Billfish in coastal visual art in Kenya: a resource for ocean science communication

Approaches to marine conservation and management issues has often been limited to using scientific research to propose technical and policy interventions. However, communicating outputs as scientific publications and policy briefs has limited reach and impact for non-academic audiences. Art markets in Mombasa and Kilifi Counties in Kenya were sampled to determine how the creative arts can be used to communicate ocean science. Artwork with terrestrial themes was popular and increasingly available to buyers compared to ocean art. Billfish as a representative species was popular in ocean art culture, underscoring its potential in a niche market for ocean art. Our study highlights opportunities for active collaboration between scientists and artists in communicating messages from scientific work to non-academic audiences. Engagement of Western Indian Ocean countries in the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sus-tainable Development will benefit from the use of ocean art in science communication and enhance ocean literacy in the region.


Introduction
The advent of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science (2021-2030) has sparked global interest and an increased focus on the development of innovative solutions to pressing ocean challenges. Actions ocean conservation (Okafor-Yarwood, et al., 2020).
The authors recognize that effective uptake of science-driven information for sustainable development agendas by the public and private sector calls for effective knowledge sharing and dissemination of scientific findings to the users of marine and coastal resources.
Current forms of communicating science using scientific publications, policy briefs and contemporary media have a limited reach and low impact on the behaviours of non-academic and non-scientific audiences (Guest et al., 2015;Wilson et al., 2016). This gap in communicating science to non-scientific communities can create obstructions in collaborative decision-making processes closely associated with ocean governance (Kopke et al., 2019). Science communication approaches can be innovatively and contextually curated to address specific outcomes such as enhancing stakeholder engagement in decision making for coastal resource management (Cooke et al., 2017;Garcia and Cater, 2022). Strengthening stakeholder engagement in marine conservation efforts has been linked to communication strategies which emphasise cultural connections and human values (Cvitanovic et al., 2015;Chambers et al., 2019). One such avenue that is intrinsically interconnected with these ideals is the creative arts sector. Art can uniquely and expansively communicate and connect scientific findings to human values and emotions therefore motivating behavioural change, supporting evidence-based science and enhancing capacities for tackling challenges associated with coastal and marine resource use (Worm et al., 2021;Santoro et al., 2017;Kendall-Bar et al., 2021).
Successful efforts in utilising visual art for various environmental awareness campaigns over the years reveal the capacity the arts hold as a tool for enhancing public involvement with conservation actions (Hicks and King, 2007). This success is attributed to the nature of art itself; its ability to trigger emotive and intuitive responses in the human mind (Hicks and King, 2007;Lesen et al., 2016;Savoie, 2022). Ocean literacy, which emphasises the necessity for generating awareness and understanding of oceanic ecosystems, has also been coupled with arts-based approaches in advancing the accessibility of ocean knowledge to the public (Worm et al., 2021).
In Kenya, the coastal visual art sector has operated since the colonial era and is an industry that is still largely informal with historical linkages to the tourism industry (Kasfir, 2004;Mahoney, 2012). Kenyan coastal visual artists are based in towns and cities adjacent to the ocean and are well situated in easy-to-access locations that can be used to convey ocean-based messaging. Nonetheless, the scope of Kenya's coastal The study also attempted to further understand how locally landed fish species like billfish are understood and represented by coastal visual artists. Specifically, the drivers were explored behind art production with a focus on billfish, a renowned migratory fish species especially in sport and recreational fisheries that is landed along Kenya's coast (Kadagi et al., 2011). Due to their legendary charismatic nature, agility and speed, billfish have a history of strongly influencing ocean cultures across the globe (Ulanski, 2013). The marlin, a billfish species, features prominently in Ernest Hemingway's famous allegory of the Old Man and the Sea, which revolves around strong connections between a fisherman, a billfish, and relationships with nature through the sea (Alexis et al., 2014). Previous studies linked to assessing pro-environmental behaviour have utilised a flagship species that fits in local contexts as avenues to engage with surrounding communities for conservation efforts (Bowen-Jones and Entwistle, 2002;Senzaki et al., 2017). Thus, this study used familiarity with billfish as a topical entry point to investigate

Site selection
This study focused on Mombasa and Kilifi Counties which are situated along the Kenyan coast (Fig. 2

