Ocean Stories

By Annie Reisewitz
Valuable on-the-ground discussions about community outreach are happening alongside the deep political negotiations at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
This past weekend, Mission Blue and the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) presented, “Oceans in Google Earth as an Educational Tool: A Dominican Republic Perspective,” a real-world example of how to connect the world to the global ocean through technology. GFDD environmental manager Emy Rodriguez took everyone in attendance on an interactive Google Earth tour of the state’s diverse marine environment, rich with stingrays and fish cruising along colorful coral reef in the Dominican Republic.
In 2009 Google launched Oceans in Google Earth and the “Explore the Ocean” layer, which is curated by the Sylvia Earle Alliance.…

“Planet Ocean” is an international documentary that takes viewers on a unique journey into the heart of the least known region of our planet — the ocean. The film is set to premiere today at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The film seeks to promote a deeper understanding of the importance of oceans in the ecosystem thorough narration that links man and the ocean, the future of humankind on Earth, the issues of governance of the high seas, and the issues that the world’s ocean will face in the future.
“It’s not a policymaker restricted film nor an expert documentary,” said the director of the film Michael Pitiot. “I feel it’s much more an emotional film to talk about humankind and nature.”…

In an interview with Charlotte Smith of Oceans Inc., Dr. Sylvia Earle and Maria Montoreano of Mission Blue describe the exciting new features soon to be unveiled in the Ocean in Google Earth. In the next year, plans are in place to roll out Spanish, French and Portugese versions of the free download from Google Earth to bring this exciting tool to a greater worldwide audience.
Said Dr. Earle, “Fifty years in the future it will be too late to take action that we now can take to stabilize the planet in a way that is favorable for us.”  The Ocean in Google Earth can make a difference in how the world perceives the ocean, giving those who otherwise would not be able to explore the depths of the ocean first hand a chance to appreciate it’s beauty, fragility, and it’s crucial role in maintaining the health of our planet.…

Be sure not to miss the Oceans Panel, broadcast live from Rio Tuesday morning on the UN Live Webcast channel. The Oceans Panel will be moderated by Philippe Cousteau of CNN with Sylvia Earle, Jean Michel Cousteau, Asha De Vos and other ocean luminaries.  Live broadcast from 10AM-12:30PM EST, 7AM-9:30AM PST. The program will be also recorded for later viewing.  We send our thanks to all of our friends who are working hard in Rio to move towards a positive result for the blue heart of our planet. Click below for a direct link.UN Live Streaming Webcast plus recorded sessions…

By Mera McGrew
No sooner had filmmaker and explorer James Cameron returned from visiting the bottom of the ocean on March 26, did people start asking what his next expedition would be.
Cameron noted that one dive does not mark the end of deep-sea exploration.
“The best metaphor here would be that you have just air-dropped into Nebraska at night with a flashlight and walked about a mile shining it around through the fields and then you say that you have explored America,” Cameron told fellow explorers and invitees on Friday at the National Geographic Explorers Symposium.
The celebrated director of iconic movies such as Terminator 2, Titanic and Avatar took the stage to discuss his trip to the Mariana Trench in the submersible Deepsea Challenger and to offer a sneak peak at the 3D feature film highlighting the dive that is currently in production.…

Photo: Asha De Vos

This weekend at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, valuable dialogues and in-depth negotiations continued in the lead up to the arrival of heads of state and other government leaders later this week. Attendees gathered to talk about the future of our oceans, coasts and Island States. A full schedule of the day’s events, is at this link.
The main outcome of Oceans Day at Rio+20 was the Rio Ocean Declaration, which attempted to address priority action items for oceans and coasts, both at the Rio+20 Conference and into the future. The Declaration will be submitted to approximately 130 world leaders attending the summit from Wednesday to Friday. 
The day culminated in the first e-Awards to acknowledge those that have most affected social change and sustainable development in the 20 years since the first Earth Summit at Rio in 1992.…

In celebration of World Oceans Day, people crowded into the Baird Auditorium at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC last Friday afternoon. Dr. Sylvia Earle Skyped from the stage with team of scientists from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation on their research ship, the Golden Shadow, anchored off of Darwin Island in the Galapagos.
Dr. Earle spoke with the research team about how coral reefs in the Galapagos cope with threats including temperature change, ocean acidification and bleaching events. Audience members learned about current studies looking at rare coral reefs and how some coral species in the Galapagos hold hope that corals have the resilience to cope with global climate change. Following the live Skype call with the Galapagos, Dr.…

On Thursday, Australia’s Federal Environment Minister, Tony Burke made the official announcement of the finalized plans for the world’s largest network of marine reserves.

In celebration of June 8th’s World Oceans Day, a new online database of global MPAs, www.MPAtlans.org, that is dedicated to bringing the importance of ocean parks into the public eye was announced. Behind the launch of the new online tool is the California based Waitt Foundation and the Marine Conservation Institute announced.
www.MPAtlas.org is an interactive and user-friendly platform that offers a comprehensive scope of data within an online digital map. The appeal of www.MPAtlas.org is in the global scale of the website. This project has compiled and synthesized information to help website users understand the level of protection, biodiversity, biomass, size, and management authorities of MPAs. It is expected that scientists, policy makers, conservation advocates and members of the public will turn to the online tool for comprehensive information.…

At last night’s National Geographic Explorers Live event, Explorer in Residence, Dr. Enric Sala urged people to “eat cows instead of lions.”
Speaking as part of a panel led by National Geographic journalist Boyd Manson, Dr. Sala explained the importance of eating lower on the marine food chain to ensure the long-term health of the world’s ocean.
Other panelists included National Geographic Fellow and bestselling author Dan Buettner as well as Emerging Explorers Lucy Cooke and Barrington Irving.
Through the evening Sala, Buettner, Cook and Barrington shared stories and lessons learned in the field — The Explorers spoke about licking frogs to determine if they were poisonous, encountering sand storms while flying solo around the world, and figuring out where the “happiest” people in the world live.…