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Dear Dr. Blue ~ What is This?

In the first of our series, “Dear Dr. Blue,” Dr. Sylvia Earle answers a simple query from a reader, “What is this?” ~ Ed.
You squished a poor defenseless sea cucumber — a holothurian, member of a class of echinoderms that also includes starfish, sand dollars, brittle stars and sea urchins.  Like other echinoderms, these animals have 5 part radial symmetry and a water vascular system that powers tiny tube feet that cover the skin and make it possible for them to creep along whatever they are sitting on (yes a creepy critter!)
In cross section the five part arrangement is evident, and in their five frilly feeding arms that extend from the front end.  Like an earthworm, most sea cucumbers lumber along, artfully picking up yummy bacteria and algae rich sand, digesting the good bits and extruding the scrubbed material out the other end.…

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Donate

We count on the generosity of people like you to support our work. Your gift will help protect the ocean for future generations. Donations directly support our expeditions, programs, research and outreach efforts to explore and protect the ocean. The Sylvia Earle Alliance is an IRS-registered, 501c3 charitable non-profit organization. US-based donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. Please support our work and that of our partners by donating today.
Want to help protect a special place in the ocean? Take a look through the Hope Spots we’re working to protect and indicate below where you want your donation to be put to work.…

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Act Now

There is time, though not a lot, to take action to stabilize and reverse the global decline of the natural ocean systems that keep us alive. Although humans pose grave danger to the health of the ocean, we also represent hope.

Experts agree the major threats facing the ocean are overfishing and destructive fishing practices; trash pollution, especially plastics; habitat loss due to development; acidification; dead zones; and insufficient protection of sensitive areas. The Sylvia Earle Alliance focuses on increased protection because it offers hope for alleviating many of these issues. While approximately 12% of land is protected through national parks and reserves, less than one percent of the ocean is under any kind of protection. More than 99 percent is under threat.…

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Mesoamerican Reef – Swan Islands Expedition – Participants

Dr. Sylvia Earle
Founder and Chair of The Sylvia Earle Alliance
Sylvia A. Earle, called Her Deepness by the New Yorker and the New York Times, Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and first Hero for the Planet by Time Magazine, is an oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer with experience as a field research scientist, government official, and director for corporate and non-profit organizations including the Kerr McGee Corporation, Dresser Industries, Oryx Energy, the Aspen Institute, the Conservation Fund, American Rivers, Mote Marine Laboratory, Duke University Marine Laboratory, Rutgers Institute for Marine Science, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Research, National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Ocean Futures, and Ocean Conservancy.
Formerly Chief Scientist of NOAA, Dr. Earle is a National Geographic Explorer in Residence, Founder of SEAlliance, Mission Blue, and Deep Ocean Exploration and Research, Inc.,…

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Young Explorer Series ~ One Simple Question

Last summer Ben and I set out on an ocean voyage once again, but this voyage was a little different for two reasons. Our destination this time was not a specific harbor. It wasn’t even a fixed location. Instead, we were on a quest to see something roving, something that’s location can only be described in one word: North.
We looked forward to departing Long Island. After all, the water is always bluer on the other side, and Long Island was experiencing a blistering heat wave. I was cranky from the heat and being steeped in my own sweat. On June 8th, replete with all the equipment necessary for making an independent film, a motley crew of four boarded Elizabeth, a 28’ Channel Cutter.…

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The Coral Triangle Hope Spot: Valuable and Vulnerable

The Coral Triangle is a Mission Blue Hope Spot, an area of particular importance to the oceans that we must strive to protect. These Hope Spots are the seeds of tomorrow’s healthy ocean. With this feature by Brett Garling, we are launching our series on Mission Blue’s growing network of Hope Spots. 
The global heart of coral reefs, the Coral Triangle, is located in the Pacific and touches the marine waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. Called “the Amazon of the seas”, this global treasure covers 5.7 million square kilometers of ocean, contains 75 percent of all known coral species and sustains the lives of approximately 130 million humans. There are over 3000 kinds of fish in this area — more than twice the number found anywhere else in the world.…

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The Natural Numbers Behind the Sardine Fishery in the Gulf of California

How many fish are in the ocean? How much water does a wild river carry? How much oxygen does a forest produce? These are the kinds of questions posed by “Natural Numbers: The Value of the Planet in Minutes.” This new project is producing a series of short – three-minute – documentaries on a range of topics from fisheries to rivers, mining to marine reserves, in an attempt to explain the value of ecosystems to humans and the planet.
We use video, photography, and animation to illustrate, in a simple but visually attractive way, the value of our natural capital and the inadequate ways we use it. Simultaneously, Natural Numbers will use social media to help capture the attention of decision-makers, teachers, scientists, conservationists, and the public, in order to raise awareness of these important issues and encourage action in support of solutions.…

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Freediving World Champion Yasemin Dalkilic Visits Aquarius

When World Champion Freediver, Yasemin Dalkilic dove on the Aquarius habitat late last summer, it’s future looked less than bright. But since the video was produced, Aquarius has been able to secure some funding – enough to keep it treading water, at least for now.
Last year the US government cut funding for Aquarius from $5 million to zero.  The only underwater habitat in the world performing scientific research, Aquarius has been on Conch Reef off Key Largo Florida for 22 years. And now she is a magnificent living reef in her own right. At only sixty feet deep, the dive is not a stretch for the 9 time World Champion Freediver, Yasmine.  Beginning with a charming little girl’s fantasy of living underwater, Yasemin takes us on a tour of Aquarius. …

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CITES does RIGHT!

Huge news on the shark and manta front!

Yesterday, the CITES plenary accepted the committee recommendations to place five species of sharks and two species of mantas on Appendix II of the CITES treaty. Additionally, one species of saw fish was moved to Appendix I.

It may sound like a bureaucratic procedure — and it is — but the ramifications are huge. The sharks have been under relentless pressure from the fin and meat trade which is taking a significant toll on their population levels.

Now, as species listed under Appendix II, the trade of these shark species will be regulated, marking a first important step to allow these majestic animals to return to healthy population levels. Not all the CITES treaty members were behind the measure.…

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Young Explorer Series – Yoland Bosiger in the Cocos Islands

My safety stop is complete but something out of the corner of my eye distracts me. Still a couple of meters below me, our dive leader, Jaume Pericas is frantically pointing at something. At first I couldn’t work out what he was seeing. Had Jaume spent too much time underwater? Was he seeing an imaginary ghost of Moby Dick? Or did he simply want to ensure that I missed out on the scrambled eggs that so deliciously followed an early morning dive. It occurred to me that I could see something too but my mind was not registering. A dark silhouette seemed to cover the entire ocean floor as if revealing an ancient underwater city. But this was no fantasy, legend or mythical beast – this shadow was alive!…

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