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Protect the Reef, Protect Ourselves

By Courtney Mattison

I was certain that the photos of magenta, green and golden corals, crinoids, anemones and fish in the dive boat brochures had been enhanced. No actual coral reefs looked that exquisite in real life, did they? I prepped my camera and donned my dive gear. As my dive buddy and I landed in the water and sank deep below the surface, the brilliant world below came into view. Jacques Cousteau’s words echoed in my ears: “Through the window of my mask I see a wall of coral, its surface a living kaleidoscope of lilac flecks, splashes of gold, reddish streaks and yellows, all tinged by the familiar transparent blue of the sea.” If anything, those dazzling brochure photos failed to capture the energy and diversity of life on the actual Great Barrier Reef – truly one of the living wonders of the world.…

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Shari Sant Plummer on Saving Our Oceans

Mission Blue Board Member Shari Sant Plummer sat down with WWF’s World Wildlife magazine to discuss exploring and protecting the ocean.
(Originally published in the Spring 2015 issue of World Wildlife magazine):
Were you scared the first time you went scuba diving?No, I took to it very naturally. It feels like flying to me. I especially love being in warm, clear water, where you can experience the vastness of the ocean. I feel a freedom under water that I never get on land. Plus, while diving a healthy reef, there is the opportunity to watch fish in every size, shape and color swimming through vibrant ancient corals. It’s magical.
Is there a particular species that you’re intent on saving?Yes, humans! At the end of the day, ocean conservation is not just about saving a particular fish, it’s about saving ourselves.…

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Celebrating Coral Triangle Day

The Coral Triangle is an extraordinarily biodiverse marine area of the western Pacific Ocean, and today the world celebrates this globally important Mission Blue Hope Spot! Encompassing waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands, it covers 5.7 million square kilometers of ocean. 
Representing less than 1% of the planet’s marine environment, coral reefs support no less than 25% of its species. The Coral Triangle is a bioregion that’s half the size of the United States and harbors more marine species than anywhere else on the planet. There are single reefs here that contain more species than the entire Caribbean. The Coral Triangle contains 76% of all known coral types, more than 3,000 species of fish and 6 out of 7 of the world’s turtle species.…

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Her Deepness on the Great Barrier Reef’s Forgotten Habitats

By Dr. Sylvia Earle
Hooray for the stay of execution for the Great Barrier Reef!  Maybe common sense will prevail as the full extent of the economic, ecological and security impacts are more widely recognized.  One aspect that gets little attention is this:
It is not just the dumping of the spoils from dredging that matters here.   
Putting aside the rationale for the channel — to facilitate shipping coal mined in western Australia to be burned in China, and the consequences of traffic through the channel (noise, wave action, spills, wastes, other ship-related impacts.) 
There is a perception that there is no downside to having the channel as long as it does not cut through the reef itself. 

But mud-sand and other “soft bottom” areas are as full of life as a rain forest and are critical to the existence of the more conspicuous reef systems.  …

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