The Science That Explains What Surfers Have Always Known, and the 95% of the Ocean We Still Haven’t Discovered
“When I come out of the water after surfing, my mind works differently. Clearer. Quieter. More my own. For years, I called it intuition. Today, science is beginning to explain why.”
There is a phrase repeated on beaches around the world, in every language: “the ocean resets me.” Surfers say it, swimmers say it, and so do those who simply sit in front of the waves and watch. Children say it before they have learned to rationalize it, and older people say it when they no longer need to.
For decades, science treated that phrase as folklore. Something beautiful but imprecise. A metaphor. Not anymore.
In 2014, marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols published Blue Mind, a book that changed the conversation forever. For the first time, someone brought together the scientific evidence behind what millions of people instinctively felt: that our relationship with the ocean can influence how we feel, think, and live.
Nichols opened a door. And today, I want to keep exploring what lies on the other side.
At Blue Neuroscience, we want to bring this knowledge to more people: connecting scientific research with science communication, data with stories, and our relationship with the ocean with a deeper understanding of its impact on human well-being.
Because we know more about Mars than we do about the ocean, and there is still so much left to discover.
And starting today, I want to share that journey publicly.
The Brain Doesn’t Rest.
It Works Differently. The popular idea is that the ocean relaxes us because it allows us to “disconnect.” As if the mind simply switched off in front of the waves. But science points to something much more interesting.
When we are near the ocean, the brain does not simply switch off. Exposure to aquatic environments has been associated with changes in brain activity and with responses related to stress reduction, attention, and well-being.
Different lines of research are exploring how these environments may influence neurochemical and physiological processes related to stress, mood, and well-being. It is a developing field, and there is still much to understand about the mechanisms behind this connection.
It is not just a subjective feeling. It is a relationship that science is beginning to understand and measure.
“The ocean is not just an ecosystem. It is a pharmacy we have barely begun to read, and we are already destroying it.”
The Reptilian Brain and the Evolutionary Memory of Water
But there is something deeper than neurotransmitters. Something that connects our response to our environment with millions of years of evolution.
The oldest parts of the human brain, such as the brainstem and various structures associated with the limbic system, are involved in essential processes related to emotional regulation, attention, and our response to the environment. Long before our conscious mind interprets what is happening, the brain is already processing stimuli, sounds, rhythms, and signals from the space around us.
And the ocean offers a particularly interesting combination.
Its rhythm, the repetition of the waves, the constant sound, and the vastness of the horizon create an environment with recognizable patterns that is, at the same time, constantly changing. Different lines of research are exploring this combination for its potential relationship with stress reduction, attention restoration, and well-being.
When something unexpected appears, a larger wave, a dolphin, the changing color of the water at sunset, our attention is activated again. Familiarity and novelty coexist in the same space.
It is a combination any surfer recognizes. That floating attention, that moment when we stop analyzing every movement and body, perception, and environment seem to function in sync.
Science studies similar experiences through the concept of the flow state, a state of deep concentration that can emerge during activities such as surfing and other immersive experiences in nature.
Cortisol, the Hippocampus, and the Silent Crisis
Before continuing, I want to pause on cortisol. Because understanding what chronic stress can do to the brain helps us understand why our relationship with natural environments such as the ocean matters more than we might imagine.
Cortisol is necessary. In situations of acute stress, it is part of the response that prepares the body to react to a threat. The problem arises when stress persists for too long and our system remains constantly activated.
Prolonged exposure to stress and elevated cortisol levels has been associated with changes in brain regions involved in memory, learning, and emotional regulation, including the hippocampus. This is one of the reasons why understanding how certain environments may help reduce stress has become an area of growing scientific interest.
And here, the ocean opens up a fascinating possibility.
A growing body of research is examining how so-called blue spaces may be associated with lower stress levels and greater well-being. Not as substitutes for medical or psychological treatment, but as part of a broader relationship between our environment and our health.
The ocean is not simply a place where we “disconnect.” It is an environment whose relationship with our brain and well-being we are only beginning to understand.
“We live surrounded by stimuli and constant stress. Perhaps the ocean is not just leisure: it may also help us understand the extent to which our health is connected to the environments we inhabit.”
The Data We Can No Longer Ignore
Blue Neuroscience is not just a conversation about our relationship with the ocean. Scientific evidence on the potential health and well-being benefits of blue spaces continues to grow.
A 2024 analysis using data from 18,838 adults across 18 countries found an association between more frequent visits to blue spaces and a lower likelihood of sleeping fewer than six hours per night. In a context where insufficient sleep represents a major health challenge, this is a finding worth paying attention to.
