A discussion between Louise Contant, head of collections at the French Musée national de la Marine, Lisa Cubaynes, art history student specializing in underwater museums, and Thierry Perez, marine ecologist with a strong perspective in ocean conservation. Moderated by Juliette Bessette, historian of art and science.

This article explores the following question: at the end of the nineteenth century, how did the scientific community, among others, come to be increasingly preoccupied with underwater photography, and how could this world, and its attributes, be made visible?

This contribution compares depictions of sea animals in early modern Dutch still-lifes with other types of images: emblems from the 16th and 17th century, scientific prints from treatises published between the end of the 14th and the 18th century, and finally drawings by still life artists themselves.

As a reflection on representations on biodiversity in art, this contribution considers the breadth of marine species highlighted in one work by British Surrealist, Eileen Agar (1899-1991). Much of her work relates to the natural world, especially the sea as an ecosystem and all the life within it, referred to here as the marine.

It is difficult to envision the sheer quantity of pearls dredged up from the New World by sixteenth-century colonists. An average of a 1,000 pounds of pearl per year in tax revenue alone. The social, political, and ecological challenges of producing such richness is the subject of a fascinating book by historian Molly Warsh reviewed here.   

Pirate or privateer? In practice, identical, but in terms of legal and social standing, the designations were considered worlds away in the contested waters of the North Atlantic. How did sanctioned privateering transition over time to being considered lawless pirating? 

The Anthropocene accounts for a vast swath of human and natural history, but there are limits to its scope encouraging the proliferation of numerous other 'cenes. From the Chthulucene to the Anglocene, these terms explain our ecological present from a myriad of different perspectives. 

Poetry has long been fascinated with describing the dislocating effects of sea travel and still serves as a conceptual refuge for those lost at sea in a contemporary world.