“I’ve Always Been Enchanted by the Sea” - Discover the Inspiration Driving Ian Urbina and The Outlaw Ocean Project
11th Hour Racing Grantee Ian Urbina is the Founder of The Outlaw Ocean Project, a non-profit journalism organization uncovering untold stories from the ocean. The American’s work hits headlines around the world and often highlights situations that are beyond people’s wildest imaginations.
Many will be familiar with Ian’s storytelling prowess, both from his 17-year stint working for The New York Times and through the international coverage generated by The Outlaw Ocean Project’s powerful investigative journalism.
But what’s the story behind Ian’s stories? What inspired him to dedicate his life to reporting on our ocean? And what led him to launch The Outlaw Ocean Project? We caught up with the man himself to dig a little deeper into something every journalist knows a thing or two about…
THE WHY.
Where did the idea for The Outlaw Ocean Project come from?
Since I was young, I have always been enchanted by the sea. Five years into a doctoral program in history and anthropology at the University of Chicago, I decided to put my dissertation on hold and fly to Singapore for a temporary job as a deckhand and resident anthropologist on a marine research ship called RV Heraclitus. The ship never left the port, but I spent my time getting to know the crews from the ships docked nearby.
This stint in Singapore offered me my first real exposure to merchant seafarers and long-haul fishermen - an experience that fired my journalistic drive to tell their stories.
Singapore experience fired my journalistic drive to tell their stories.
I never finished my dissertation.
Instead, I joined The New York Times, and after writing many stories about this lawless frontier, I left to dedicate myself fully to the topic and began reporting for The Outlaw Ocean Project, a dedicated non-profit organization that produces investigative stories about human rights, labor, and environmental concerns at sea.
Can you tell us about the original The Outlaw Ocean series?
The Outlaw Ocean was a series that originally ran in The New York Times in 2015. With a further two years of reporting, that journalism became a book by the same name published in 2019.
Essentially, The Outlaw Ocean is a journalistic exploration of lawlessness at sea. The goal has always been to increase a sense of urgency by raising awareness and broadening the public’s understanding of what happens at sea, both above and below the waterline.
This reporting grew into The Outlaw Ocean Project, whose purpose is to report on a diversity of abuses ranging from illegal and overfishing, arms trafficking at sea, human slavery, gun running, intentional dumping, murder of stowaways, and thievery of ships - among other topics.
The Outlaw Ocean Project’s journalism is distinct not just in its focus but also in how the reporting is conducted and distributed. Most of the stories are reported at least partially at sea.
Looking at the holistic work of The Outlaw Ocean Project, how can storytelling help shape people’s understanding of these topics?
When it comes to storytelling, I’ll choose to be philosophical here and say that after years and years of observing how we, as humans, interact with the world and process information, narrative is deeply ingrained within us. Stories about climate change aren’t just about climate change – they’re about people. When people read a story, they don’t always care about the topic, but if you can present a relatable character and their story with a strong beginning, a middle, and an end, suddenly, the topic someone wasn’t thinking about before is relatable.
When I started this project back in 2014 for The New York Times, I spent three weeks reading everything that had been written on issues surrounding lawlessness at sea, and not just quick articles. I read the longer-form pieces. I noticed a lot of repetition on certain topics, such as Somali piracy, plastic pollution, oil spills, and the fact the fish are running out - which are all important topics. But, I knew that wasn’t everything, and my ambition was to take people’s personal experiences to tell the story of what was really happening out there in the ocean beyond what they imagined.
Stories about climate change aren’t just about climate change – they’re about people.
In your view, is there a common denominator that connects all these topics that you and your team report on?
All of these types of abuses, whether they’re human rights abuses or environmental crimes, all stem from the core problem of lack of governance at sea - especially on the high seas.
Specifically, there are three ways in which misbehavior happens offshore routinely and with impunity: too few rules, a lack of enforcement, and insufficient awareness among landlubbers of what is happening. This is why journalism is so important.
How does the support from an organization like 11th Hour Racing contribute to the bigger picture?
These problems are connected in the sense that they occur with a certain tacit complicity from all of us who live on land. Collectively, we are the beneficiaries of the lawlessness on the high seas, where 90% of the products we consume come by way of ships, and the commercial channels are unusually unbothered by the government and, therefore, rules.
Storytelling, as we have discussed, is key to raising awareness around these issues. With the support of organizations like 11th Hour Racing, we cannot only do the journalism required, but we are also able to diversify our storytelling and how we reach new audiences.
With the support of 11th Hour Racing, we are also able to diversify our storytelling and how we reach new audiences.
The Outlaw Ocean Project is unique in that it covers a realm that few others do, and it has an unusually broad reach globally and toward young people by publishing through alternate platforms and converting stories into other mediums, including muralism, music projects, animation, documentaries, theatrical performances and more.
Looking to the future, each year, we select several young journalists to train and support, often from the countries most affected by these issues, to ensure a continuous expansion of these important investigations.
You can discover more about Ian Urbina and The Outlaw Ocean Project using the links below:
Website: https://www.theoutlawocean.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IanUrbinaReporter/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ian_urbina/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5jAwUHnV39afq4bGbYjSM5
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/theoutlawoceanproject
X: https://twitter.com/ian_urbina/
Newsletter: https://theoutlawocean.substack.com/
Never miss a moment
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Jamie Haines, sailor “I grew up on the ocean, and in order to protect it, we need to solve the climate crisis. It all goes hand in hand.”
Ian Walsh, big wave surfer “As athletes, ocean health and sustainability are at the heart of what we do – without the ocean, we wouldn’t be here.”
Steve Benjamin, filmmaker “I really want people to fall in love with the ocean, to appreciate it more, and to try to alter their behavior around it. Everything ends up in the ocean, and it’s such a dumping ground for humanity. My hope is that people see the ocean as a living entity that needs to be protected.”
Amory Ross, storyteller “How can I describe the ocean? The ocean is impossible to describe because it is endless; it is full of life, wonder, and mystery.”
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