What Are Some Everyday Products That Come From the Ocean?

What are some everyday products that are made from ocean life? - Keegan S., Virginia

Answer: Even if you live far from the ocean, lots of things important for your day-to-day life come from marine organisms—and I’m not just talking about the obvious stuff like seafood—or, like, oxygen! And if the natural beauty of a coral reef or just knowing that ocean ecosystems are healthy aren’t enough of a reason for you to support ocean conservation, maybe these practical benefits will help convince you that we need to responsibly manage the ocean and its natural resources.

Your toothpaste likely contains carrageenan, an extract made from seaweed that’s used in the food industry as a thickening agent. And a chemical extract from kelp called algin is used in products as diverse as shampoo and salad dressing. Plenty of beauty-product ingredients, including algin, are derived from marine organisms as well.

On the pharmaceutical side, the drug Remdesivir, which shows some promise as a treatment for COVID-19, was developed after studying a marine sponge. The blood of horseshoe crabs has long been used for all kinds of medical research and treatments, including COVID-19 research, and it’s worth noting here that there are some conservation concerns associated with over harvesting these critters (and some animal welfare concerns associated with how they’re treated). There are also other compounds from marine organisms that may help treat a variety of diseases, from cancer to asthma to AIDS, and some scientists believe there are still many more medical discoveries to be made in underwater ecosystems.

The ocean isn’t just a vital source of food, employment and recreation. It’s also home to incredible biodiversity that, among other things, provides humans with products that help save lives and help make everyday life possible. We need to protect it.

Ask a Marine Biologist is a monthly column where Dr. David Shiffman answers your questions about the underwater world. Topics are chosen from reader-submitted queries as well as data from common internet searches. If you have a question you’d like answered in a future Ask a Marine Biologist column, or if you have a question about the answer given in this column, email Shiffman at WhySharksMatter@gmail.com with subject line “Ask a marine biologist.”

Dr. David Shiffman is a marine conservation biologist specializing in the ecology and conservation of sharks. An award-winning public science educator, David has spoken to thousands of people around the world about marine biology and conservation and has bylines with the Washington Post, Scientific American, New Scientist, Gizmodo and more. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, where he’s always happy to answer any questions about sharks.

The views expressed in this article are those of David Shiffman, and not necessarily the views of Sport Diver or Scuba Diving magazines.