fbpixel Uncategorized Archives - Page 28 of 52 - Mission Blue

Blog Archives
Dr. Earle Visits South Africa to support Sustainable SeasTrust Tour

“No ocean means no life, no blue means no green,” said ocean conservation champion, Dr. Sylvia Earle at a public talk at the Lawhill Maritime Centre in Simonstown held on April 14. Apart from being an esteemed oceanographer, explorer, author, lecturer, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, founder of numerous research foundations and chairperson of the Advisory Council for the Ocean in Google Earth, Dr. Earle is also the patron of Grahamstown based charity, the Sustainable Seas Trust (SST). The SST along with the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) are currently on the SAMSA SEA Pledge Saldanha to Sodwana Tour.
For four weeks the team will be touring South Africa’s coastline and spreading the word of coastal conservation to everyone from young school children to the various mayors and dignitaries along the way.…

Posted in Uncategorized |

2 Comments
Oceanographer Sylvia Earle’s warnings about Gulf deserve prime-time attention

By now most of us have seen those feel-good television spots featuring a Louisianan, an Alabaman, a Mississippian and a Floridian, all smiling and boasting good-naturedly about the relative advantages of their home state as a tourist destination. With a clear emphasis on the many pleasures of the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico shared by all.
The object is to draw visitors to spotless beaches and crystal waters, along with historical attractions, golf courses and, of course, food! Endless buffets of mouth-watering dishes served fresh from the bounty of the Gulf.
The message to prospective tourists is that the widely publicized miseries brought by the April 2010 BP spill are a thing of the distant past. A homegrown BP spokesman proclaims that things are better than ever, and urges one and all to come on down!…

Posted in Uncategorized |

Leave a comment
What is the True Value of the Ocean?

Today we bring you a new video, called “The True Value of Our Oceans” as part of the “Two Minutes on Oceans with Jim Toomey” ocean video series. The video is a collaboration between The United Nations Environment Programme’s Regional Office for North America (UNEP RONA) and Mission Blue Executive Director, Jim Toomey, who is also one of North America’s premier syndicated cartoonists and whose comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon entertains and educates readers  about ocean issues every week.
The video, “Two Minutes on Oceans with Jim Toomey” is part of a series that was launched in June of 2012.  Using animation and humor, the videos provide, in clear and simple language, information about cutting-edge science and policies governing our ocean, the importance of the ocean to human well-being and the challenges facing our environment.…

Posted in Uncategorized |

1 Comment
70,000 Citizens, 100 Scientists Want New England’s Waters Protected

More than a hundred prominent scientists are urging federal officials to prevent the return of damaging, bottom trawl fishing to waters that have protected fish habitat and spawning areas in New England for nearly two decades.
Some five thousand square miles of protected seabed—an area equal to the size of Connecticut—could be at risk under the proposal that officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries service are now considering. The scientists warn that such a move would likely “damage the marine ecosystem upon which all of our fisheries and other sectors in the coastal economy totally depend.”

These closed areas were put in place following the collapse of fish populations in the 1990s and protect juvenile fish, spawning areas and seafloor habitat.…

Posted in Uncategorized |

1 Comment
Take a Cue from the Clownfish and Make a Difference

Intensely orange and aggressive to intruders, the clownfish lives upon the sea anemone, whose otherwise deadly sting has no effect on the clownfish thanks to a slimy mucus on its body. In a clever symbiotic ruse, the clownfish swims away from the anemone, attracts a hungry predator, lures it back to the anemone, who stuns and kills it. The anemone and the clownfish then feast on this predator-turned-prey. High fives all around. Clownfish are peculiar in that they adhere to a strict hierarchy of dominance. The largest and most aggressive female is found at the top. As many other fish, the female lays eggs — usually on flat surfaces close to their host anemone — and males fertilize them. Gender, however, is a slippery subject with clownfish, since they are what’s known as sequential hermaphrodites, meaning they first develop into males and then mature into females.…

Posted in Uncategorized |

Leave a comment
‘I am Eco-Warrior’ Mini-Series ~ Sylvia Earle

Roger Moenks is a celebrity and fashion photographer who has called New York City home for almost 20 years. In his ‘I am Eco-Warrior’ Video mini-series, he highlights the life’s work of individuals, from Ted Turner to Richard Branson and Sylvia Earle, who are working to protect the environment and save the planet.
In his 2012 book, ‘I Am Eco-Warrior,’ in-depth interviews reveal the stories of people who inspire and lead the world in the areas of environmentalism and corporate sustainability. Moenks hopes that by featuring these inspirational figures, he will encourage all of us to play a greater role in creating a better, more sustainable planet.

