Ocean Stories

Weighing in close to 45,000 pounds and nearing 40 feet in length, the whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the world’s largest living fish species. These enormous filter feeders grow to be so large on a diet of tiny plankton – microscopic plants and animals that float in the water column. Slowly moving through the water like living submarines, whale sharks gulp down vast quantities of these tiny critters and congregate in areas of high plankton concentrations. It’s this quest for food that brings whale sharks to the coast of Isla Mujeres, Mexico each summer. These gentle giants gather by the dozens or even hundreds from June through September, slurping down fish eggs and enchanting tourists.
Ecotourism groups like A Cotton Photo lead trips out to snorkel alongside whale sharks, enabling seasoned divers and ocean newbies alike to experience the grace and enormity of these beautiful creatures.…

By Brett Garling. Originally published on The Inertia on May 14, 2015.

Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected president of the Maldives, is an international champion of climate change action. Unfortunately, he is also a political prisoner, having been found guilty in a sham terrorism trial, and is set to serve a 13 year prison sentence. He is 47 right now and will be 60 when he gets out. Not only were the charges bogus, but the trial was essentially stillborn: the court scheduled a hearing within two hours of his arrest and prevented the defense team from appearing in court because they were required to register two days in advance… a classic catch-22.
Tourism is integral to the Maldives. Indeed, it is the island nation’s largest industry and attracts many water sport lovers and especially surfers who laud the atoll as one of the global prime destinations to catch serious waves.…

 
Worldview International Foundation (WIF) became a partner with Mission Blue in 2015 for cooperation in establishing effective mangrove mitigation projects to combat Climate Change and to support vulnerable coastal communities with long term sustainable development.
Our partnership in Myanmar with leading coastal universities, Ministry of Environmental Conservation and coastal communities, has opened large potentials in promoting adaptation to climate change. Requested by the Ministry we have undertaken a new restoration project on 7700 acres, including a request by Myeik University to support developing a new mangrove park at 3000 acres. There is also an ongoing process for REDD+ initiative on 100,000 acres in protecting standing mangrove forests. It all started with a 3 years research project in 2012, followed by establishing Thor Heyerdahl Climate Park in 2015.…

Mission Blue had the pleasure of catching up with Dr. Wallace J Nichols, water scientist, conservationist, best-selling author and leader of the Blue Mind movement. With the 5th annual Blue Mind Summit coming up this month in Washington DC and the release of his best-selling book, Blue Mind, in paperback, we had a lot to discuss. Read on to learn more about Nichols’ remarkable Blue Mind movement and the growing understanding of how water helps us in more ways than you might imagine.
So tell us more about the Blue Mind Summit. What’s happening this year?
This year it’s in Washington DC and the theme is “Urban Blue”. Most people in the world live in big coastal towns or cities and thus interact, or have the great opportunity to interact, with the urban blue.…

Our country has been making serious strides in rebuilding some of our most threatened fish species, but key members of Congress are now threatening to undo that progress and take us in the other direction. Luckily, we all have the opportunity to fight back.
Over the last several decades, our understanding of the ocean has deepened tremendously, although sometimes we have had to learn the hard way that the ocean is not inexhaustible. Decades of intense overfishing have led to severe declines in populations of fish, including Atlantic cod, Gulf of Mexico red snapper, and many Pacific coast rockfishes. Thankfully, we have learned a fair amount about how to restore the health of the ocean, and some of that knowledge has been reflected in updates to our nation’s primary fishing law, the Magnuson-Stevens Act, originally passed in 1976.…

When it comes to wildlife, what is the proper balance between conservation and observation or interaction?
by Ellen Prager, PhD, marine scientist and author

Earlier this year I went snorkeling with manatees in Crystal River, FL. Before going out on a boat to where the manatees congregate near warm water springs, we were given a briefing about how to properly observe the manatees and what not to do. The what-not-to-do was emphasized by video footage of people behaving badly. Snorkelers were shown stepping on, kicking, chasing, and all around harassing the manatees. It was simply horrifying and could lead one to believe that all interaction with the manatees in Crystal River should be strictly forbidden.
We, a small group of wetsuit-clad visitors, then went on a short boat ride to the snorkeling area.…

By Shari Sant Plummer with contributions by Courtney Mattison (Originally published on National Geographic Ocean Views)

Three hundred forty two miles west of mainland Costa Rica lies an oceanic island so spectacular Jacques Cousteau called it the “most beautiful island in the world.” Cascading waterfalls cut through lush foliage, the symphony of a thousand seabirds echoes in your ears, and the surrounding deep waters host a diversity of wildlife found almost nowhere else on the planet. Isla del Coco’s extreme wild beauty appears Jurassic – and was in fact used in the movie of the same name. It seems as though you’ve gone back in time, to a time before humans.

Our ship, the Argo, was greeted by spinner dolphins who leapt and twirled at her bow as we entered the boundaries of Cocos Island Marine Park.…

By Courtney Mattison & Rachel Devorah
It’s a heartbreaking yet familiar scene. Oil disasters of catastrophic proportions, seeping and sludging all over marine and coastal habitats; hundreds of dead seabirds and dolphins; sick residents and failing coastal economies. The same irrevocable accidents continue to occur. It’s easy to see history repeating itself, posing the inevitable question: will we ever learn from our mistakes?
As the five-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster approaches on April 20, the effects of this devastating accident are still raw throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The 2010 catastrophe spewed approximately 210 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in America’s worst environmental crisis to date and the second largest oil disaster in world history next to the 1991 Gulf War spill, during which Iraqi forces intentionally released 252-336 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf.…

Mission Blue commends the tremendous efforts of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which recently announced greatly expanded reach for ocean conservation in the coastal waters surrounding San Francisco, the home of Mission Blue headquarters. This near doubling in geographic protection comes at a time when the Obama administrator is pursuing a more aggressive ocean conservation agenda, most notably with massive tracts ocean set aside in the US Pacific to be off-limits to fishing, energy extraction and other activities.
Mission Blue and Dr. Sylvia Earle look forward to working with the National Marine Sanctuaries and NOAA in calling public attention to the positive impact the federal government is making on increasing the geographic area of Marine Protected Areas within US jurisdiction.…

Mission Blue is excited to partner with Blue Ventures, a science-led social enterprise that works with coastal communities to develop transformative approaches for nurturing and sustaining locally led marine conservation. In cooperation with their many partners, the Blue Ventures team works in places where the ocean is vital to local people, cultures and economies, and where there is a fundamental need to support human development. Over the last decade, their models have guided national fisheries policy and been replicated by communities, NGOs, businesses, donors and government agencies along thousands of kilometers of coastline. Blue Ventures have created the largest locally managed marine protected area (LMMA) in the Indian Ocean, catalyzed a sea change in community-led fisheries management, established sustainable aquaculture and ecotourism businesses, and developed new approaches to financing and incentivizing marine conservation.…