Paper short abstract:

Engaged by the proposal of thinking the world from an ocean environment that can provide theoretical tools my research comes up by the experience of inhabiting the sea by sailing on board traditional rigged boats tackling issues such as sustainability and climate change.

Paper long abstract:

What I discuss in this paper is precisely that not only the ocean as an extension by its movement affords other perceptive experiences to its inhabitants but also the ocean puts human beings on board back to its inner constitution of being in mutuality with the environment. By the experiences of young trainees inhabiting the sea for a first time, together in dialogue with the permanent crew from different tall ships, and with the understanding of fluxes of flow in-between mediums as tensions in a more-than-surface at sea, the animated lines of life from Ingold light on a world of unceasing movement texturing creative social becomings as the basis of ontological humanity. By first-person experiences inhabiting the sea continuous sustainable measures or the impact of climate change are major themes to reflect upon. Consequently, the strikingly differentiated quality that characterizes an ocean environment is that whether we like it or not, we are ‘all at sea’ moving in concert like the smallest of the molecules within big masses of salty waves. To this respect, movement and social becomings at sea are an invitation to keep ongoing research in maritime anthropology within oceanic ontologies from which alternative hopeful futures can be developed.