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Category: Essays

TEST: USA 2010: USS Nicholas Piracy Trial

In 2010, a jury in Norfolk, VA convicted five Somali pirates who attacked the USS Nicholas and sentenced them to life in prison. The charges included piracy, attack to plunder a vessel, act of violence against persons on a vessel, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon on federal officers and employees, conspiracy to […]

Xingu River Basin

The Xingu River, one of the primary tributaries of the Amazon, flows nearly 1,640 kilometers through central Brazil prior to joining the Amazon River. This river is extremely important because not only is it one of the largest clearwater rivers in the Amazon Basin, but many native communities rely on its resources as well. Over […]

Oil Rigs in the North Sea

The North Sea, surrounded by the coasts of the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands, has long been one of the most industrialized marine regions in the world. Since the discovery of oil in the late 1960s, this cold, stormy sea has become home to hundreds of offshore drilling platforms. These towering rigs represent […]

The Life of Anne Bonny

Anne Bonny, born around 1698 near Cork, Ireland, was an Irish-American pirate whose brief period of marauding the Caribbean during the 18th century enshrined her in legend as one of the few women to have defied the proscription against female pirates. However, much of what we know about Anne is written in the volume A […]

The Mermaid of Phi Phi Islands

This is not my story, as it belongs to an individual who posted on Reddit under r/mermaids with a prompt asking, “Does anyone have legit mermaid stories or encounters?” This is something that’s been bothering me for years. I’m 20F, and when I was 13, my dad and my younger brother went to Thailand. We […]

Bluefin Tuna Overfishing

(Abstract) When we think about Japan, oftentimes we consider their quality and inexpensive seafood. Japan is the largest tuna-eating country in the world, making up 80% of the global sashimi-tuna market and 27% of all tuna consumption. As an island nation in the pacific east, it’s not surprising that Japan gets a lot of their […]

Xingu River Basin

The Xingu River, one of the primary tributaries of the Amazon, flows nearly 1,640 kilometers through central Brazil prior to joining the Amazon River. This river is extremely important because not only is it one of the largest clearwater rivers in the Amazon Basin, but many native communities rely on its resources as well. Over […]

Hong Kong’s Shipping Ports: An Economic Gateway

(Abstract) Hong Kong is a vibrant city off the coast of China, known for its towering skylines and unique blend of Chinese and Western culture. With various trading routes to Mainland China and Asia-Pacific, Hong Kong plays a big role in the modern shipping industry. In 2024, it was estimated that Hong Kong handled 13.7 […]

Counter-Mapping Shipping: Digital Joy and Digital Labor in Oceanic Social Media

 

The Oceans Lab, an interdisciplinary research and advocacy initiative, explores maritime issues across oceanic spaces. With a focus on themes of race, labor, inequality, climate change, migration, and geopolitics, the Lab seeks to unravel the complexities of our oceans, making them comprehensible through innovative approaches. One such approach is the creation of this map that aims to help bridge gaps between how scholars describe oceanic spaces and the voices of those that inhabit them.

Inspired by global maritime shipping maps like marinetraffic.com, the Oceans Lab’s map is not just about tracing the trajectories of cargo ships; it is about weaving together interdisciplinary oceanic scholarship with the voices of those who inhabit the seas. It seeks to represent the various voices and ideas that converge to define the concept(s) of the ocean(s) from what may initially appear to be blank cartographic space. In the spirit of counter-mapping, we invite creators, scholars, and seafarers to use our submit button in order to actively participate in redefining how we perceive and understand oceanic spaces.

Counter-mapping, at its core, seeks to provide alternative perspectives and representations that challenge dominant power structures and dominant narratives (Peluso 1995). This ever-evolving map thus recognizes that the ocean is not just a backdrop for the global commerce represented on standard shipping maps, but a vibrant and dynamic space shaped by human experiences.

In addition to showcasing the multifaceted nature of oceanic life, the map brings to the fore the concept of digital labor and attention economies. In the digital age, content creation and the curation of online personas have become forms of labor, often underestimated and overlooked. Those at sea who engage in social media share not only their experiences participating in the shipping economy, but also contribute to the attention economy. In addition to including these digital contributions in scholarly conversations, the map hopes to open up questions about this digital labor, underscoring the importance of recognizing it within the broader context of oceanic scholarship.




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About the Map

Do you want to add something to our Oceans Map?

Send us your name, a short essay, a short story, a photo, a video, or a link to a social media post related to the sea or maritime issues (TikToks at sea are welcome, as are research essays!). We aim to fill our map with “stories from the sea” of all kinds.