Methods
The artist survey was undertaken from 24 th May to 16 th June 2021 in the counties of Mombasa and Kilifi, Kenya. The specific study sites were locations where there were artists and art markets. A mixed methods approach was used and obtained (1) quantitative data from questionnaires, and (2) qualitative data and insights from focus group discussions.
To gain an introductory understanding of the dynamics of the Kenyan coastal visual artist population and sector, a questionnaire was used as the primary survey tool to guide inquiry into the area of interest (Milena et al., 2008;Showkat and Parveen, 2017;Kabir, 2016). The surveys were carried out with the artists at their respective point of sale and the questionnaire was sequenced to understand the artists demographics; the content of art that artists had on display; the artists' familiarity with billfish and their ocean awareness; and the drivers of their art production (Glithero and Zandvliet, 2021).
The coastal visual artist population in Kenya has not been the primary focus of prior research and as such, a defined sample population is not yet known. For this reason, this study employed the purposive sampling method whereby respondents were selected based on the artist information available (Neetij and Thapa, 2015).

Data collection and analysis
Data from administering the questionnaire was collected digitally via Google Forms on the researchers' phones or on the artists' personal phones. For areas where internet connectivity was limited, printed copies of the questionnaire were filled by the artists and later keyed into Google Forms by the researchers. Data from the questionnaires was analysed using R software (version 4.1.3). Responses to the themed questions in the FGDs were sequentially recorded with respondent's consent, noted down according to main statements made, and keyed into an Excel spreadsheet. These data were then coded to extract categories for each specific question. This was followed by refining these categories into overarching themes that highlighted additional information.

Demographics of the art community
A total of 29 artists were surveyed in the two counties of Mombasa (14) and Kilifi (15). The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic period which limited the number of artists that could be accessed.
A total of five FGDs were held.
In Mombasa County, a majority of the artists were male and with an average age of 45 years old. In Kilifi, male artists were a majority and were younger than their Mombasa counterparts with an average age of 34 years. In both counties, the female artists were notably fewer and made up approximately 10 % of the artists identified and interviewed in the study.
Less than 25 % of the respondents in both Mombasa and Kilifi Counties had received formal art education. One female participant in Mombasa County had prior art training accounting for 8.3 % of the total number of participants while the majority of the artists (83.3 %) who were male had no formal art training.
Two male artists in Kilifi counties had received art education accounting to 14.3 % whereas the majority (78.6 %) of the artists who were male, and one female artist (7.1 %) did not have any formal art training.
The artists who did not receive formal training explained that they had developed their artistic skills

Familiarity with billfish and ocean awareness of artists
In Mombasa County, 14.3% of the artists were extremely familiar with billfish and 28.6 % were slightly familiar.
In Kilifi County, 41.7% of the artists were extremely familiar with billfish and 33.3 % were slightly familiar with this group of fish.
When asked about their awareness of the ocean and its systems, 53.8 % of the Mombasa artists and 20 % of the Kilifi artists reported that they were very aware. Most of the Kilifi artists (40 %) cited that they were slightly aware.
In terms of awareness of their counterparts (other artists), the respondents in both counties indicated a slight awareness. In Mombasa County, the artists believe that 38.5 % of the total artist population was slightly aware of the ecosystems while in Kilifi County, the level of awareness of other artists was cited to be 47 %.

Drivers of art production
The majority of the artists from both Kilifi and Mombasa counties reiterated that their production of art is primarily driven by market demands and the opportunity

