

"They were trying to break me from the ocean," said Jeff Clark, who grew up in Half Moon Bay and now owns Mavericks Surf Shop.

"It was brutal," said Clark, who came home to the sea in six months.

Entering the ocean, he said, "is like recharging. It's what drives my life."



The connection between the ocean and the brain "is poorly studied and (a) tricky territory of discussion among scientists," said Wallace J. Nichols, a noted sea turtle biologist and research associate at the California Academy of Sciences who organized the "Bluemind Summit."


Considering the worldwide appeal of the ocean throughout the ages, it confounds Nichols that it's taken so long to embark on serious scientific look at its neurological effects.


"The neuroscientists haven't thought about the ocean, remarkably," Nichols said during an interview at the Cliff House overlooking the Pacific in San Francisco. "Considering the ocean is three-quarters of the planet, it's kind of a big miss."


"There's no lack of clarity that we came from the ocean," he said. "Seventy percent of my body is saltwater. My brain is bathed in saltwater." Even neurons fire because of salt level changes in the brain.


But he and other scientists described how the ocean instills a sense of safety with its flat horizon that allows humans to spot any oncoming threats like lions or warriors, and unlimited supply of water that's so essential to life.

"To the evolving mind, it's the cleanest savanna ever experienced," said Nichols.

Cultures worldwide pick photos of the savanna as the most appealing, even if they've never seen one, pointed out one scientist at the event. And Nichols said even though we rationally know salt water isn't drinkable, the abundance is nonetheless comforting.

And the smooth surface of the ocean rarely surprises, which is also soothing, Merzenich said. "When it's landmark-free, it's naturally calming to us, much like closing your eyes is calming."


"This sort of conference is the first step to integrating what we know we feel and what we can prove," said Shelley Batts, a Stanford University neuroscientist specializing in the effects of sound.


The ocean's sound is especially appealing. "The sound of the sea is one of the most evocative to people," Batts said because of its regular wave patterns, while noxious noise is random.

The "whoosh" sound at the ocean "brings up feelings of relaxation and tranquillity."








"If I'm standing on the 50th floor of penthouse in Maui or Florida or California, I've achieved, I've accomplished and the world is filled with endless opportunities as far as the eye can see," he said.
