are doing to our oceans and all the creatures that live in it. I believe the best way to combat fear is with knowledge, and it is easy to believe that the ocean is filled with terrifying creatures that we don’t have to worry about. But this is far from the case, and if research on the ocean and its creatures was more widely-done and easily accessible, I believe we would all want to come together to reduce our negative impact on the sea’s creatures - even the ones that “look” scary! That is why I believe it is extremely important to write about the ocean, to help people get over their fear of it, and to encourage them to want to protect this invaluable ecological resource.