Bob Sluka is A Rocha International’s Lead Scientist for their marine conservation programme. He’s been enjoying the Florida Keys for four decades …
‘My first visit to the Florida Keys happened 40 years ago. I grew up far from the ocean and learnt to SCUBA dive in a cold quarry. But every few years my family went to Florida, and one year we were near mainland USA’s largest coral reef. As a 15-year-old I didn’t know any scientific words to describe diving in the Keys. My training in marine biology, and, eventually, a Ph.D. in coral reef fish ecology, gave me some words. I learned to describe coral reefs truthfully, or, as close to the truth as we could, given our humanity, bias, and otherness. The beauty of these reefs enthralled me. Seeing a rare species or a big shark drew exclamations of awe and wonder (and possibly some bragging) when we returned to the surface. But I lacked a religious vocabulary to describe my research and passion for coral reefs. Despite growing up in a religious home and attending church regularly, I don’t remember anyone helping me to make sense of the beauty I was experiencing. It was as if what I did in the water had nothing to do with my faith.
To relate beauty to my faith I had to develop a specific vocabulary. There are scientific words to describe biodiversity and there are theological words that describe one’s experience in creation. That last word is an example – it doesn’t refer to how, but acknowledges that there is a creator. Referring to a beautiful fish as a creature, reminds me of my own creatureliness. Referring to it as a neighbour reminds me of Jesus’ command to love our neighbour.
Recently, we moved back to Florida after considerable time abroad. My faith had been transformed through my involvement with A Rocha. My young-adult-children are all SCUBA certified and recent trips to the Keys enabled me to see its beauty anew, and experience that beauty through another’s eyes. My children didn’t see the Florida Keys as I had, but they still saw beauty. Arguably, these reefs were no longer made of much coral – there has been much decline in coral cover. Yet I saw old friends including more goliath groupers Epinephelus itajara on one dive than in hundreds of dives as a graduate student – thanks to a ban on fishing for this species, including in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. I saw the reefs, my experience, and time with my children through a different lens of faith – one which sought to integrate scientific truth with a spiritual and moral vocabulary and conceptual framework. These were fellow creatures who, in their own way, were giving praise and glory to their maker.
Intentional reflection and active engagement in religious practice in Marine Protected Areas connects us to their creator. We find that science and faith happily coexist and amplify each other for the common good and a more beautiful planet’.
Adapted from an article originally published in Jusur, Sep 2024. It’s also on Bob’s Substack, ‘Connected by Water.’
