Ocean Stories

News from our partners at Hello Ocean: Filmmakers Teresa and Ben Carey invite you to join a scientific odyssey to document ocean acidification and map ocean noise pollution.

Award winning sailors and filmmakers, Teresa and Ben Carey, are taking the lead in an exciting new cooperative venture between the sailing and scientific communities. They are partnering with The Ocean Foundation, Dr. Nina Bednarsek and Swift Engineering to create a citizen science project in which ocean going vessels can take part collecting vital data that will help document the state of the world’s oceans. Their project, called Hello Ocean, launches this summer.
Ocean acidification was recently cited among the top five research interests of ocean scientists worldwide. Ocean acidification is the continuous decrease in the pH of the ocean, caused by carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.…

By Courtney Mattison  This winter, the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris will feature one of the largest gatherings of world leaders to ever address global warming. The stage is set for all United Nations member states to come together and create an international agreement on the climate with the goal of keeping global warming below 2°C. In anticipation of this opportunity, President Barack Obama announced an action plan to combat climate change in June. Also this summer, Pope Francis demonstrated a masterful understanding of the science behind global warming and urged Catholics to take immediate action to combat greenhouse gas emissions in his recently released encyclical. Even China, the world’s heaviest polluter, has committed to significantly reduce its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.…

Here’s a word from our new partners at the Central Caribbean Marine Institute!

At the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI) we are creating a hopeful future for coral reefs, vibrant ecosystems that have been the heart of healthy oceans for more than 200 million years. CCMI is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 to protect the future of coral reefs through research, conservation, and education.
In 2005 we opened the flourishing Little Cayman Research Centre (LCRC). At the groundbreaking for the center, HRH The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and CCMI Royal Patron dedicated the site “to sustain biodiversity so that the children of the world may forever discover the treasures of the sea.”
The reefs around Little Cayman truly are treasures of the sea and they offer insight for coral reefs globally.…

From the bottom of our blue hearts, we here at Mission Blue want to wish Dr. Sylvia Earle, our founder, the happiest birthday. Her unparalleled dedication to pushing forward the ocean conservation agenda on the world stage is only matched by her indefatigable passion for being beneath the waves with the creatures of the blue every chance she gets. Happy Birthday, Dr. Earle!

In celebration of Dr. Earle’s birthday, we bring you, dear reader, two special gifts.
The first, from famed creator of Sherman’s Lagoon and Mission Blue board member, Jim Toomey, you can see above. Indeed, the creatures of the sea are big Dr. Earle fans and also are also wishing her well in their own underwater way. Feel free to download this image and share around social media!…

by Jackie Dragon

Scientists have recently made critical new discoveries about some of the most ecologically significant waters in the United States: the Bering Sea canyons. With new information in hand, the case for Bering Sea conservation has never been stronger. 
In more good news for ocean conservation, scientists have recently made critical new discoveries about some of the most ecologically significant waters in the United States: the Bering Sea canyons. Two new studies have mapped the area and its teeming “Green Belt” like never before, pinpointing the locations of fragile coral and sponge habitat in need of protection.
With this new information in hand, the case for protecting these key regions in the Bering Sea has never been stronger.
Two Studies Confirm Importance of the Green Belt
The first new study, by the Marine Science Institute at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Greenpeace, found that the Pribilof canyon is the most significant location for deep-sea corals and sponges along the entire eastern Bering Sea shelf.…

The Gulf of California, a 700-mile narrow sea between Baja and mainland Mexico, is home to over 800 species of fish, 2000 invertebrates, as well as whales, dolphins, sea turtles and sea lions. The area includes 256,000 hectares of mangroves, 600,000 hectares of wetlands and 70% of Mexican fisheries. Simply put, this area is one of the most productive ocean regions in the world. That is why it is a Mission Blue Hope Spot.
On the recent Mission Blue Hope Spot expedition to the Gulf of California, we had a chance to dive with the local marine life. Since Dr. Sylvia Earle was leading the expedition, we also had the opportunity to compare marine life in the Gulf of California with what it was when Dr.…

Led by Dr. Sylvia Earle, the Mission Blue team recently returned from a Hope Spot Expedition to Cashes Ledge, a pristine biological hotspot off the coast of New England. It contains Ammen Rock, a peak so tall that it disrupts the Gulf of Maine current, creating massive upwellings of cold nutrient-rich water that fuels an explosion of life from plankton and squid to mackerel, tunas, billfish, sharks, seabirds and a high diversity of marine mammals. The area is home to the largest cold water kelp forest on the Atlantic seaboard and provides a nursery for important New England fish species like cod, pollock, Atlantic halibut, and white hake. Check out the map for a better sense where the Cashes Ledge is located.…

Our partners at the Gills Club recently interviewed Mission Blue founder Dr. Sylvia Earle. Learn more about the Gills Club and their amazing work on their website.

Why did you start studying marine biology?
My first encounter with the ocean was on the Jersey Shore when I was three years old and I got knocked over by a wave. The ocean certainly got my attention! It wasn’t frightening. It was more exhilarating than anything else. And since then life in the ocean has captured my imagination and held it ever since. I started out as a kid and never did grow up. The best scientists and explorers have the attributes of kids. They ask questions and have a sense of wonder.…

From our partners at earthlysoul in Japan:

On July 12th, earthlysoul held it’s first Kid’s Event of 2015! It is now the 7th year in the row that earthlysoul has held this event. Due to the approaching typhoon, we were unable to have outrigger canoe activities available, however the event was a big success with filled with fun SUP and Beach Flags games.
But first off, the event kicked off with some Beach Cleaning!

We made sure that everyone did warm up exercises and hydrated properly before getting involved with the activities, to make sure everyone was aware of how to get ready before getting into the sea to have fun!

Having fun aboard SUPs!! Running across SUP bridges and jumping!…

By Courtney Mattison

Hidden below the surface of Alaska’s icy waters lie the world’s largest underwater canyons, both more massive than America’s Grand Canyon. Home to orcas, walrus and fur seals, albatross and kittiwakes, king crab, squid, salmon and coldwater corals, brittle stars and sponges, the continental slope and canyons of the Bering Sea (known as the Bering Sea “Green Belt”) are home to an immense diversity of wildlife. Spanning more than 770,000 square miles between Western Alaska and Russia’s Siberian coast, the Bering Sea is an area of immense ecological value is also the source of more than half of the seafood caught in the United States and is subject to devastating commercial fishing tactics. This week, Mission Blue is launching a petition to urge Alaska’s North Pacific Fishery Management Council to protect the Bering Sea canyons and Green Belt.…