June 2014 - Mission Blue

Monthly Archives: June 2014

Actionable Rescue Package for the Global Ocean

We are thrilled at the announcement of groundbreaking plan of the Global Ocean Commission, that has generated eight concrete proposals from science, academia, business and NGO’s to catalyze a reversal of the alarming ocean decline we’ve seen over the past century. As our supporters know, Mission Blue is dedicated to elevating public knowledge and concern for our global ocean, through diverse means from expeditions to films. The issues that the report addresses, such as governing the high seas or combating marine plastics, are issues that Mission Blue and her nearly 100 partners are engaged with daily in a battle to right the wrongs done to the Blue Heart of Our Planet.

There are 8 exciting proposals put forward by the new initiative:
1) A UN Sustainable Development Goal for the Ocean — putting a healthy living ocean at the heart of the UN’s post-2015 development agenda, with detailed targets and specific indicators for ocean heath.…

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A Time For Heroes

By Deb Castellana
Last week, 400 participants from 80 different nations answered US Secretary of State John Kerry’s call to come together for his Our Ocean 2014 Conference in Washington, D.C.  Dr. Sylvia Earle has been honored to serve on the steering committee of Mr. Kerry’s Oceans Group, and her work over the past several years helped make the conference the success it was.
Attending were heads of state, CEOs of large corporations like Bumblebee Tuna, NGOs, foreign ministers, scientists and celebrities. They gathered to collaborate on an action plan to insure that future generations will inherit a planet capable of sustaining human life. As Earle says: “No blue; no green. No ocean; no us.”
In his opening keynote, Mr. Kerry called for the creation of a global ocean strategy.…

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Kerry Conference Calls for Global Action to Save Oceans ‘Under Seige’

“Increasingly, the ocean is threatened. The world’s oceans, as vast as they are, as much as they elicit a sense of awe for size and power, are under siege.”
This week’s State Department ‘Our Ocean’ conference hosts leaders of governments, businesses and NGOs from across the globe and aims to deliver hard-hitting messages about the need for closer co-operation to overcome the challenges facing our ocean – and ourselves.
The summit is built on three pillars: sustainable fisheries, marine pollution and ocean acidification. Speakers include Dr. Margaret Leinen from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, President Anote Tong of Kiribati and actor and philanthropist Leonardo DiCaprio.
On June 17, National Geographic will host a screening of the Mission Blue film for the ‘Our Ocean’ delegates and invited guests.…

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Mission Blue Film Screens at ‘Our Ocean 2014’

Sheldon Whitehouse, the outspoken ‘blue’ senator from the Ocean State of Rhode Island kicked off the evening by introducing Bob Nixon and Fisher Stevens before the Mission Blue Screening at National Geographic HQ in Washington, D.C.  Netflix made it possible for delegates to have a rare opportunity to see the film before its formal release on August 15th.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Photographs (c) Deb Castellana …

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Ocean Trio Makes Diving History at Aquarius

By Deb Castellana
Imagine if you will, a life support pod at the bottom of the sea. About the size of a city bus, Aquarius sits in 63’ of water inside the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Currently operated by Florida International University, Aquarius was almost closed due to lack of funding in 2012. Mission Aquarius, during which Mission Blue’s Dr. Sylvia Earle lived below for a week, was eloquently documented by One World One Ocean. Through the efforts of many who shined a spotlight on Aquarius as a unique and valuable asset to science, Aquarius received a stay of execution. In her time, she has served an important role, hosting NASA astronauts in training, coral scientists, climate change experts, journalists and statesmen.…

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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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World Oceans Day ~ Water Lovers Gallery

What is your favorite photograph over, under, or on the water? Is it an ocean image, or perhaps a river, or even a marshland – or your child splashing in the tub? We hope that you’ll take a few moments to upload some of your most cherished original images to our Water Lovers Gallery App in support of Mission Blue! For every photo uploaded through June 15, our partners at Biotherm will donate one Euro to support our work. Winners to be announced on June 16th! 
You can help us by sharing our campaign via the link below. We can’t wait to see all of your images from the blue!
Here’s where you can begin uploading now!   http://thndr.it/1f5SZIF…

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Triumphant Night for the Ocean at the Peter Benchley Awards

Mission Blue was live and alive at the seventh annual Peter Benchley Ocean Awards this past Friday at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Notables from all strata of the ocean community, including Dr. Sylvia Earle, gathered in the main hall for the ceremony, which was emceed by Mission Blue Executive Director — and cartoonist behind Sherman’s Lagoon — Jim Toomey. Bouts of thunderous applause accented the evening as the award recipients gave their thanks and vision for the future.
EU Commissioner Maria Damanaki, who has been relentless in her push reform the regional fishery management councils in the Mediterranean Basin, won the Excellence in National Ocean Stewardship Award and accepted it by video. Did you know, she was elected to the Greek Parliament at the age of 25, the youngest parliamentarian ever in that country?…

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