The term ocean literacy means understanding how we as humans affect the ocean and how the ocean in turn affects us.

Pretty simple concept, right? Well, not quite. The ocean's simple as if. Fortunately, there are plenty of

people out there who are committed to making sure we protect the ocean by understanding its power and its nuance.

And we have a few of those experts joining us today.

I'm Dr. Samantha Emeen and welcome to Curiosity Weekly from Discovery.

There are a lot of breadcrumbs spread around the ocean leading us to one main message.

Things are changing. So I wanted to learn

about bioluminescence to uncover what it can teach us about the chemical processes behind some of our

favorite sea creatures. I'll talk about that first. Then Teresa from our team speaks with Dr. Gabby

Amadia from the World Wildlife Fund about our work as a conservation scientist. And finally,

you cannot talk about the ocean without mentioning its main characteristic, salt. Or I guess you could,

but we would never. We'll dig into the science behind the world's favorite seasoning,

and while we don't just love it, we actually need it. Let's get started. One of my favorite

parts about working in a lab was getting to make different parts of a cell light up under the

microscope. Picture a firework blooming across the dark sky or a fluorescent web with thousands

of strands. That's what some of my favorite cells looked like through the lens.

But fluorescent microscopy doesn't just make for pretty pictures. It helps us label tiny proteins in cells so we can see biology in action, like a biker wearing a reflective vest to stand

out at night. That kind of real-time view can help scientists pinpoint problems and potential

treatments.

Fluorescent proteins were an incidental finding from a simple curiosity about bioluminescence.

Think glowworms, fireflies, a bluish glow of plankton on the water's edge, like when the ocean lights up in life of pie or marijuana.

Yes, it's real.

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