October 2011 - Mission Blue

Monthly Archives: October 2011

New Alliance calls for World’s Largest Marine Reserves around Antarctica

HOBART, Tasmania

John Weller: http://www.johnbweller.com/

A new coalition of environmental and conservation groups, the Antarctic Ocean Alliance (AOA), called on the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) meeting in Hobart this week to establish the world’s largest network of marine reserves in the oceans around Antarctica.
AOA’s proposal, building on the CCAMLR commitment to create a network of marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean, is to establish no-take marine reserves and MPAs in 19 ocean areas around Antarctica. That would establish the most comprehensive ocean protection regime of its kind on the planet. When launching the proposal, the AOA presented a map outlining key areas it recommends for protection, including the Ross Sea, Antarctic Peninsula and Weddell Sea.…

Posted in Antarctic Ocean Alliance, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Eric Phillips, Evan Bloom, mission blue, Steve Campbell, Tony Press |

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Dr. Earle Recruits Yacht Owners for Ocean Research

Photo by Dorie Cox

This week Dr. Sylvia Earle, Kevin Hardy and Fabien Cousteau inspired megayacht owners, captains and crew at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in Florida to join in the quest to save the world’s ocean.
“We are united in a common interest in the blue part,” Dr. Earle said, pointing to the ocean on a view of earth from space. “I want to know how the power of megayachts might be used in a positive way. This is a community of people who already care.”

It must begin with awareness, she said. “Sure, the problems are what we put in the oceans and what we take out,” Earle said.  “But the biggest problem is to recognize that the oceans are in trouble.”…

Posted in Dr. Sylvia Earle, Fabien Cousteau, International Seekeepers Society, Kevin Hardy, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Seakeepers |

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White Coke can raises awareness for polar bears

Courtesy of the Huffington PostEdited by Deb Castellana
Have you seen the new Coke can yet? Beginning November 1, 1.4 billion of Coke’s famous red cans will be turning white in honor of the world’s polar bears.
Coca-Cola announced a special partnership this week with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to raise money and awareness for the threatened species. Polar bears have long been a part of Coke’s image, and the company felt there was an opportunity to do more for the bears. Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, said in a press release. “We want to help the polar bear — a beloved Coca-Cola icon since 1922 — by helping conserve its Arctic habitat.” “That’s why we’re using one of our greatest assets — our flagship brand, Coca-Cola — to raise awareness for this important cause.…

Posted in Arctic, Climate Change, Coca Cola, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Global Warming, One World One Ocean, Polar Bears, WWF |

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Shark Fin Ban Passed in Toronto

The Toronto City Council voted on Tuesday to ban the sale and possession of shark fins with a vote of 38-4.  Toronto’s population of over 2.5 million makes it the fifth largest city in North America, and it is the largest market for shark products in Canada.
The motion was made even stronger by a unanimous recommendation calling on other municipalities, provincial governments, and the federal government to act on the issue of shark fins.
Earlier this month,  the nearby city of Mississauga banned the sale and possession of shark fins. With a population of almost 800,000, it is Canada’s sixth largest city, and until this week was the largest city in Canada to enact a shark fin ban.
A staggering number of sharks are killed each year for only their fins, and the practice of shark finning has decimated shark populations worldwide. …

Posted in Shark Fin Soup, shark finning |

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Every Turtle Counts!

Last week, Dr. Earle spoke at the Go Blue Awards in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida on behalf of the Loggerhead Marinelife Center and also visited their nearby facility in Juno Beach.  Their Sea Turtle Hospital rehabilitates Loggerhead, Hawksbill, Green and occasionally Leatherback sea turtles including providing treatment for deeply embedded fishing hooks, plastic ingestion and entanglement, boat strikes and more. 

Over 25 years ago, long-time Juno Beach resident Eleanor Fletcher started what is now the Loggerhead Marinelife Center. Noticing an abundance of sea turtles nesting on the beach in spring and summer, she was curious about why so many hatchlings headed landward after hatching rather than back to sea and as a result, began some of the earliest research on sea turtles in the area.…

Posted in Dr. Sylvia Earle, Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Sea Turtles |

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Dr. Earle is Keynote Speaker at Go Blue Awards

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL — Dr. Sylvia Earle joined a gathering of environmental enthusiasts at PGA National Resort & Spa on Friday afternoon to share her message of ocean preservation.
“I was swept off my feet by a wave when I was 3 and have been in love with the sea ever since,” Earle said. “Even as a child I was lured into the sea by the creatures that live there. Horseshoe crabs on the New Jersey beaches. Starfish and sea urchins in the Florida Keys. Everywhere strange and wonderful forms of life that occur only underwater. It was and is irresistible.” 
A graduate of Florida State University, Earle has dived to 3,300 feet,  led more than 100 expeditions and logged more than 7,000 hours underwater. …

Posted in Dr. Sylvia Earle, Loggerhead Marine Center |

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AMERICA’S CUP HEALTHY OCEAN PROJECT LAUNCHED

San Francisco
October 17, 2011

Global leaders in the arena of ocean conservation, oceanographic research, and environmental sustainability gathered today in San Francisco to celebrate the launch of the America’s Cup Healthy Ocean Project, the global initiative of the 34th America’s Cup to educate the world’s populations about the issues facing our oceans and inspire them to act.
Driven by its commitment to have the 34th America’s Cup be “more than a sport,” the America’s Cup Event Authority (ACEA) has set an ambitious goal with the AC Healthy Ocean Project to develop the world’s largest communication outreach program focused on improving ocean health. To accomplish this goal, ACEA has partnered with some of the leading voices in the ocean conservation field, including Dr.…

Posted in America's Cup, Aquarium of the Bay, Dr. Sylvia Earle, Healthy Ocean, IUCN, mission blue, Ocean Elders, One World One Ocean, San Francisco Bay, The Bay Institute |

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Dr. Earle on Mission Blue and Exploring the Deep Frontier

San Francisco Bay area residents had the opportunity to share two inspiring afternoons with Dr. Sylvia Earle this week at the University of California in Berkeley.  For those who were not able to attend,  complete videos of both lectures, “Mission Blue: Protecting the Heart of the Planet,” and “Exploring the Deep Frontier,” will be featured at The Hitchcock Lecture Series website in a few weeks.…

Posted in Dr. Sylvia Earle |

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