I grew up within easy walking distance of Burrard Inlet in Vancouver, one of the world’s busiest harbors. The water of that port is filled with thousands of sea creatures, such as gulls, fish, crabs, clams, barnacles, starfish, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers. I recall spending one afternoon as a young boy figuring out the amount of waste deposited daily into Burrard Inlet by all these animals. The number I calculated was so high that I concluded some life-forms must exist in the port to eat most of the waste. At that time, marine biologists had little knowledge of what such life-forms might be.