It was late afternoon and I’d been sunning myself on the warm wooden jetty when I slipped, tripped and back-flipped, tumbling shell over claw into the lagoon below. A sunscreen slip!

Submerged, I struggled to right myself as the water felt more like an oil slick.  “You okay little fella?” said a voice from nearby. I’d stumbled on Salty, a friendly type of sea slug – nothing like those boring chaps you get on land; our ocean-dwelling slugs are vibrant, rainbow-coloured creations.

“It’s the same thing everywhere I slide,” he sighed. “Sunseekers squeeze sunscreen onto their skin and dive into the water, forgetting the cocktail of chemicals the cream contains. Did you know that 14,000 tons of sunscreen ends up in the ocean every year, threatening marine life and especially coral reefs? It’s barely possible to pronounce the toxins they contain, let alone understand the damage they do when corals and other sea creatures absorb them: oxybenzone, octocrylene, homosalate methylparaben, avobenzone and more.”

It sounded like another language! “But in an equatorial country like the Maldives, people need to protect themselves from UVA and UVB rays,” I told him. “Just because zebra fish are clever enough to produce an ultraviolet-protective compound to protect their eggs from the sun, it doesn’t mean we all can!”

It was late afternoon and I’d been sunning myself on the warm wooden jetty when I slipped, tripped and back-flipped, tumbling shell over claw into the lagoon below. A sunscreen slip!

Submerged, I struggled to right myself as the water felt more like an oil slick.  “You okay little fella?” said a voice from nearby. I’d stumbled on Salty, a friendly type of sea slug – nothing like those boring chaps you get on land; our ocean-dwelling slugs are vibrant, rainbow-coloured creations.

“It’s the same thing everywhere I slide,” he sighed. “Sunseekers squeeze sunscreen onto their skin and dive into the water, forgetting the cocktail of chemicals the cream contains. Did you know that 14,000 tons of sunscreen ends up in the ocean every year, threatening marine life and especially coral reefs? It’s barely possible to pronounce the toxins they contain, let alone understand the damage they do when corals and other sea creatures absorb them: oxybenzone, octocrylene, homosalate methylparaben, avobenzone and more.”

It sounded like another language! “But in an equatorial country like the Maldives, people need to protect themselves from UVA and UVB rays,” I told him. “Just because zebra fish are clever enough to produce an ultraviolet-protective compound to protect their eggs from the sun, it doesn’t mean we all can!”

He was quick to reassure me: “In countries like Palau and Hawaii, humans have no choice as toxic sunscreens are banned so they have to wear protective clothing instead, or use more natural formulas with non-nano minerals, like zinc oxide. In Landaa’s Resort Shop, we’ve taken the first step and swapped toxic formulas for natural ones; we’ve got to take action to protect our UNESCO waters!”

“What a brilliant idea!” I said excitedly. “I’ll be sure to spread the word!” And with that, I made a break for the shore and headed back to Hermit HQ – ever-eager to share my findings and happy to be far away from any more greasy mishaps, for today at least!

He was quick to reassure me: “In countries like Palau and Hawaii, humans have no choice as toxic sunscreens are banned so they have to wear protective clothing instead, or use more natural formulas with non-nano minerals, like zinc oxide. In Landaa’s Resort Shop, we’ve taken the first step and swapped toxic formulas for natural ones; we’ve got to take action to protect our UNESCO waters!”

“What a brilliant idea!” I said excitedly. “I’ll be sure to spread the word!” And with that, I made a break for the shore and headed back to Hermit HQ – ever-eager to share my findings and happy to be far away from any more greasy mishaps, for today at least!