Ocean Stories

We asked Daniel Pauly, a fisheries scientist at the University of British Columbia, to expand upon his recently posted TED talk. He delivered the presentation on the 2010 Mission Blue voyage to the Galapagos and spoke about the concept of shifting baselines.

Why did you decide to speak about shifting baselines as the topic of your TED talk?
Because the other things that I could talk about were covered by the other speakers at the conference. That’s one thing. The other thing is the state of the world’s resources and the ocean fisheries and the reduction of biodiversity. By speaking about shifting baselines I added the dimension that explains why we do not perceive this shift. The conference, then, as a package presented the decline of marine biodiversity and explained it.…

Washington PostMarch 13, 2012By Abby McGanney Nolan

On the cover of Claire Nivola’s picture-book biography of Sylvia Earle, a small figure in a wet suit swims with a large school of fish in an expanse of blue. As the book goes on to make clear, this pioneering oceanographer has long been immersed in her work. Even as a child, Earle felt at home in nature, scrutinizing the flora and fauna on her country farm. When she moved to the Gulf Coast at the age of 12, the ocean world opened up for her. With wonderful details and color, the book follows her quest, starting with just a pair of goggles, to explore more and more of the sea.
One highlight involves spending two weeks in a deep-sea laboratory, swimming among ocean creatures for up to 12 hours a day.…

Huffington Post
March 14, 2012By Dr. Sylvia Earle

(c) Kip F. Evans – Mission Blue

This month, the National Park Service released the results of its final public input process that will inform its upcoming decision on the fate of wilderness protection at Drakes Estero, within the spectacular Point Reyes National Seashore. The outcome is good news for the Seashore, its marine plants and wildlife, and for the tens of thousands of people throughout California and the nation who support achieving the historic objective for the Estero as the first protected marine wilderness on the West Coast.

An overwhelming majority — 92% of the over 52,000 public comments submitted — were in favor of full wilderness protection. This response is compatible with the 1976 Point Reyes Wilderness Act, which conferred full wilderness protection for Drakes Estero starting in 2012, when an existing oyster company’s lease expires.…

Coiba National Park, located off the southwest coast of Panama, is made up of Coiba Island, 38 smaller islands and the surrounding marine areas within the Gulf of Chiriqui. Coiba Island is the biggest island in Central America and is also the largest uninhabited island in all of Latin America.
Protected from the cold winds and effects of El Niño, Coiba hosts exceptional diversity both on the land and in the ocean. The island is a critical part of the Eastern Pacific Seascape, a broad ocean area within the waters of Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador.
Coiba was declared a World Heritage site in 2005 because of its role as a key ecological link for the transit and survival of surface-dwelling fishes and marine mammals.…

Syliva Earle has been busy down in Coiba this week. Here, an excerpt from her adventures, courteosy the Sylvia Earle Alliance, by Jennifer Austin Foulkes. Stay tuned for more to come!
The Minister of Science and Technology (SENACYT), for the country of Panama, Ruben Berrocal joined us to learn more about our underwater observations in Coiba National Park and shared with us his scientific vision and plans for developing a research station on Coiba. He was interested in learning more about the Hannibal bank expedition, and Smithsonian Director Biff Bermingham and Sylvia Earle described the life they’d seen.
We also toured Jean Pigozzi’s Liquid Jungle Lab (http://www.liquidjunglelab.com/) and heard about some of the research that has been done by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.…

© Kip F. Evans – Mission Blue

The Minister of Science and Technology (SENACYT), for the country of Panama, Ruben Berrocal joined us to learn more about our underwater observations in Coiba National Park and shared with us his scientific vision and plans for developing a research station on Coiba. He was interested in learning more about the Hannibal bank expedition, and Smithsonian Director Biff Bermingham and Sylvia Earle described the life they’d seen.

© Kip F. Evans – Mission Blue

We also toured Jean Pigozzi’s Liquid Jungle Lab (http://www.liquidjunglelab.com/) and heard about some of the research that has been done by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Jean has worked to develop an excellent research lab facility for researchers to better understand the surrounding ecosystem.…

By Mark Tercek
Degraded coral reefs, depleted fish stocks, increasing competition for marine resources and space: the challenges facing our oceans can seem daunting.
The world’s oceans are heavily impacted by humans.  Despite being the largest habitat on earth, no ocean is without our presence. We are on our way toward losing up to 70 percent of coral reefs by 2050.  Entire food webs have been upended in our pursuit of big fish. Coastal development and destructive fishing practices have contributed to the loss of 85 percent of oyster reefs globally.
We have forgotten what an untouched ocean looks like.  
There are, however, a few spots on earth so remote that the oceans teem with life in conditions similar to pre-industrial times.…

Dr. Sylvia Earle © Kip F. Evans – Mission Blue

Today, the wind picked up making the waters quite choppy. The Sea Hunter delayed heading out to Hannibal bank but once there was able to achieve one spectacular survey, despite the weather.
STRI Director Biff Bermingham and Sylvia Earle led the rest of the Mission Blue team on two dives today. “Washing Machine” was the name of the first site and was a set of submerged rock peaks off Isla Jicaron. Before we descended, we saw what looked to be 6 recreational fishing vessels within the park. How can the few fish schools that remain (as far as what we’ve seen) have much of a chance against such pressure?
As we descended into the deep, Philippe rang a bell of sorts by clanging a whistle to get our attention.…

Ricardo Cisneros and I joined Hector Guzman’s science team over at the Sea Hunter ship just in time to see them pull up the collected specimens from the morning science exploration dive. Collected by a manipulator arm around 200 meters depth, Hector placed the specimens into white trays for further analysis. There were corals, tube worms, black coral, a sea pen, bryozoans, pink stylaster coral, a brittle star, and a black solitary cup coral. 

After sub dive training and a review of a 3-d terrain model of Hannibal Bank, where Hector pointed out what we’d next be first exploring ever, Ricardo and I donned our jumpsuits and prepared to get in the sub. Ricardo was filled with great enthusiasm, as it was his first sub dive ever and he never thought he’d get to be a real aquanaut!…

By Jenifer Austin Foulkes, Oceans Program Manager, Google and Mission Blue Board Director
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
 

© Kip F. Evans – Mission Blue

Kip Evans and Shari Sant Plummer left early in the morning to rendezvous with the Undersea Hunter support ship for the DeepSea sub.  Shari and David Shaw made a 350 foot (120 meters) dive in the sub to explore Hannibal Bank, where they saw numerous stomatopod Mantis shrimp, who mate for life. Kip and Biff did a 120 foot dive to photograph the sub descent. They saw a dead fish carcas at 300 feet being eaten by crabs. They also saw pink coral with white fringes, and a coral that looked like a taco-salad in a flour tortilla bowl.…