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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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Restoring Coral Ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico Hope Spot

by Courtney Mattison

Two new studies provide evidence that the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster has harmed coral ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico’s mesophotic or “twilight” zone along a series of deep-water rocky reefs known as the Pinnacle Trend. Located approximately 200-300 feet below the surface at the edge of the continental shelf of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, this region’s mesophotic (or “middle light”) zone supports vibrant fish, coral and sponge communities in the Gulf. 
In their latest study published last month in the journal Coral Reefs, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Florida State University, and JHT Inc. compared the health of corals on hard-bottom mesophotic reefs before and after the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster using video footage and images taken by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).…

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Reality Check: Five Years After Deepwater Horizon

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.…

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Act now to protect our ocean and fresh water

By Riki Ott, PhD on behalf of The ALERT Project
I am a survivor of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, a marine toxicologist, a commercial fisherman, and an author – turned activist. The turning happened 26 years ago today, when I flew over the wreck of the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The Sound – my backyard, my fishing grounds, and most importantly, a place I loved. The giant inky stain on the water was… overwhelming. Intimidating. It was vast, and I was only one person. What could I do? As I flew over the ocean of oil, I realized I knew enough to make a difference… did I care enough? The answer, I knew, would change my life.…

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Oil Spill in Bangladesh! (Why Do Mangroves Matter?)

by Brett Garling
A month ago, an oil tanker spilled hundreds of thousands of liters of oil into the largest mangrove forest in the world, called The Sundarbans. This immense brackish estuary on the border of India and Bangladesh is also a bengal tiger sanctuary and home to countless other flora and fauna. While the story hasn’t gotten much media attention, what coverage it did receive focused more on the area’s status as an endangered dolphin sanctuary. (Yes unfortunately it’s one of those, too. It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.) However, a disaster like this should also alarm us with regards to climate change: healthy mangroves play a crucial role in the delicate dance of carbon into and out of our atmosphere.…

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Help Save the Canary Islands from Dangerous Deep Sea Oil Exploration

by Courtney Mattison
A major environmental campaign is reaching a tipping point in Spain and making waves around the globe, and you can get involved. After years of prolonged opposition in and out of court by environmental and political groups, in August the Spanish government granted permission to Spanish oil giant Repsol and its partners to conduct exploratory drilling for oil and gas in the waters surrounding the Canary Islands, an ecological hotspot and popular tourist destination. An extraordinary group of activists, celebrities, governments, universities, scientific committees, tour operators, foundations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) including WWF, Greenpeace and Oceana are uniting in the fight against this controversial prospecting project as Repsol prepares to begin drilling in upcoming months. This opposition movement is ramping up its efforts with an international campaign – Save Canarias – to protect the Canary Islands from oil spills and other potentially catastrophic threats associated with underwater hydrocarbon exploration and drilling.…

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Beyond the Deepwater Horizon

On April 20, 2010, the ultra-deep drilling rig Deepwater Horizon operating 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico exploded, killing 11 men and injuring 17 others. In the 87 days that the gusher flowed uncontrolled, it spewed over 200 million gallons of oil into an already stressed Gulf ecosystem.
Now, four years later we’d like to share with you several important pieces shedding light on just a few aspects of the cascading problems in Mission Blue’s Gulf of Mexico Deep Reefs Hope Spot, as well as the surrounding coastal areas of the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida. 
Mission Blue would like to thank the honor roll of dedicated scientists, NGOs, grassroots organizations, government agencies, and citizens who continue to work tirelessly both to restore the Gulf, and to change future policies for a healthier tomorrow.
 “We’re four years into this disaster, not four years after it.…

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No Dumping. Drains to Ocean.

“No Dumping, Drains to Ocean.” We have all read this on sidewalk storm drains. You may wonder, what exactly is draining into our oceans? The answer is, lots of pollutants, including one of the biggest environmental offenders: used motor oil.
Made from the same toxic substance as gasoline, 2.5 billion gallons of petroleum-based lubricants and motor oils are sold in the United States each year. Of that, 385 million gallons are disposed of every year – 35 times more oil than was spilled in the Exxon Valdez spill!
Next time you are idling at a stoplight or pulling into a parking spot, take notice of all those dark, greasy spots left behind from the motor oil leaking out of cars. When it rains, storm water carries that greasy oil from the roadways into our ocean, polluting our rivers, watershed and drinking water sources, along the way.…

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