Other studies have explored the relationship between living near water and mental health. Research conducted in Michigan, based on more than 30,000 hospitalization records for anxiety and mood disorders, found significant associations between proximity to certain aquatic environments and some mental health indicators.
In Australia, a study involving 350 participants also examined how exposure to coastal environments, even passively, may be associated with indicators of depression and anxiety.
Marine research opens another fascinating avenue: different studies are analyzing compounds derived from marine organisms, including polysaccharides, polyphenols, and fatty acids, for their potential neuroprotective activity in experimental models related to neurodegenerative diseases.
“The ocean is not just an ecosystem. It is also an enormous source of knowledge that we have barely begun to explore.”
The Most Unexplored Territory on the Planet
This is where the story becomes urgent in a different way.
We have mapped the Moon. We have sent rovers to Mars. We have images of planets billions of kilometers away. And yet, much of the deep ocean remains unknown to us.
The greatest territory left to explore on Earth lies underwater.
That means we still know very little about a vast part of marine biodiversity and the compounds it may contain. Research is already studying marine molecules and organisms for their potential in areas such as neuroprotection and other fields of health, but we are only at the beginning of understanding everything the ocean may be able to teach us.
It also means that every degraded reef, every species that disappears before it can be studied, and every marine ecosystem we lose may represent knowledge we will never get the chance to discover. Not just biodiversity. Science, possibilities, and our future too.
“We know more about Mars than we do about much of the ocean that keeps us alive. Exploring and understanding that world is one of the great scientific adventures still ahead of us.”
Why This Goes Far Beyond Personal Health
Up to this point, we could read all of this as an argument for spending more time near the ocean. And it is. But there is a much bigger implication.
If research continues to show a relationship between blue spaces, well-being, and certain health indicators, then the conversation about ocean conservation can incorporate a dimension that has long remained in the background: our own health.
We cannot talk about the ocean only in terms of biodiversity, tons of CO₂ absorbed, or square kilometers of coral reef. Those arguments are real and urgent. But there is another perspective that can help us understand just how deeply we depend on healthy oceans.
Protecting the ocean also means protecting the spaces that contribute to our well-being, preserving ecosystems that still hold enormous possibilities for science, and understanding that planetary health and human health are deeply connected.
“When we lose a marine ecosystem, we do not just lose biodiversity. We may also be losing knowledge, possibilities for science, and part of our own relationship with well-being.”
Why Me, Why Now I am a surfer.
I have spent my life reading waves, their shape, their rhythm, the exact moment when you need to move. And years ago, I began to wonder whether I could also learn to read the science behind them.
Wallace J. Nichols opened a fascinating conversation with Blue Mind: exploring through science why our relationship with water may influence how we think, feel, and live.
Through Blue Neuroscience, I want to help take that conversation further. To bring research closer to people, connect scientific voices with new audiences, and transform knowledge into another reason to understand and protect the ocean.
I am not a neuroscientist. My role is in science communication: listening to those who conduct the research, connecting disciplines, and finding new ways to tell the story of what science is discovering about our relationship with the ocean.
The Ocean Connections was also born from this conviction: the ocean needs new languages. Science needs powerful stories to travel further, and stories need science to have rigor.
Blue Neuroscience aims to be a space for that conversation. An open conversation, built alongside scientists, researchers, and people who have spent years studying the ocean and our relationship with it.
“The more we understand our connection with the ocean, the more reasons we have to protect it. And we are only beginning to discover them.”
What Comes Next?
In the coming articles, I will explore:
→ How the sound of waves may influence our brain activity, and what science is discovering about its relationship with the mind
→ Surfing and well-being: what we know about its therapeutic potential and what still needs to be investigated
→ Blue spaces and mental health: what studies are telling us and how these findings could become part of conversations around public health
→ Unexplored marine biodiversity and the potential of marine compounds that science continues to investigate
→ Everything we still do not know about the ocean, and why exploring it may help us better understand our own health
If the ocean is part of your life, as a surfer, scientist, activist, explorer, or simply someone who recognizes what you feel when you reach the shore, this space belongs to you too.
Follow me here on Medium. And tell me: when was the last time you felt the ocean change your state of mind? I want to hear other experiences, not just my own.
About the Author
Xavier Rubio Franch is a surfer and founder of The Ocean Connections and Old Surfer Agency. Through Blue Neuroscience, he promotes science communication and conversation around the relationship between the ocean, the brain, and human well-being. He developed the concepts of Green Storydoing and Blue Storydoing and serves as President of the Foundation for Sustainable Consumption. He has been recognized by Forbes Spain. He lives and surfs in Miami.
#BlueNeuroscience #Ocean #BlueMind #BlueStorydoing #MentalHealth #Surfing #Conservation #TheOceanConnections
