Oceanscape as Landscape

‘Landscapes are part of who we are. They are natural systems of which we depend, how we live with our land, and the meaning and pleasure we take from them and our surroundings. They are part of our identity. Landscapes are important to us all’. These words open the book, ‘Te Tangi a te Manu - Aotearoa New Zealand Landscape Assessment Guidelines’ and I agree with them fully. But, I wonder, can we not say the same thing about the ocean? What follows is a personal narration of my immersion in oceanscape. The reflection forms the beginnings of my understanding of what oceanscape is and how it is organised. My approach here is not a structured assessment of oceanscapes in accord with ‘Te Tangi a te Manu’, but instead opens up an accord between landscape and oceanscapes, and possibly new ways of seeing and feeling the vast water bodies of Moana Oceania.