We have long shared a relationship with our ocean, yet it continues to pose a challenge to the current marine governance paradigm. Even within the popular zeitgeist to protect and support “life below sea” our persistent vision of a vast oceanic resource to exploit is a difficult one to change, especially when it defines our international law of the sea and motivates opportunity for exponential wealth creation. When laws are too slow to keep up with the impacts of climate change, enforcement is beyond our current capacity in practice, and impacts are ever worsening, ethical frameworks are a useful way to guide human activity on the sea. By very nature, ethical frameworks also encourage us to move beyond the guidance of mere baselines. In this presentation I share 5 key ethical values which may support the development of such ethical frameworks in the governance of “life below sea”. These ethical values reflect the character of our ocean place. These values also define the relationship we share personally and societally with our ocean as much as they are values that can be applied to guide a new governance paradigm and the expansion of commercial enterprises.