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Saving the Ocean’s Gentle Giants

We are proud to partner with Kerstin Forsberg- 2016 Rolex Award Recipient! 
With their seven-metre wingspans, giant manta rays are a captivating sight as they glide through the water. “They are just majestic,” says Lima-based conservation biologist Kerstin Forsberg of the iconic species she became determined to protect after discovering the extent of their vulnerability.
 
The tropical marine ecosystems in northern Peru support the country’s greatest marine biodiversity, giving life to more than 500 marine species. Taking advantage of the nutrient-rich waters is one of the world’s largest regional populations of giant mantas (Manta birostris), estimated to number over 650.
 
Giant mantas, which are plankton filterers, are classified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), with an “elevated risk of extinction”.…

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Bringing the Ocean out of the Ocean

Mission Blue is proud to partner with Discovery Deep! 
71% of the our planet’s surface is covered by water, yet 95% of that remains unexplored.  Discovery Deep, a Washington, D.C. based ocean exploration foundation is working to change that by “Bringing the Ocean out of the Ocean.”
Discovery Deep uses innovative technologies such as virtual reality, 3-dimensional mapping and 360-degree video to help scientists collect research data, map shipwreck sites, and to educate divers and non-divers alike in the wonders of the underwater world and the importance of conserving it.

Over the last year, Discovery Deep created digital maps of historic shipwrecks, collected DNA samples for a shark research project, and built a diver training course to collect citizen science observations.…

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Drawn to the Sea.

Narration By: Claire Paris, Biological Oceanographer and Free Diver 

I have always been drawn to the sea. As a kid, I imagined the magic of the aquatic realm and found comfort underwater, mesmerized by the sounds of waves on the shoals and of my heart beat slowing down.
I am a biological oceanographer and a free diver. The ocean is where I push my mind and my body. I study the earliest days of a fish’s life, what we call its larval stage. All fish, even those that grow to become very large, begin their lives very small. They may be tiny, but we’ve learned they are far from defenseless. They are strong and self sufficient having evolved to survive the pelagic life.…

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Reconnecting Humanity with Nature at the Biophilia Ball

In November last year, Synchronicity Earth hosted the Biophilia Ball – London’s largest wildlife party – at the Natural History Museum to honor 50 years of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ and raise funds for global science and conservation.
Biophilia is Synchronicity Earth’s initiative to reconnect human society with nature. Defined by E.O. Wilson as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life,” the concept of Biophilia is more important now than ever in the face of global threats such as climate change and ocean acidification.
The Biophilia Ball connected environmental luminaries including Mission Blue founder Dr. Sylvia Earle with musicians, performers and artists for a spectacular evening of performance and masquerade that brought guests on a journey from the open ocean to the frozen arctic to the grasslands of Africa and highlighted the amazing diversity of life on Earth.  …

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A Sea Creature that Dresses Up for Halloween?

By Mera McGrew
They don’t wear sheets to look like ghosts or don fake blood and fangs to resemble vampires, but one family of crabs seems to have mastered the art of disguise. Majoidea crabs, commonly known as decorator crabs, have the unusual habit of “decorating” their backs or carapaces. They use bits of algae, sponges, anemones, coral polyps or whatever else they find lying around the ocean floor.
Researchers report that Majoidea crabs “decorate” as a form of camouflage, which is an essential survival technique used by many creatures. These crabs are known to live in shallow water along with multiple other ocean creatures. Without being able swim or run quickly through the ocean, researchers explain that by camouflaging themselves, these crabs are able to blend into their environment and hide from other animals that might otherwise harm or eat them.…

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Explore the Antarctic with Sylvia Earle [VIDEO]

Go on a journey with Mission Blue founder, Dr. Sylvia Earle, to the Southern Ocean as she narrates a short video [watch below]. Click play, to learn about the distinctive life that lives in the frigid Antarctic waters and see beautiful visuals of the unique ecosystems that exist in the most southern reaches of the world.…

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Meet Hank the Animated Orange Roughy

Orange roughy, once called slimehead, is a deep-sea fish that can live to 100 years or more. Since they are slow growing and late to reach reproductive maturity, they are vulnerable to overfishing. Researchers report that their populations are now 10 to 30 percent (or less) of historic levels. Even with proper managment orange roughy populations are expected to take decades to recover.…

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The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail – Book in the Spotlight

Convinced that the time has come for historians to take the living ocean seriously, University of New Hampshire history professor Jeffrey Bolster has written a new book—The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail. In the book, Bolster takes readers through a millennium-long environmental history of human impact on the ocean.
Recently, Mission Blue caught up with Professor Bolster. Read the Q&A below to find out about the inspiration behind the story, what interesting things didn’t make it into the volume, and how writing this book changed Professor Bolster’s own view of the ocean.

Can you briefly describe what inspired you to write The Mortal Sea?
I’ve spent a lifetime messing around in boats, and as a young man I was a commercial seaman for ten years.…

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