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Inner Baie D'Ambodi-Vahibe, northeast Madagascar, a Conservation Inter national survey site. UC Santa Barbara marine biologist Dr. Ben Halpern oversaw the OHI project. " Ocean health is a national security issue. Ocean Health Index, an in-depth study of ocean health, based on 171 "exclusive economic zones" (EEZs) surrounding countries with marine coast- lines. Each country is given a grade between 1 and 100. The goal of assigning these grades is to incen- tivize countries and businesses to clean up and invest in ocean protection. At the forefront of the OHI is Chicago native William "Beau" Wrigley Jr. and his wife, Heather, both of whom are involved financially and ideologically. By his own admittance, Beau has never thought of himself as being particu- larly green. Although he loves the ocean (he has been a scuba diver since he was a teen), he is first and foremost a businessman, investor, and phi- lanthropist. "Today I find it more difficult to find coral reefs that are intact, harder to find big fish or sometimes any fish at all," he said from his North Michigan Avenue office. "The truth is we've got a crisis on our hands in the degrada- tion of the ocean and the simultaneous decline in jobs, health, and resources. Ocean health is a national security issue. This has got to be worri- some to businessmen and governments alike." Wrigley insists the index is not just more media hype but an absolute necessity because "a healthy ocean is an imperative for the future," he says. "But I understand that it's hard for people to get alarmed by what's happening to the ocean because it can look so deceptive. From the surface everything looks very calm, clean. Most people have no idea what's going on below the ocean's surface where things are going very, very wrong." Announced in August, the initial OHI was created through a partnership of Conservation International, the National Geographic Society, New England Aquarium, and the Beau and Heather Wrigley spear- headed the OHI. The group that dreamed up the OHI hopes it will become the lead indicator used by policy makers and conservationists around the world as they try to assess what's wrong with their marine areas and how to fix them. Dr. Ben Halpern, a marine biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, oversaw the project and wrote the peer-reviewed paper introduc- ing it in Nature; he says the response to the research has already been "remarkably posi- tive and exciting." He adds: "You can't manage something like ocean health without actually having a tool to measure it. People have reso- nated with the approach of incorporating people into the assessment so that the healthy system includes people, not just fish. It's not a panacea, but it will definitely help in the pro- cess of trying to fix things." National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. It began in 2008, when more than 60 scientists traveled the globe evaluating ecologi- cal, social, economic, and political factors for every coastal country. The highest score, 86, was given to isolated Jarvis Island in the South Pacific; the lowest went to the African nation of Sierra Leone, with a score of 36. The US scored 63, tying it for 26th on the list, snuggled between Pitcairn and the Ukraine. The average score was 60, or as Conservation International executive vice president of Conservation and Research and Chief Scientist for Oceans, Greg Stone, put it: a "D." Remote islands weren't the only places that scored well; Germany ranked fourth with a score of 73, suggesting its marine region is well protection, it didn't do so well in food supply, clean water, and tourism. While admitting he was "surprised" by the average score of 60, Halpern said the reaction from some corners of the world has been swift: Marine biologists with the Colombian govern- ment (ranked 94th) immediately invited a team from Conservation International to advise them on how they can improve their country's score. The ratings are not relevant only to coastal dwell- ers; anyone who eats fish, escapes to the beach, or worries about the planet's weather patterns should be concerned about the ocean's health. Dr. Chuck Knapp, director of Conservation and Research at the Shedd Aquarium, agrees. "Given the fact that the majority of the world's population receives its protein from the sea, ocean health affects everyone, including people in the protected. While the US scored well in coastal Midwest. What affects people on the coast ulti- mately will affect us, and the most basic [way] is continued on page 58 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 57 "—BEAU WRIGLEY PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF GALE (WRIGLEYS); COURTESY OF STERLING ZUMBRUNN/CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL (MADAGASCAR)