I’ve been on my fair share of ships over the years, but even though I enjoy my month or two at sea every year, I cannot even begin to express the respect I have for seafarers who spend all their working life at sea. Being away from home for at least half the year, living in a small, confined space with people they did not get to choose themselves, not even having the autonomy to choose what meals to cook while at sea, all while doing hard physical work.

The seafarers I know personally do this out of their free will — their love of the ocean compensates for the sacrifices they make to be at sea. But let’s not forget that there are also many people who don’t have the luxury to choose what job they work in.

Anyway, seafarers’ work influences us all: It provides us with wave watching opportunities: The ferry you saw in the picture above left the wake you now see below.

Jokes aside: Shipping gives us access to goods that we otherwise wouldn’t have access to. It provides us with jobs, with food, with transportation. With knowledge about the world and the ocean — without the amazing work the crews on research ships do, there wouldn’t be any oceanography!

Our lives would be very different without the work that seafarers do every day, the sacrifices they make and the risks they take. On the Day of the Seafarer, maybe stop and think for a minute about what your life would look like if it wasn’t for all these men and women, doing the work they do. I, for one, am full of respect for what they are doing! And I’ll be sure to let the seafarers that I personally know know about this today! Thank you to all the crews on the research ships that I’ve sailed on, you guys and girls are amazing!