Climate researchers warn that the ocean's ability to serve as such a massive carbon sink may soon hit a tipping point once it becomes saturated and thus unable to keep CO2 from rapidly accumulating in the atmosphere, throwing global warming into overdrive and causing seawater to acidify.

Much of the media coverage of the Paris climate talks focuses on negotiations between country delegations. That work is vitally important. But here on the ground, it's clear that another powerful force is also shaping the outcome of the talks: civil society.

"We think of great white sharks as the top predators, well, we should look in the mirror," Earle said Monday at #CGI2015.

Leading explorer and marine biologist Sylvia Earle of Mission Blue says the ocean is not too big to fail. Can one small canoe's journey make a big difference?

The dying seas are an economic issue as well as a survival issue, and the corporate leaders of Legal Sea Foods and Taylor Shellfish of Washington will be speaking at the summit about preserving our fish stocks.