Interconnection
All ecosystems and environments are meant to complement and support each other. It’s impossible to have a healthy marine ecosystem without a healthy terrestrial system to foster it, and vice versa. The connection between birds to manta rays are the nutrients they provide each other. On Palmyra, seabirds survive on the food the ocean provides. In return, they provide the land with ample fertilizer for the trees to grow, and the runoff of nutrients into the ocean to foster a healthy coral reef which in turn supports zooplankton. Without an equal balance of healthy zooplankton at the bottom of a food chain, you cannot have the health and livelihood of keystone species such as manta rays. This interconnectedness is seen all around us, and often overlooked.