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Sylvia Earle: The Planet Is ‘In Serious Trouble’

Posted on by Eric Valinsky

In this video from CNN, Dr. Sylvia Earle recounts highlights from her history in oceanography. She talks about the 1969 program that was simultaneously working to put women under the sea while also putting men on the moon.
Earle stresses the importance of protecting our oceans, saying that we need to “try to inspire an awareness of what the problems are, and to inspire those who have the capacity to solve problems to do just that.” She tells CNN that these next ten years may be the most important out of the next 10,000 “to secure for us an enduring future on this little blue planet that is already in serious trouble.”

Click here to read the full article in the Huffington Post…

Who is Mission Blue?

Posted on by Eric Valinsky

Mission Blue operates as an innovative, multi-year global alliance with multi-sector participation. Players from government, for-profit, media, education, conservation and other sectors coalesce on an ongoing basis with the goal of building collaborations and taking actions to increase global awareness about the urgent ocean crisis and reverse the decline of the ocean’s health….
Mission Blue is looking to accelerate the sharing of new ideas and knowledge, implement working solutions, and develop relationships—like those highlighted in the interview with Lorenzo—before time runs out….
Lorenzo Rosenzweig talks about the changing nature of collaboration in marine conservation and how FMCN and MAR Leadership are playing their part.

Find out more about what FMCN is doing to contribute to Marine Conservation at www.marleaders.org and www.fmcn.org.Click…

Chile Creates Large Marine Reserve at Sala y Gómez Island

Posted on by Eric Valinsky

Re-Posted From NATGEO News Watch & Oceana

The Chilean government announced the creation of a large marine reserve around tiny and remote Sala y Gómez island in the Pacific ocean. The Waitt Foundation, Oceana, and National Geographic mounted a March 2010 expedition to document marine diversity in waters surrounding the island. The government’s move represents a more than 100-fold increase in the expanse of Chile’s marine protected areas.Sala y Gómez island. © OceanaClick here to read the full article on the NATGEO siteClick here to red the full article on the Oceana site…

A Toast! A Toast! To the First Ocean Census!

Posted on by Eric Valinsky

Serving as the Toastmistress for the Census of Marine Life’s Celebration at the Royal Academy of Sciences in London, Dr. Sylvia Earle applied her considerable knowledge, wit and wisdom to both a tribute to participants and a celebration of accomplishment. Following is her poetic toast:

First . . . .

A salute to Fred Grassle, with vision ambitious,

A dream, an idea, to census the fishes!

Another, with courage– remember him well.

The one, the only – Jesse Ausubel.

But fishes alone were not enough.

The sea, after all, is alive with stuff.

What about urchins, sea stars and snails?

What of the microbes, the kelp, the whales?

It sounds, at first, slightly outrageous.

But the idea caught on – it was contagious!…

Sargasso Sea: Code Blue by Bryan Walsh, Bermuda

Posted on by Eric Valinsky

Photo: Shari Sant Plummer

The Sargasso Sea has no shores. The 2 million-sq.-mi. body of water in the middle of the Atlantic is defined by two features: the ocean currents forming the North Atlantic subtropical gyre, which cycles around the sea, and sargassum, the free-floating golden-brown seaweed. The sargassum can be found scattered throughout the sea, sometimes entwined in vast waterborne mats. When Christopher Columbus encountered the sargassum while crossing the Atlantic, he ordered his men to fathom the depths, believing he had struck land. The oceanographer Sylvia Earle, though she prefers not to think in land-based
Click here to read the full article by Bryan Walsh
Click here to read more about “Saving Our Oceans” in Time Magazine online…

Isla Holbox wins award at BLUE Ocean Film Festival

Posted on by Eric Valinsky

Monterey, California – August 30th, 2010 – Dr. Sylvia Earle’s SEAlliance is delighted to announce that “Isla Holbox – Whale Shark Island,” has been selected as the 2010 winner for non-broadcast documentary at the BLUE Ocean Film Festival. Over 350 entries were submitted in 19 categories from around the world. The BLUE Ocean Film Festival was held in Monterey, California August 25-29th. “Isla Holbox” was produced by Monterey based filmmaker Kip Evans in 2009.

Dr. Sylvia Earle and our foundation’s filmmaker Kip Evans receiving the award

Photo by: Kate Miller

Isla Holbox (pronounced “hole-bosh”), an island off Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, was a well-kept secret until six years ago when large populations of migratory whale sharks were discovered right off its coast.…

Sargasso Sea: Full of Vitality by Dr. Sylvia Earle

Posted on by Eric Valinsky

The historical review of data on the Sargasso Sea is vital.  Knowing how people have regarded this critical part of the ocean over time will seriously strengthen the case for protection now.  The “shifting baseline” of turtles, tunas, eels, and other creatures — including maybe the Sargassum itself — will come as news to many.

Dr. Sylvia Earle – Sargassum & Coral Spawn – Photo: Look Bermuda

I am in Bermuda now with some of the Sargasso Sea “constituency” looking forward to a second day of searching for Sargassum patches between hurricanes.  Thanks to arrangements made by Sheila McKenna, senor research scientist for Mission Blue,  we went aboard Explorer, the boat Teddy Tucker had for years (now owned and operated by Michael Hayward), and had a remarkable encounter with masses of floating coral spawn — zillions of golden eggs enmeshed in small patches of Sargassum.  …

Come celebrate Sylvia Earle’s 75th birthday!

Posted on by Eric Valinsky

Jim Toomey

Need another reason to attend THE BLUE OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL?

Come celebrate Sylvia Earle’s 75th birthday!

To honor her we have some special treats planned at the film festival during the Blue Carpet Awards night August 28th. Tickets for the Blue Carpet Awards and Gala can be purchased here.

In lieu of birthday gifts, give back to our life support system, and do something to protect the ocean: clean a beach, explore a reef, educate and inspire, or help create and protect “hope spots”, find out more you can do at Mission Blue. …

Deb Castellana: Reports on her experience along the Gulf

Posted on by Eric Valinsky

In light of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Deb Castellana, is on her way to the Gulf of Mexico and will be reporting first hand about her experience along the gulf. From visiting the reefs off Palm Beach, to Sanibel Island, and up the coast all the way to Venice, Louisiana and Plaquemines Parish, you can follow Deb on our Mission Blue blog. 
Deb Castellana grew up in Cold Spring Harbor, a small village on Long Island Sound in New York.  One of her earliest memories was exploring how different plants grew where the fresh spring water joined the salty marsh at the head of the harbor.
                                  
                                                                                         Cold Spring Harbor, NY   
                       Between the Atlantic Ocean and the Sound, and the freshwater creeks of the North Shore, Deb was under the ocean’s spell from an early age.…

Oil Disaster Threatens Baby Turtles’ Food

Posted on by Eric Valinsky

From Florida Today
While researchers scoop up endangered sea turtles coated in oil in the Gulf, a scientist warns that this summer’s fragile turtle hatchings could choke on tiny tar balls as they feed off the Space Coast.
Blair Witherington of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission in Melbourne returned recently from working with a federal and multistate team to rescue turtles. They captured 64, mostly a species called Kemp’s Ridley, which is among the rarest in Florida.
Back on the Atlantic side, the worry is more about loggerheads that nest here in some of the highest numbers in the world.
As the eggs hatch in the coming weeks, the baby turtles must head immediately to sea, where they swim as many as 25 miles to feed on Sargassum seaweed along the Gulf Stream.…