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Protecting the Coral Triangle with Mission Blue

PADI is encouraging all divers to actively participate in the protection of the Coral Triangle Hope Spot- a prime global center for marine biological diversity.
By: Emily Bates, PADI

For divers, the fact that the Coral Triangle holds 75% of the world’s coral species should be enough to fall absolutely in love with this ‘Amazon of the Seas’. And when we say that nearly 90% of those reefs are threatened, we should have your full attention.
Mission Blue is calling for all hands on deck with conservation efforts towards the Coral Triangle, a region consisting of the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. This precious region faces warming seas, coral bleaching, destructive fishing, pollution, and coastal development that have caused 90% of the reefs to be considered ‘threatened’. …

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21,000 Jobs in Peril: Pipeline Threatens the Saanich Inlet and the Southern Gulf Islands Hope Spot

By: Shilpi Chhotray, Mission Blue Communications Strategist 

Did you know the cool waters of Vancouver Island provide some of the greatest diversity of marine life in North America? In fact, underwater explorer and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau remarked “it’s the best temperate-water diving in the world and second only to the Red Sea.” Saanich Inlet and the Southern Gulf Islands in particular are rich with ecologically diverse creatures and plants unique from anywhere else in the world. Small rocky outcrops create private sanctuaries for a wide variety of sea birds and marine mammals while kelp forests are filled with schools of fish, colorful anemones and sponges, pods of Orca whales, and the elusive Giant Pacific octopus.

It Takes a Village
In addition to spectacular endemic marine life, the Island’s small communities including many vibrant First Nations have engendered strong ties to the ocean for generations.…

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Underwater in the Galápagos: A Lesson in Human Connection

By: Danielle Epifani, Mission Blue Communications Assistant 

After months of reporting imagery and articles of undersea life, I had the unique opportunity to join a seven day liveaboard with the Aggressor III, as a Mission Blue Hope Spot reporter. Throughout my childhood, I alternated between swimming in the ocean of Southern California, my neighbor’s pool, and the crystal clear lagoons and reef passes of my ancestral islands, in French Polynesia. I thought I had experienced the sea: it’s wonder, beauty, and the urgent need for marine protection.
Learning to scuba dive in one of the world’s legendary dive sites had not quite registered with me. However, the unfathomable statistic that the ocean has lost 90 percent of its big fish, ignited a sense of urgency.…

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Sea of Hope: Preserving the Heart of our Planet

True Blue Films and National Geographic Present Sea of Hope on January 15, 2017, on National Geographic Channel.
SEA OF HOPE follows iconic ocean explorer and conservationist Dr. Sylvia Earle, renowned underwater photographer Brian Skerry, author and captain Max Kennedy, and their unlikely crew of teenage aquanauts on a year-long quest to secure their future. Deploying science and photography, they hope to inspire the creation of blue parks across an unseen and imperiled American wilderness.
By: Laura Butz 

We are all beneficiaries of the ocean and the natural world— nature provides us with an abundance of gifts for which we cannot take for granted. Too often we overlook the fact that harm done to the ocean, is harm done to ourselves. …

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Citizen Science Supports Protection in the Moreton Bay Hope Spot

By: Shilpi Chhotray, Mission Blue Communications Strategist 

Citizen Science Supports Protection in the Moreton Bay Hope Spot
“The citizen scientists in the Moreton Bay Hope Spot are living proof that the ocean is a big blue magnet that unites people who care. Their important work is benefitting the human and aquatic inhabitants of greater Brisbane by making a strong case for continued protection of this Hope Spot. Thank you to the citizens of Moreton Bay for collaborating and contributing data in the effort to protect and restore the blue heart of the planet. You are great cause for hope!” – Dr. Sylvia Earle
The Moreton Bay community is a model example of how robust citizen science programs help ignite support and ongoing passion for marine protected areas.…

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Hear That?! Ocean Allison Podcast Highlights Ocean Changemakers

Mission Blue is proud to partner with Ocean Allison!
By: Allison Randolph

There are currently more than seven billion individuals on this planet – this blue planet that we all call home. Inextricably connected to planet health is ocean health, and while human beings are at the root of most pressures facing our watery planet, they are also at the root of the solutions.
As a child growing up in South Florida, it seemed as though I spent more time below the water’s surface than above, cultivating a profound connection with the underwater world. Combining that ocean connection with a formal education in marine science and an informal education in digital communications, I found myself in a position to be a voice for the ocean.…

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National Parks Were America’s Best Idea. Let’s Bring Them Underwater

Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is now the world’s largest marine protected area. We can do more.
 
By Sylvia Earle
and John Bridgeland
 
PUBLISHED AUGUST 26, 2016 on National Geographic 

One hundred years ago, President Woodrow Wilson and Congress created the National Park Service to conserve areas of natural, cultural and historic importance and leave them “unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

Places like Yellowstone and Yosemite were already in federal protection, but in the next 100 years, America’s “best idea” would include 413 areas and more than 84 million acres of vast wilderness, scenic rivers, military battlefields, presidential homes and more. It was a radical idea to put large tracts of land into federal custody on the heels of the Industrial Age when almost nothing was untouched by development and our manifest destiny.…

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The Ocean Is For Everyone!

During the recent Hope Spot expedition to the Gulf of California, Dr. Sylvia Earle and the Mission Blue team were deeply honored to accompany three disabled divers into the vibrant waters of Cabo Pulmo Marine Reserve. The experience was made possible thanks to Eduardo Martinez, director of Fundacion Teleton BCS, and David Castro, a special friend of Mission Blue and a disabled diver instructor who runs Cabo Pulmo Divers. The disabled divers — Fausto, Roberto and Salma — were a delight to dive with and received Dr. Sylvia Earle’s words of deep admiration for their courage. Check out this Mission Blue exclusive video to see Fausto, Roberto and Salma in action — proof that the ocean is for everyone!…

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5 Discoveries in Cabo Pulmo Marine Park

On our recent Hope Spot Expedition to Cabo Pulmo Marine Park, located in the Gulf of California Hope Spot, we made five discoveries:
1. The Ocean is For Everyone

Dr. Sylvia Earle and the Mission Blue team were deeply honored to spend the morning of February 27th with Eduardo Martinez, director of Fundacion Teleton. This Mexican nonprofit works with disabled people—like the three Mexican teens named Fausto, Roberto and Salma who came along to dive with Dr. Earle—their first ever dive in the ocean! Dr. Earle expressed directly to these newly coronated divers her deepest admiration for their courage. The ocean, truly, is for everyone and we have Fausto, Roberto and Salma to look at for proof. This memorable dive was made possible by David Castro, a special friend of Mission Blue and a disabled diver instructor who runs Cabo Pulmo Divers.…

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