[Living in Harmony with the Ocean — A Must-Take Course] World Ocean Day, June 8: Ocean Advocates Launch Online Classes to Call for Saving the Sea

June 8 is World Ocean Day — and Taiwan's National Ocean Day. What should have been the passionate height of summer was instead overtaken by an outbreak of COVID-19, sending the entire country into Level 3 alert. Coastlines were closed off, and countless people whose livelihoods depend on the sea saw their income drop to zero overnight. Yet three instructors who have long championed marine conservation and ocean stewardship — Chen Ren-Ping, Chen Qi-En, and Huang Xiao-Mo — refused to stop working even while tightening their belts. They launched an ocean online course offering a group rate of just NT$599 per person for three people registering together, hoping to lead more people to understand the ocean and learn about the challenges it faces.

The Cite Microlearning team, together with Taiwan Diving CEO Chen Qi-En, Hai Yong Studio Executive Director Chen Ren-Ping, and travel writer Huang Xiao-Mo, have co-created the online course "Living in Harmony with the Ocean — A Must-Take Course: Design Your Own Ocean-Loving Lifestyle." Structured around three pillars — "Know the Ocean, Love the Ocean, Connect with the Ocean" — the course introduces the beauty of Taiwan's seas, how to travel in an environmentally friendly way, safe and responsible ocean activities, practical tips for reducing waste in daily life, and how eating the right foods can also protect the ocean. Through two hours of accessible, systematic online content, the course brings the ocean closer to home — literally.

Cite Publishing First Business Group General Manager Huang Shu-Zhen noted that the deterioration of the ocean environment is an urgent issue. For instance, research by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) indicates that if ocean conditions continue to worsen, commercially fished species could disappear by 2048. A report by the MacArthur Foundation also warns that by 2050, the total weight of plastic waste in the ocean will exceed the total weight of all marine life. With that in mind, Cite is doing its part by launching this online course to help more people understand the ocean — and inspire them to take action and protect it.

Instructor Chen Qi-En's Taiwan Diving used to pull in peak summer monthly revenues of up to NT$10 million. Although the pandemic has dealt a heavy blow, the team wasted no time in taking stock of their resources and rolling out live-streamed scuba diving classes and future dive vouchers, giving divers stuck at home a way to ease their longing for the sea. Despite struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic, Chen Qi-En still sponsored 100 Kenting snorkeling spots (each valued at NT$600) for the first 100 pre-order customers of "Living in Harmony with the Ocean — A Must-Take Course," hoping to bring more people to experience the beauty of Taiwan's ocean once restrictions are lifted.

Hai Yong Studio's Chen Ren-Ping has long been a driving force in environmental advocacy — delivering over 800 talks and organizing more than 340 beach cleanups. Due to the pandemic, however, all beach cleanup events have been cancelled. Some may feel that reducing plastic use is especially difficult during a pandemic, but Chen Ren-Ping offered this perspective: "Of course, epidemic prevention is the top priority! Reducing plastic is one form of 'reducing waste,' but it's not the only one. The core value should be 'reducing waste' itself." He suggests ordering what you need rather than what you want, or — as some of his friends do — having packaging-free vegetable boxes delivered to your door, which is also a way to cut back on plastic.

Travel writer Huang Xiao-Mo would normally spend her summers diving and reporting from various coastlines, but the pandemic has kept her at home too. "Even when you can't get in the water, there's still so much you can do for the ocean!" she says. She recommends several environmental documentaries — 2020: The Year the Earth Changed, Seaspiracy, and My Octopus Teacher — as well as related books such as The Climate Emergency and Crime Ocean, encouraging viewers to reflect on what human behavior is truly doing to our planet's environment.

"Living in Harmony with the Ocean — A Must-Take Course: Design Your Own Ocean-Loving Lifestyle" has launched its crowdfunding campaign on the Hahow online learning platform, where it has been enthusiastically endorsed by notable figures across various fields, reaching its funding goal within just 27 hours — and pre-orders are still open. The original price is NT$1,200; through July 1, it is on special offer at NT$699, and for groups of three, the rate drops to just NT$599 per person. The first 100 buyers will receive a NT$600 Taiwan Diving snorkeling cash voucher. Backers can also enter a prize draw for books, including signed copies of Ocean Taiwan: A Portrait of Our Great Blue Land, among 35 prizes in total — outstanding value all around!

For event details, please see the course page for "Living in Harmony with the Ocean — A Must-Take Course": [http://bit.ly/與海共生](http://bit.ly/與海共生​ ​)

Further reading:

• Marine Citizen Scientists Using Underwater Photography to Support Marine Conservation and Fundamental Research

• 2023 Biological Classification Conference Report — Building an Ocean Biodiversity Database, Together