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Berlin hosts European Premiere of Mission Blue Film

Legendary oceanographer Sylvia Earle is on a personal mission to save the ocean. Mission Blue – shot over a three year period in numerous locations around the world – traces Sylvia’s remarkable personal journey, from her earliest memories exploring the ocean as a young girl to her days leading a daring undersea mission in the Virgin Islands to her experience as chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and beyond.
The film deftly weaves her unique personal history with the passion which is consuming Sylvia today: creating a national parks system for the ocean which she calls her ‘Hope Spots’. Sylvia passionately believes this ambitious plan is the best way to restore the ocean’s health. But as she travels to points as far reaching as the Gulf of Mexico, the Galapagos Islands, the Coral Sea, and beyond, it becomes clear just how daunting the challenges we are facing truly are.…

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Mission Blue Shines at the Santa Barbara Film Festival

SBIFF Review: Opening Night Doc ‘Mission Blue’ Plumbs Depths of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle

 
You won’t be ordering fish off the menu soon after viewing Fisher Stevens’ new documentary “Mission Blue,” which world premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Thursday night. 
Both a profile of the life’s work of renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle and a call to reconsider our treatment of the deep seas she has dedicated her life to, the film will appeal to fans of “Blackfish” and the documentary work of James Cameron, who makes a few appearances here. (Press interview with director Fisher Stevens below.)
“Mission” toggles focus between Sylvia Earle’s trailblazing past as a kind of Sally Ride of the seas, as Earle was the first woman to dive to such depths in the ’60s, in a time where men like filmmaker Jacques Cousteau (a hero of Earle’s) dominated the underwaters.…

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Sylvia Earle – From the Red Carpet to the UN

Today, Dr. Sylvia Earle delivered a keynote at the United Nations Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, along with fellow Benchley Award winner Dr. Jane Lubchenco.
With a first premise that the ocean is essential for planetary survival, the bottom line is that all of the world’s population must start to really care about the ocean. The goal is to become ocean stewards, protecting its vital role in sustaining life on Earth, while at the same time promoting ‘blue growth’ to achieve prosperous and resilient communities.
The webcast is available in it’s entirety at the United Nations Web TV site.  Dr. Earle speaks during the second hour. 

 
All photos courtesy of Dr. Sylvia A. Earle…

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China Sends Strong Message – Crushes Ivory Stockpiles

In a surprising step this week, China joined the increasing ranks of countries to publicly destroy stockpiles of ivory to make their stand against the illegal global trade – an industry that claims the lives of tens of thousands of endangered African elephants yearly.
Just a few months ago, U.S. authorities in Denver crushed 6 tons of ivory seized at airports, demonstrating their resolve to stamp out the $10 billion illegal trade that has clear links to international crime, including human trafficking and terrorism.
“Illegal trade in wildlife, whether ivory, rhinoceros horns, tiger parts, shark fins or other fish, provides slick corridors for drugs, arms, and human trafficking.  Putting the spotlight on this issue is important,” says Dr. Sylvia Earle.
Positive actions such as this weeks ‘Ivory Crush’ are a good step, and we’re hopeful that soon the necessary policy changes will be put into place to make a real difference.…

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The Entire IPCC Climate Change Report – in Illustrated Haiku!

Originally published in it’s entirety at Sightline Daily, by Anna Fahey. Edited by Mission Blue.
Reports released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) can be daunting, even for science and policy insiders. The full Physical Science Assessment, the first installment of the Fifth Assessment Report(pdf), released in manuscript form earlier this year, is over 2,000 pages long.
And even the Summary for Policymakers, rather optimistically referred to as a “brochure,” is a dense 27 pages.
What if we could communicate the essence of this important information in plain language and pictures? Well, that’s just what one Northwest oceanographer has done. He’s distilled the entire report into 19 illustrated haiku.
The result is stunning, sobering, and brilliant. It’s poetry. It’s a work of art.…

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Mission Blue 2013 Year in Review

As we look forward to 2014 it’s clear that there is much work to be done to protect our planet’s Blue Heart. Yet, we should also look back and realize the good work done in 2013 towards our critical mission of creating Hope Spots in the ocean — the seeds of tomorrow’s flourishing marine environment. Right now, we are in a sweet spot in time. The time to act is now.
If you have a few moments as the New Year rolls in, I invite you to read my article in The Virginia Quarterly Review to get a sense of what I mean by “sweet spot” in time. It is my great hope that you continue to feed Mission Blue with passion and inspiration into the New Year.…

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Diving Beneath the Antarctic Ice with Dale Andersen

Mission Blue ally and long-time friend, Dr. Dale Andersen, is currently camped out with his team on the shores of Lake Obersee, a perennially ice-covered lake not too far from Lake Untersee in the mountains of Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. They made the traverse out here via snowmobile and trucks last month and are soon heading home armed with fascinating scientific data and media from under the antarctic ice.
Dale wrote Sylvia, “the skidoo ride was a bit challenging since we had white-out, near white-out and marginal conditions the whole way (125 km or so over 7 hours) but we made it out by midnight and had a tent up with some heat by 3am. Having been here a few more days we now have the camp established but our  winds are still pretty high (35-40 kts) so our work is a bit limited right now.  …

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5 Reasons to Celebrate California’s MPAs

By Samantha Murray, The Ocean Conservancy
They grow up so fast! I can’t believe it’s already been a year since California established the first statewide network of marine protected areas (MPAs). I remember when these special places were just a glimmer in our collective eye—when scientists, fishermen, agencies and conservationists were still flirting with the idea of protecting coastal waters in a string of underwater parks from Mexico to the Oregon border.

And now here we are, one year later, celebrating a first birthday on December 19 and 124 fun reasons to get outside, get in the water and raise a glass to California’s future. Looking forward and looking back, here are some of my favorite reasons to celebrate:
1. Booming business
At a time when the economy is still top of mind for most Americans, California’s MPAs actually protect the jobs of people who rely on the tourism industry.…

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Whale Tagger Nan Hauser Makes a Big “My Hero” Splash

Nan Hauser, the intrepid whale tagger who works in the Cook Islands, recently had her work documented by Peter Stonier the Conservation International filmmaker for the My Hero International Film Festival. The video — available for viewing here — was selected as for first place in the “Series” category, underscoring public interest and support of whale protection efforts.

Nan Hauser, President and Director of the Center for Cetacean Research and Conservation, is based in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, where she is the Principal Investigator for the Cook Islands Whale Research Project and Director of the Cook Islands Whale & Wildlife Centre. Nan’s research includes population identity, Photo ID, acoustics, genetics, surface & underwater behaviour, navigation and migration of cetaceans. Her satellite tag work includes results on how whales migrate over long distances using linear constant course segments.…

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From the Desk of Sylvia Earle

Dear Friend of the Ocean,
Recently, while diving in the warm waters of the Western Caribbean, I was reminded of the critical importance of our work.  When I made my first dives there some 50 years ago, the reefs were vibrant and decorated with schools of brightly colored fish.  As I kicked my way down to 60 feet below the surface, it didn’t take long to realize that so much has changed…and not for the better.
Jacques Cousteau once mused on our complex relationship with Nature,
“For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive. In this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.”
Cousteau said these words last century.…

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