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Hundreds of kilometres from shore, and covering two-thirds of the Earth's surface, the high seas are a world that few of us will ever see. After more than a year in the field, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ian Urbina concluded: "."

Governed by no single country or authority, the high seas represent a . And in this age of information——we know shockingly little about the ocean.

The race for oceanic resources

Despite being inaccessible to many, the world's oceans are under an extraordinary set of pressures. remain the most critical threats—they undermine the oceans' capacity to provide nutritious food and for hundreds of millions of people.

At the same time, new players are turning towards the oceans as a source of economic growth. The ocean economy is projected to double from .

The global rush to develop the "blue economy" risks harming the marine environment and, in turn, affecting human well-being and . For example, a recent study found that involving marine organisms. Similarly, , who subsidize their fishing fleets, dominate global fishing efforts. And just 10 powerful corporations generate almost half—45 percent—.

Scientists have coined this race for ocean food, material and space as the "."

Ocean empathy

These converging threats have led scientists to argue that . In a recent interview with National Geographic, climate activist Greta Thunberg observed that "."

As Thunberg suggests, our collective loss of empathy for the planet and for each other is one of our greatest challenges.

Getting people to care about the oceans—which are out of sight and out of mind for many—can be particularly challenging. A recent survey of 3,500 global leaders found that they consider , Life Below Water, .

The world's oceans are in urgent need of protection. But ocean stewardship is impossible without empathy for marine ecosystems and the communities who depend on them. In this context, an important research question becomes how can researchers foster empathy for nature?

Fostering empathy through virtual reality

Fortunately, an emerging body of research suggests that empathy can be nurtured. In particular, research suggests that virtual reality can be .

This field of research is based on the premise that the immersive nature of virtual reality sets it apart from other media . Research is demonstrating the potential of virtual reality to stimulate users' capacity to and to .

Building on this work, we asked whether experiencing the oceans in a virtual reality environment could make someone care about them and take action?

We found that . We also found that research participants cared more after experiencing the pessimistic scenario in comparison to the optimistic scenario. As one of the first studies to demonstrate the influence of virtual reality to build ocean empathy, this research makes important contributions to advancing research on novel methods for supporting ocean sustainability.

While virtual reality is far from being an everyday technology for the masses, .

The oceans are at once vast and fragile, remote and central. Ocean literacy and are needed now . As marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco has argued, the oceans connect, feed and heal us—.