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Yearly Archives: 2013
Young Explorer Joins Project Seahorse – Danajon Banks, Philippines

By Carissa Shipman, Young Explorer
My love affair with nudibranchs, a unique group of marine slugs, began six years ago after seeing one of these fascinating critters in a documentary. I watched the television with eyes wide open, in utter awe of its magnificence! Its ostentatious assortment of colors and intricately decorated appendages intensified my curiosity. In that moment, I knew I wanted to study these amazing underwater jewels in graduate school. Today, I am finishing up my graduate project, studying nudibranchs with Dr. Terry Gosliner, at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.
The Philippines is one of the most diverse areas in the world for sea slugs. This fueled my desire to dive there, to get up close and personal with these stunning invertebrates.…

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Video of the Day ~ Mission Blue Cocos Expedition

Surrounded by deep waters and strong currents, Cocos Island has long been admired by scuba divers for its wealth of marine life. Large pelagic species are very abundant in the cool productive waters surrounding Cocos and divers often see large schools of hammerhead sharks, dolphin, tuna, and schools of snapper. Jacques Cousteau visited Cocos several times and raved about its incredible beauty. Cocos Island was declared a National Park by the Costa Rican government in 1978 and in 1997, UNESCO designated Cocos a world heritage site. In 2002, the surrounding waters were included under that protection. Despite its status as one of the most important marine conservation sites in the world, Cocos is still under pressure from illegal poaching of sharks, tuna, and other marine species.…

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New issue of Sea Urchins Arrives!

By Samantha Hewitt
I am very excited to announce the release of issue 4 of Sea Urchins magazine. This issue is the best and biggest so far. 30,000 copies of the magazine have been printed, more than ever before and it will be distributed globally across UK, US, Australia and New Zealand in selected Sea Life Centres and Parks.

In this Issue:  
1. Learn about 6 different species of seahorse in ‘Creature Feature’.
2. Explore a range of conservation projects in Sea Life centres around the world.
3. Be informed on the problems of plastic pollution with Global Ocean, but find out ways that you can help. 

4. Be inspired by our new committee members- Harvey, Huey and Charlotte.
5. Find and attend fun and helpful events in your area
6.…

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Photo of the Day ~ The Mysterious Oarfish!

Louisiana State University marine biologists have just released video shot from an ROV in 2009 showing a shimmering giant oarfish, regalecus glesne, in it’s natural habitat, 1,475 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
Reported to be the longest bony fish alive, the giant oarfish has a ribbon-like body and has been reliably documented to grow to 25 feet in length, although specimens up to 56 feet long have been reported. These strange ribbon-like creatures live at extreme ocean depths as much as 3,280 feet below the surface, and are found worldwide in all tropical and temperate oceans.
Until now, it was believed that a swimming oarfish would ‘row’ with its pelvic fins in a circular motion, hence the common name.…

Posted in Multimedia, Photo of the Day |

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Ballard’s E/V Nautilus Prepares for Gulf of Mexico Expedition

By Megan Cook
Flexibility is very key in scheduling science and exploration missions.  Due to some last minute technical work happening aboard the E/V Nautilus on the Gulf coast, my first week as an Ocean Exploration Trust science communication fellow has been on a different coast: New England.  The ship’s scheduled exploration will begin soon, but in the meantime it was great to be behind the scenes getting to know what makes live streaming ocean exploration possible.
The critical hub for streaming exploration live over the internet is the Inner Space Center at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.  This facility receives satellite transmissions from research and exploration ships all around the world.  In addition to managing enormous data volume and troubleshooting streams, the ISC team produces daily broadcasts to showcase exploration for the world. …

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A New Marine Preserve for the Bering Sea?

Today we’re featuring great news out of Juneau, Alaska! Our newest Mission Blue Hope Spot, the Bering Sea Deep Canyons is well on it’s way to protection after this week’s meetings with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.
To give you the complete picture, we’re highlighting two blogs – from Phil Radford and Jackie Dragon of Greenpeace USA.  Read about how a coalition of organizations, together with 100,000 of you, and yes, even some big corporations spoke out, loud and clear – and succeeded in making a huge leap forward for the blue heart of our planet, and for us all.  
~ Ed.
A Breakthrough in How We Work to Protect Our Oceans
By  Phil Radford, Executive Director, Greenpeace, USA
The Bering Sea is known to scientists and conservationists as one of the most remarkable places on Earth — a home to sponges, coral, fish, crab, skates, sperm whales, orcas, Steller sea lions, and a vast array of other species all part of a delicate ecosystem extremely vulnerable to human activity.…

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National Geographic Society Honors Six for Outstanding Contributions

By Courtney Mattison
Six extraordinary individuals were honored for their leadership in exploration, science, environmental stewardship and education at the National Geographic Society’s 125th Anniversary Gala celebration last night in Washington, D.C. Held at the National Building Museum, this star-studded event celebrated the power of exploration to inspire curiosity, research, creativity and ultimately a deeper understanding of our role in the natural world. National Geographic Society CEO and Chairman John Fahey explained the evening’s theme, “A New Age of Exploration”:
Exploration for our founders in 1888 was driven by a desire for knowledge and adventure. Today we have the same goals, but our explorers — and those who support them — are driven by a deeper purpose. In this new age of exploration, they want to help navigate the increasingly complex relationship between humanity’s needs and the natural world that sustains us.…

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Onward and Downward

Between 1969 and 1972, 12 people (all of them men) walked on the moon, took an afternoon stroll 240,000 miles away. Around this same time, Sylvia Earle, the first chief scientist for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, was just learning to dive deep below the surface of the sea. Back then the tempertature of the earth was about one degree cooler than it is today, coral reefs were thriving, and we still thought of the ocean as “too big to fail,” Earle said in a lecture on May 22 to kick off the first annual Sustaining Coastal Cities conference, an event hosted by the College of Science.
A “living legend” according to the Library of Congress, Earle first became enamored with the sea as a kid when she read a book by William Beebe, the man who developed the first underwater breathing system, which he and Otis Barton used to plunge themselves a half mile down.…

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The Global Partnership for Oceans ~ Blue Ribbon Panel

The Global Partnership for Oceans is a growing alliance of more than 100 governments, international organizations, civil society groups, and private sector interests committed to addressing the threats to the health, productivity and resilience of the world’s oceans.
It aims to tackle documented problems of overfishing, pollution, and habitat loss. Together these problems are contributing to the depletion of a natural resource bank that provides nutrition, livelihoods and vital ecosystem services.
Funded by the World Bank, and supported by numerous organizations including Conservation International, National Geographic, The World Wildlife fund and a host of others, the alliance promises to be a powerful force for ocean health worldwide.
Prepare to be inspired by this video, produced at a recent meeting of the group!…

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US Department of State Galvanizes Commitment to Ocean Policy

Last week, in preparation for an International Oceans Summit planned for this fall, Dr. Sylvia Earle was invited along with other ocean experts to The Department of State in Washington, DC to advise Secretary John Kerry on current threats facing our planet’s ocean and to discuss ways to promote international actions needed to move toward a sustainable future. 
As a result, Mission Blue Founder and President, Sylvia Earle has been named to the Steering Committee of Secretary Kerry’s Ocean Initiative – great news for the ocean! 

“World Oceans Day appropriately demands our focus on protecting our planet’s most critical resource and we reaffirm our responsibility to ocean conservation as environmental stewards,” said Kerry in a State Department Press Release.
The United States, working domestically and with partners around the world, is taking significant action to strengthen ocean policy and conservation.…

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