I attended the 2nd International Ocean Research Conference entitled 'One Planet One Ocean' in Barcelona, Spain 16-21 Nov 2014. I was a co-organizer for a workshop 'How is your ecosystem doing? Advances in the use and understanding of ecosystem indicators' and presented an invited talk, 'Science communication strategies and environmental report cards for effective coastal ocean governance'. The conference and workshops were over a six-day period, and five plenary talks were presented. The conference dinner was held in the Barcelona Maritime Museum under a life-size replica galley. The conference organizers were Drs. Luis Valdes (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission--UNESCO) and Mike Roman (The Oceanography Society). Mike is also the Horn Point Laboratory Director (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science).

For the conference closing session, I recited a poem entitled 'One Planet One Ocean', summarizing the five plenary talks and some of the conference highlights. Future blogs will discuss the workshop and conference in more detail, but the poem is as follows:

One Planet One Ocean

William C. Dennison

21 November 2014

To celebrate our one planet and one ocean

We came to Barcelona and had lots of fun

Gathered with colleagues on the Mediterranean shore

Who could ask for anything more?

Jane Lubchenko told us some stories

About changing fisheries incentives

So that we can fish smarter not harder

Giving us hope that the ocean can get better.

Sam DuPont explained that pH was going down

Causing calcareous critters to frown

He insisted that we learn to communicate

To stop the pollution before it's too late.

Alida Bundy showed us a disciplinary cupcake

And said that integration--it does not make

We need to pull together like a crew

So that we integrate science like tiramisu.

Shin-ichi Uye told a story about jellies

They stopped folks from getting fish into their bellies

He modeled the Asian marginal seas

To help fishermen get off their knees.

Daniel Pauly talked about fishing down the food chain,

And using clear examples, he made it very plain

That climate change adds to our fishing woes,

But things will get better if high seas fisheries close.

We learned about wave rider robots and drones,

Policy interactions, international science programs,

Plastics throughout the ocean, balanced harvesting,

Communicating science, and oceanographic sailing.

We saw research vessels and TV corners,

Drank an immense amount of bottled waters,

Went to the blue museum for our daily coffee,

Enjoyed a blue cocktail evening under a replica galley.

The tapas and good wine allowed us to get rowdy

In this Olympian city of Picasso and Gaudi.

We thank Luis and Mike for making this happen,

For giving us a chance to share our ocean passion.