Skip to content

Introducing the Outside+ App

Members get 15+ publications right in your pocket.

Download Today

DOWNLOAD GAIA GPS

Leave cell service and your worries behind.

INSTALL

Outside Online
  • Search
  • Gear
  • Adventure
  • Health
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Food
  • Long Reads
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • Daily Rally
  • Gear
  • Adventure
  • Health
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Food
  • Long Reads
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • Daily Rally
Outside Online
  • Gear
    • Gear News
    • Cars & Trucks
    • Apparel
    • Biking
    • Camping
    • Climbing
    • Hiking
    • Running
    • Snow Sports
    • Water Sports
    • Tools & Tech
    • Gear Picks
    • Business Journal
  • Adventure
    • Exploration & Survival
    • Environment
    • Everest
    • Biking
    • Climbing
    • Hiking
    • Snow Sports
    • Water Sports
  • Health
    • Nutrition
    • Training & Performance
    • Wellness
    • Running
  • Travel
    • Destinations
    • Travel Advice
    • Essays
    • News and Analysis
    • National Parks
  • Culture
    • Active Families
    • Books & Media
    • Essays
    • Love & Humor
    • Opinion
  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Drinks
    • Cooking Equipment
    • Food Culture
  • Long Reads
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
    • Daily Rally
  • Daily Rally
  • Outside Feed
  • Home
  • Member Exclusives
Adventure Environment

The Ocean Life We’re Losing

Photographer Christian Vizl documents the ocean’s beauty to show us what we’re ravaging

Text by
Christian Vizl
Twitter Icon
Image
(Christian Vizl)

Each year, somewhere between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons of plastic ends up in the sea, to say nothing of the vast amounts of agricultural runoff, untreated sewage, and by-products of coastal development that also make their way into our oceans. Alarmingly, one 2006 study predicted that by 2048, every species currently fished by humans will have collapsed. Still, it seems that no amount of imagery depicting endless offshore garbage patches or sea turtles choked by plastic bags has made any difference. “We are not stopping. Our consumption has gone up. We are continuing the same destructive path,” says photographer Christian Vizl. To counter the sense of hopelessness, the 46-year-old has chosen to highlight the beauty of what’s being lost with a new book called Silent Kingdom: A World Beneath the Waves. “Humans have become very disconnected from nature’s beauty,” says Vizl, who compiled seven years’ worth of work for the book. “We can’t protect what we don’t love or what we don’t care about. Beauty is such a powerful force.” —Emily Reed

Image
(Christian Vizl)

Vizl traveled the world to collect sparse and elegant images of marine animals at risk. The whale shark is facing rapid population decline, partly as a result of unsustainable fishing practices and habitat disturbance. 

Image
(Christian Vizl)
Image
(Christian Vizl)

Many of the photos in Silent Kingdom, like these of a sea turtle and an American crocodile, were taken in Vizl’s home country of Mexico. “When I was a kid, I thought that the ocean was so vast and so big that it was almost unimaginable that you could deplete it of life,” he says.

Image
(Christian Vizl)

“These animals are really incredible, and they’re worth protecting,” says Vizl, who photographed this nurse shark off Bimini, an island chain in the Bahamas. “We are so lucky to share this planet with all these beautiful creatures, but I’m not sure they would say the same about us.”

Filed to:
  • Climate Change
  • Mexico
  • Nature
  • Photography
  • Science

Read this next

Get Outside Tour—We’re on the Road to Share the Stoke

On the Hunt for America’s Forgotten Apples

By: Andrew Zaleski

What’s Life Like After Doug Tompkins?

By: Stephanie Pearson

How to Pitch to Outside: We’re Always Looking for Freelancers

By: The Editors

Outside+

Outside Magazine May/June 2023 issue cover

Join Outside+ to get access to exclusive content, 1,000s of training plans, and more.

Learn More
Facebook Icon Twitter Icon Instagram Icon
Outside
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Terms of Use
  • Licensing & Accolades
  • Digital Archives
  • Site Map
Healthy Living
  • Clean Eating
  • Oxygen
  • Vegetarian Times
  • Yoga Journal
Outdoor
  • Backpacker
  • Climbing
  • Fly Fishing Film Tour
  • Gaia GPS
  • National Park Trips
  • Outside
  • Outside TV
  • SKI
  • Warren Miller
Endurance
  • Beta MTB
  • Fastest Known Time
  • Pinkbike
  • Trailforks
  • Trail Runner
  • Triathlete
  • Velo
  • Women's Running
Industry
  • athleteReg
  • Bicycle Retailer & Industry News
  • FinisherPix
  • Inkwell
  • Nastar
  • Roam Media
  • Outside Books
  • Outside Events Cycling Series
  • Outside Shop
  • VeloSwap

© 2023 Outside Interactive, Inc