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Manta Rays and Microplastics

Understanding the Beauty and Vulnerability of Giant Mantas of the Revillagigedo Archipelago
By Courtney Mattison

For those who have spent time underwater with giant manta rays, the experience they recall sounds dreamlike and meditative. The Mission Blue expedition team felt this phenomenon firsthand at the Revillagigedo Archipelago, an open ocean oasis for giants of the sea. “The mantas are like sirens tempting you to go deeper and deeper following their seductive ocean acrobatics,” remarked Shari Sant Plummer after a day of diving with them at Roca Partida, the smallest of these four volcanic islands. She continued:

The mantas here seem to love divers! They want your attention and if you stop paying attention to them, they will remind you… They’re like my dog that comes and nudges my arm when I’m on the computer so that I’ll come play with him.…

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Since When Did We Become A Plastic Society?

Last week I attended the screening of A Plastic Ocean hosted by Plastic Pollution Coalition, Algalita Marine Research and Education, 5 Gyres, Team Marine, Ed Begley Jr., and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA). Thanks for a great event!
By: Shilpi Chhotray

Since when did we become a plastic society? The documentary A Plastic Ocean seeks answers as two fascinating ocean explorers embark on a four year journey to understand the depth and damage of plastic waste in our ocean. Director Craig Leeson and free-diver Tanya Streeter meet with renowned scientists and researchers to witness and communicate the growing issue of ocean plastic pollution to the world. The results are not pretty, nor did I expect them to be given the major implications for all life on earth- from microscopic plankton to giant whales and sea birds, and even human beings. …

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Dr. Sylvia Earle: Can Marine Migratory Species Thrive in the Face of Consumption?

We are proud to collaborate with James Ketchum, shark expert at UC Davis and core member of the MigraMar network. MigraMar is committed to conducting scientific research to better understand and safeguard healthy populations of marine migratory species in the Eastern Pacific. For the past decade, James has studied shark ecology in the Gulf of California and shark movement patterns in Malpelo Island in Colombia and the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. He is hopeful that his work will provide answers to where, why, and how sharks move and develop an alternative method for marine conservation with application to other regions and environments. Learn more about the important work of MigraMar from Dr. Sylvia Earle below!
By: Dr. Sylvia Earle 

Our Earth is defined by an ocean that was once considered unfathomable in its depths and diversity.…

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Letter to FedEx: Stop Shipping Shark Fins!

To:  Fred Smith, CEO, FedEx <>
CC: Carmine Echols, Assistant to the CEO <>
CC: Melissa Charbonneau, Director of Communications, FedEx <>
CC: David Cunningham, President, FedEx Asia Pacific <>

3875 Airways, Module H3
Department 4634
Memphis, TN38116

Dear Mr. Smith,
We are writing to inform you that we can no longer patronize FedEx, as we have done exclusively for the last 5 years, due to FedEx’s unfortunate policy that allows for the shipment of shark fins. As you may know, shark populations have been drastically depleted worldwide due to the legal and illegal shark fin trade. We believe that each individual and organization on the planet has a responsibility to do whatever is in their power to end this barbaric and senseless killing of one of the most ancient animals on Earth.…

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The Cayman Islands: A Haven for Sharks & Rays

George Town Harbour, Grand Cayman is one of Mission Blue’s 14 new Hope Spots!
By: Laura Butz

The Cayman Islands has built its name and reputation primarily on being a renowned diving destination.  Pioneers in our local diving community over the last few decades contributed to building our diving industry into the premier operation that it is today.  They recognized the exquisite beauty our underwater landscape had to offer and have since then made it accessible for locals and tourists to recreationally experience and explore the beauty that lies below the surface for themselves.  With a desire to showcase our natural resources comes with a commitment to preserve them.  Our duty towards conservation for both land and the ocean is beneficial not just from an environmental perspective but also an economic one. …

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Now more than ever we need you on board with Mission Blue!

 
 

 

 

This post is re-blogged from our newsletter. You can find the original here.

Under the leadership of Dr. Sylvia Earle, 2016 has been a banner year for ocean conservation and Hope Spots. Mission Blue inspired half a billion people this year to better understand and care about the big blue. We completed expeditions to Hope Spots around the planet and collaborated with policy makers, scientists and youth at events across the globe such as the IUCN World Conservation Congress, COP22, the International Coral Reef Symposium, the BLUE Ocean Film Festival and EarthDayTX as well as many others. Dr. Earle personally visited dozens of countries to spread a message of hope. Thanks to these efforts and those of so many other passionate individuals, the world is changing.…

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Pressure Mounts to Save the Cayman Islands Hope Spot

By: Shilpi Chhotray, Mission Blue Communications Strategist 

For the residents of George Town Harbour, observing mammoth cruise ships pass through their glimmering turquoise backyard is not uncommon. From 2000, the small island nation of Grand Cayman has received an influx of tourists from the cruise industry, with a around one million visitors entering the island yearly. By 2015, this number increased to 1.7 million and residents anticipate upwards of 2 million visitors in the coming year.
Recently, the greater George Town Harbour area was selected as one of 14 new Hope Spots around the globe.
Mission Blue’s Founder, legendary Oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle visited the Cayman Islands to see the Hope Spot first-hand. In a recent press release, Dr. Earle stated: “May the George Town Harbour Hope Spot serve as an example to the world, encouraging people to take responsibility and ownership of their environment.…

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Save Cayman and Mission Blue Announce New Partnership

Save Cayman Press Release

On the heels of Sylvia Earle’s visit to the Cayman Islands on November 12th, 2016, local environmental NGO Save Cayman and Mission Blue have announced their new partnership. 
Save Cayman administrators say that they are pleased to be working with the global organization that advocates for protected marine spaces worldwide. Recently, it was announced that the greater George Town Harbour area had been selected as one of 14 new Hope Spots around the globe.
“We are pleased to work with Mission Blue. We hope that this new partnership will enable us to better educate our people and those around the globe about the value that our marine environment holds ecologically, economically, and culturally,” said Morgan Ebanks of Save Cayman.…

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Fate of Small Species Has Huge Implications for Our Ocean

The Pacific Fishery Management Council should use science to set catch limits on anchovy.  
By: Dr. Sylvia Earle

When most of us think of the ocean, we think big: It covers 71 percent of our planet, dictates our weather, and is home to the tallest mountain and deepest canyon on the planet, as well as the largest animal, the blue whale.
And yet the ocean relies on its smallest inhabitants, from the phytoplankton and zooplankton that underpin the food web to forage fish, species like sardines, herring, and anchovy that are often referred to as baitfish.
In recent years, numbers of some forage fish species have declined dramatically, causing a food shortage for a vast array of marine animals. The Pacific marine ecosystem, including right here in the San Francisco Bay, is already suffering the consequences, with well-publicized accounts of starving sea lion pups and brown pelican breeding failures among the most visible evidence.…

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A Reason for Hope in the Sea of Cortez

Mission Blue is proud to partner with Christian Vizl! 
By: Christian Vizl, Underwater Photographer 

In times where the Ocean is facing grave dangers like overfishing, acidification, warming, contamination, etc. a group of local fishermen are giving an example to the rest of the world, and a reason to hope.
Cabo Pulmo is located in the southernmost tip of the Sea of Cortez and used to be a very small fisherman’s town due to its natural abundance of marine life. With the pass of time (and overfishing) they started to became aware of the increasing scarcity of their catch, and took a bold decision; stop all commercial fishing, partner with scientists of a local university and the government to declare the area a national marine park.…

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