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Fabien Cousteau tests the limits of human subaquatic exposure

Fabien Cousteau, grandson of the famed SCUBA inventor Jacques-Yves Cousteau, plans to continue the family tradition of pushing the limits under the waves. In a little over a month, Fabien will descend into the last remaining underwater marine lab in the world — Aquarius in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary — to spend 31 days in the habitat as part of his Mission 31. The duration of the mission is twice the length of any previous Aquarius mission and one day longer than his grandfather’s stay in Conshelf II undersea research station. He will quite literally be pushing the known boundaries of human subaquatic exposure.

“It’s about the adventure of discovery — about pushing the boundaries that are familiar to us,” Fabien told Mission Blue.…

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Sylvia Earle – Eco Warrior!

Celebrity fashion photographer Roger Moenks has created the I Am Eco-Warrior project which includes an inspiring book in which he documents 53 global game-changers who are leading the world’s eco revolution.  The I Am Eco-Warrior project strives to instill a global mindset that being eco-friendly is fashionable, attainable, and “cool,” encouraging new business leaders to embark on a more sustainable future.
Today, the IAMECO video series welcomes Mission Blue’s founder with their launch of: ‘Sylvia Earle: A Life Lived Under Water to Preserve Our Seas.”

 You can follow I am Eco Warrior:
Website: www.iamecowarrior.com
YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/iamecowarrior
Google+: IAMECO Warrior
Facebook: www.facebook.com/iamecowarrior
Twitter: @iameco_Warrior
Instagram: @IAMECOWarrior
 …

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Reason for Hope: the Mesoamerican Reef

Though much of the ocean is in precipitous decline due to humanity’s meddling, there are still Hope Spots that harbor the vibrance and biodiversity that can turn the tides on ocean degradation and form the foundation for tomorrow’s healthy ocean. Yet, even these precious ecosystems — Mission Blue has identified 19 of them — are today strained and stressed by our thoughtless plundering and pollution of the finite ocean.
Close to the US’s doorstep, the Mesoamerican Reef is one such Hope Spot. What does it contain that gives us reason for hope? For one, the area contains one of the largest populations of manatees in the world, as well as four different types of marine turtles: Green, Loggerhead, Leatherback and Hawksbill.…

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Photo of the Week ~ Walking Shark

Mission Blue partners at Conservation International have played a part in the discovery of a new species of Epaulette Shark, or Walking Shark (Hemiscyllium Halmahera.) Discovered in Halmahera in north eastern Indonesia, this will be the ninth recognized species of walking shark in the world.
These are relatively small sharks with the largest only reaching 121 cm (48 in) in adult body length. Instead of swimming, these sharks “walk” along the ocean floor by wriggling their bodies and using their small paddle-like pelvic and pectoral fins to push themselves forward across the ocean floor. It will only swim if being pursued by a predator, and even then, not for long. 
The good news is, according to Dr. Mark Erdmann, the local government and emerging dive tourism industry is excited to promote its newly-named endemic species.…

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2013 SeaKeeper Award Goes Out Tonight

Our friends at SeaKeeper and the Sargasso Sea Alliance are gathering at the St. Francis Yacht Club tonight to present the 2013 International SeaKeeper Award to honor and promote key figures who have made extraordinary commitments to protect this unique area of our ocean.
The event will take place along with the America’s Cup which will be in full swing this week. In attendance will be Dr. Sylvia Earle, Mission Blue director Patty Elkus and more passionate ocean advocates from the Sargasso Sea Alliance and other hardworking nonprofits. For last minute tickets, click here.

The Sargasso Sea, one of Mission Blue’s 19 Hope Spots, is a dynamic ecosystem of thriving diversity that contributes to overall ocean health. Located near Bermuda, the Sargasso Sea is the only sea without a land boundary.…

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Photo of the Week ~ Sargasso Fish

Our photo of the week is the Sargassum Fish, Histrio histrio, to celebrate Mission Blue’s Sargasso Sea Hope Spot and the work of the Sargasso Sea Alliance. An iconic resident of the Sargasso Sea, it’s life is typically spent adrift on tropical and warm temperate oceans among floating Sargassum Weed. Although the Sargassum Fish is capable of swimming quite rapidly, it often crawls through the Sargassum Weed, using its pectoral fins like arms.
The unique appearance of the fish features stalked, grasping, limb-like pectoral fins with small gill openings behind the base, a trapdoor-like mouth high on the head, and a “fishing lure” on the snout. The Sargasso Fish is an ambush predator and also a cannibal – one individual was found to have 16 juveniles in its stomach!…

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International stakeholders sound out about ocean noise

It was once a popular belief that the ocean was “the silent realm.” This was largely due to the fact that humans are poorly adapted to hearing underwater, and marine animals don’t appear to have “ears” that look anything like the ears of terrestrial animals. We are now finding that the ocean is anything else but silent. In the dark depths of the sea animals have evolved a panoply of adaptations to underwater sound. Some animals use high frequency “bio-sonar” to “see” their surroundings, others use acoustically-generated ‘particle motion’ to sense the proximity of prey and predators; some use long wavelength sounds to navigate over long distances, others chorus with conspecifics like crickets do to keep tabs on their “acoustic communities.”…

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Photo of the Day – King Penguins Cozy up in South Georgia

King Penguins, Aptenodytes patagonica, are one of the key iconic Antarctic species that we are working hard to protect as we continue to fight for the Antarctic Ocean.  King penguins have been equipped with depth recorders and have been found to regularly dive to 500m (1600ft).  Deep dives tend only to occur during the daytime with only shallow dives being recorded at night.
Photo Courtesy of David Neilson…

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DOER’s Sub-Ice Rover Tested in Tahoe

It almost feels like science fiction: a 28-foot long, 2,200-pound robotic submarine that can fit through a 30-inch ice borehole. But observers in Tahoe this past week can attest to the realness — and world-class engineering — of the Sub-Ice Rover (SIR) created by DOER Marine of Alameda for North Illinois University. The craft is designed to explore the ocean underneath the half mile of frozen water known as the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. To clear the borehole, SIR is designed to collapse to a diameter less than 30 inches. 

Once beneath the ice, SIR expands and produces an array of high tech sensors and cameras which blast terabytes of data up the 2-mile cable to the control center. These instruments will ultimately seek to collect data about ice melt beneath the Ross Ice Shelf to better understand conditions at the interface between seawater and the base of the glacial ice, as well as investigate the sea floor and layers of sediment beneath. …

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