Focus Group Discussions
The FGDs were focused on thematic aspects which included the interactions of the artists with the ocean, the artists' awareness of human impact on the ocean, the artists' current ocean knowledge, and additional information the artists considered significant about the ocean art market (Table S1).
The artists indicated that they interacted relatively often with the ocean through various activities such as fishing, selling art on the beach, and collection of material such as driftwood for art pieces from the beach. They also demonstrated an awareness of anthropogenic activities on the ocean by highlighting challenges such as plastic and chemical pollution, illegal fishing, and climate change, among others.
Regarding the depiction of these trends of human activity in their artwork, some noted that the use of recycled material and subtle colour schemes captured some of these themes.
The artists also shared that the sizes of fish that are part of their art pieces are determined by the actual sizes of the fish they encounter. Billfish was the focal species to determine ocean knowledge for this study, and when asked about billfish, some artists noted that billfish are iconic for their large sizes, have been consumed for food, and that they have interacted with sport fishers who commissioned them to produce billfish sculptures. The majority of the artists encountered were engaged in art production as their primary source of livelihood.
The artists' awareness of the ocean and marine ecosystems was present, however art is a business, and like any other business, the artists produce the type of art that sells. They placed emphasis on market demands as the determinant for the type and content of art they produce, and they therefore focussed on the production of terrestrial art since it sells. Responses given by some of the artists revealed that the active creation of demand for ocean art would contribute to the promotion of the production of ocean-centric art. This is considered to be an opportunity for the creation of market demand by the marine scientific community through the incorporation of the creative arts in campaigns and workshops to disseminate scientific findings to a non-scientific and non-academic audience. This would be an effective method in promoting effective ocean science communication whilst improving the livelihoods of coastal artists (Lesen et al., 2016).
The increase in domestic tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a notable increase of local art buyers suggesting that there is a growing local art market within the country that is purchasing naturebased artwork. This market can be aligned to the purchase of ocean art through appropriate messaging and visibility of this type of artwork.
In terrestrial art, elephants and other animals are seen as representatives of the living organisms of the terrestrial environment. For the ocean, billfish were selected as a representative of an organism living in the ocean and it was found that the artists encountered in this study had a clear awareness of billfish, ocean ecosystems, and the environmental challenges affecting ocean health. Several artists were also fishers, and their knowledge came from individual experiences with the ocean and observations they had made.
Herein lies an opportunity to tap into the observations made by artists who are fishers to show changes in the ocean and creatures that they encounter while at sea. This awareness and knowledge sharing of ocean resources may also be used to propel the FAO -Blue Growth Initiative (BGI) for sustainably developing fisheries and aquaculture.
In Kenya, Kilifi County is one of the major billfish fishing zones contributing to the country's prominence in big game fishing dating back to the 1950s . The localization of sport fishing in Kilifi contributes to the higher familiarity with billfish among the artists in Kilifi compared to Mombasa. The artists in Kilifi County have captured the unique opportunity of creating fibreglass sculpture models from the catches made by sport fishers thus enhancing their livelihoods. Kelly et al. (2018) rightly observed that marine scientists should not assume that the non-academic community share their concerns about marine environments and threats that they face. They further indicate that the scientific method of research communication through scientific papers is ineffective as the readability of papers has declined (Kelly et al., 2018). Dupont et al. (2017) indicate that the scientific process does not end until the science is communicated and that scientists need to become effective communicators by using simple messages, and narrative stories that can motivate environmental actions. The appreciation of nature has been long acknowledged to be understood by children, as highlighted in Woodsworth's Ode to Immortality (1820), and by artists; thus art is a medium in which science may be perfectly explained and understood (van Boeckel, 2013).
The findings of the current study provide opportunities for art to be used as a creative outlet for science communication. The ability of the arts to evoke emotions and propel self-reflection as well as the will to take actions (Dupont et al., 2017) forms a key consideration for this linkage of creative arts to science. This was noted in a survey conducted for public schools in Canada where the knowledge and value of the ocean was predetermined by the exposure to ocean related activities and hence the interest in the ocean resources (Guest et al., 2015).
As advocated by Chambers et al. (2019), the creation of a community of practice in Kenya and across the Western Indian Ocean region through the creation of a network of scientists and artists that can work together across disciplines, is here again recommended. They would need to share knowledge and expertise in a collaborative manner to create innovative messaging that can drive the creative sharing of scientific information (Garcia and Cater, 2022). As this recommendation is made, the challenges in evaluating the impact of such trans-disciplinary collaborations is recognised (Paterson et al., 2020). It is also important to consider that there is a need for the use of a variety of media platforms which bring inclusivity as they allow more stakeholders to be part of the conversation (Paterson et al., 2020).
Furthermore, consideration has to be given to the different expectations of the artists and scientists due to differences of mind set, training, communication styles, values and societal status (Paterson et al., 2020). Despite these challenges, marine scientists in the region are urged to consider actively engaging and collaborating with coastal artists in the artistic visualisation and co-production of key messaging they would like to convey to specific audiences such as policy makers, the youth, and coastal communities (Lesen et al., 2016).
Artist and ocean scientist workshop residencies are recommended approaches worth exploring for the co-designing and development of art-centred outputs for ocean science communication that connect ocean ecosystem concepts to emotive-linked art ( Jung et al., 2022;van Boeckel, 2013). Such collaborative engagements can further consider making the outputs accessible to local markets through avenues such as affordable pricing, and sculptures and murals in pub-

Conclusions
To propel the marine community of practice, it is important to define a shared vision, develop a clear strategy of engagement between artists and scientists as well as diverse stakeholders-which demonstrates the benefits of the collaboration and provides tools to evaluate progress in the uptake of co-designed messages (Heritage and Golfomitsou, 2016;Santoro et al., 2018;Pocock et al., 2019).