Blue Ocean Strategy

Biological Parallel

Blue Ocean strategy is ecological release—when organisms colonize habitats without competitors. Cichlids in isolated African lakes radiated into hundreds of species, each claiming uncontested niches. The strategy: find empty adaptive space where competition doesn't exist yet. Oceanic islands, post-extinction landscapes, and newly formed lakes are nature's blue oceans. The catch: blue oceans turn red quickly as competitors evolve or invade. Darwin's finches had Galápagos to themselves until humans introduced rats, goats, and parasitic flies.