Sylvia Earle – i am eco warrior by Roger Moenks from Roger Moenks on Vimeo.…

Posted in Uncategorized |

Leave a comment
Photographer Chris Rainier at Explorers Club – April 8

National Geographic photographer Chris Rainier, speaks at the Explorers Club in New York on April 8th. ~ ed.
Exploring the mysteries of indigenous cultures–cultures that stand on a precarious edge of a primeval yesterday and a potentially tumultuous tomorrow–is a mission that Chris Rainier was born to. As a National Geographic photographer, photojournalist, and storyteller, Rainier travels to 14 or more countries each year. And unlike other globe-trotting photographers, Rainier’s travel often involve slogging through waist-deep mud, trekking through leech-infested forests, battling malaria, eating everything from insect larvae to bats, sleeping in tree houses, and, sometimes, watching thousands of dollars of camera gear sink to the bottom of a river when a canoe tips over.

After years of shooting in places on the map that are marked with a designation, “no data available,” it stands to reason that Rainier would have one or two favorite images.…

Posted in Uncategorized |

Leave a comment
New book captures grace and intelligence of whales

Bryant Austin creates the world’s only high-resolution, life-size photographs of whales. A photographer and marine mammal conservationist, Austin is passionate about exploring and creating connections between humanity and whales – what he calls “the greatest minds in the water.”
Austin’s just-released book, Beautiful Whale, catalogs his quest to “recreate the transcendent sensation one experiences floating an arm’s length away from the eye of an inquisitive whale.” This 124 page, 12 x 15 inch coffee table book published by Abrams features exquisite life-size (or “whale-scale”) photos of whales’ eyes, numerous full-body photo mosaics reproduced as 1:6 scale fold-out pages, and a foreword from Dr. Sylvia Earle.
Austin first became inspired to create full-body images of whales at sea during a dive in 2004 when, floating motionless in the water, he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder from a 45-ton female humpback whale.…

Posted in Uncategorized |

Leave a comment
Blue Carbon Awareness Growing On the Internet

The Blue Carbon Initiative has launched a new website to raise awareness about coastal ecosystems, blue carbon, and how they affect climate change.
Indeed, an important part of the climate change puzzle lies in our costal ecosystems. Beyond providing nurseries for fish and coastal protection from storms, these ecosystems also sequester and store blue carbon from the ocean and atmosphere. Coastal vegetation such as mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes, sequester carbon up to 100 faster and more permanently than terrestrial forests. The carbon is stored in peat beneath these types of vegetation and typically are undisturbed for long periods of time.

The Blue Carbon Initiative does important work to preserve and promote blue carbon sinks around the world. By developing management approaches, financial incentives, and policy mechanisms for ensuring conservation, development and sustainable use of coastal blue carbon ecosystems, the initiative is making real headway.…

Posted in Uncategorized |

1 Comment
Meet the 52 Oddest Sea Creatures You’ve Ever Seen

Humans have always wondered with fear and fascination, what lurks
beneath the surface in the depths of the sea. In this book, Erich Hoyt
explores the strange and hostile environment where what appears weird
is the norm. The photographers took long cruises across the oceans to
capture and record these little-known creatures.
Inside these pages you will look with fear and fascination at 52 of
the oddest animals you will ever meet — weird creatures such as the
carnivorous comb jelly, the lantern-carrying deep-sea dragonfish, the jewel
squid with giant eyes and the dancing jellyfish. Each of these has adapted
to a life in total darkness, exposed to incredible pressure and intense cold.
Many use light-producing organs and pigment cells to communicate, watch
for predators and attract and deceive their prey.…

Posted in Uncategorized |

Leave a comment