Land Dwellers……Sea Dwellers……Equal Rights and ‘just this’? 

Jamaica is an island because we, like all other lands defined to be so, are surrounded by a large body of salty water.  In our case this 'body' of water is the sea and more specifically the Caribbean Sea.  Interestingly enough though, the Caribbean Sea itself is also surrounded, first by land but not as completely as it surrounds us and secondly, it and its adjacent land masses, are now also completely surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico which is also a sea of the Atlantic Ocean.  All seas, with the one exception, are parts of the larger oceans.  The Caribbean sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean.  Worlds within worlds.   As superficially as we Jamaicans have come to observe and interact with our Sea it is interesting to note that the Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas, ranking within the top ten in the world.  

https://www.aneki.com/oceans.html&order=desc&orderby=table_oceans.value&number=all&cntdn=asc

It is also noteworthy that:

• The country of Jamaica has jurisdiction over an area of water 23 times its landmass, much of which includes the Caribbean Sea. 
• Despite being almost six times smaller than the smallest ocean, the Arctic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea is home to 14 percent of the world’s reefs.
• The Caribbean Sea is home to the second-largest barrier reef in the world, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, and the largest reef system in the Northern Hemisphere. It runs 620 miles along the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras.
• Coastal communities (existing within 100 km from the Caribbean sea) from 39 countries and territories, with populations of at least 116 million people rely on the Caribbean Sea for their food and livelihoods.
• The Caribbean Sea is home to over 7,000 islands that belong to 28 nations.
• The geological age of the Caribbean Sea is estimated at between 160 and 180 million years.
• A total of 12,046 marine species live in the Caribbean Sea. Of these, there are more than 1,000 known fish species, including flying fish, moray eels, bull sharks, tiger sharks, Caribbean reef sharks, giant oceanic manta rays, and parrot fish, as well as 90 mammal species, including dolphins, sperm whales, manatees, humpback whales, and seals. 
• The habitats supported by the reefs of the Caribbean Sea are critical to such tourist activities as fishing and diving, and provide an annual economic value to Caribbean nations of $3.1–$4.6 billion.
• The deepest point of the Caribbean Sea is the Cayman Trough, which is located between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at 7,686 m (25,217 ft) below sea level.
• The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest oil-producing regions in the world, providing approximately 170 million tons of oil every year. (UN Environmental Programme)
• The average depth of the Caribbean Sea is about 2,200 meters (7,220 feet) below the sea’s surface. (Loop Jamaica)
• Another part of the world known for its beautiful sandy beaches, the Caribbean in the north of the Atlantic Ocean is recognized as one of the world’s worst affected areas by human activity. Waste and chemical pollution, oil spills, over-fishing and climate change all mean that marine life here is slowly dying off. (My Sweet Greens)

And so, even as we refer to the Caribbean sea as a 'body', this does not in any way at all suggest it is dead, lifeless, unable to support life and lives.    The sea is alive and just as the land is home to and supports those that dwell upon it, so also is the sea home to and sustains those who dwell within it.   In addition to this and also very importantly, the lives of the land dwellers and the lives of the sea dwellers are inextricably linked and interconnected in what are both simple and complex relationships.