Mission Aquarius is Just Days Away
July 13, 2012
By Deb Castellana
Training is well underway for Dr. Sylvia Earle and her team of aquanauts in Key Largo, Florida. The team is preparing for the upcoming expedition being dubbed Mission Aquarius. On Sunday, July 16th, the team will dive down to Aquarius Reef Base, where they will live 63 feet below the surface of the ocean for 6 days off the coast of Key Largo, FL. Aquarius Reef Base is the last remaining underwater laboratory in the world, and Mission Blue will be there both to celebrate 50 years of underwater exploration, and also to bring awareness to the looming funding cuts ahead. This may well be the last mission of Aquarius.
“Being able to study the animals and plants in their home using an underwater habitat gives me the gift of time,” Dr. Sylvia Earle said as she prepares to embark on her third saturation dive with Aquarius. “Time to see what these magnificent life forms are actually doing on the reef.”
A cohesive partnership has formed between Mission Blue, One World One Ocean, Google,The Aquarius Foundation, NOAA, UNCW (The University of North Carolina at Wilmington), National Geographic, and Reef Base Aquarius. The collaboration promises to be a powerful force, bringing public attention to the achievements of Aquarius as well as highlighting the treasure that would be lost if this should be the last mission.
Our media teams will be transmitting across multiple platforms from Mission Aquarius through live feeds, social networks, feature articles, as well as mainstream media. Dr. Earle and Principal Investigator Mark Patterson will speak live with students from Williams and Mary College, there will be a live feed with Chautauqua Institution, at least one Google +Hangout, and possibly even a call-in with Ira Flatow’s always entertaining and fascinating NPR show, ‘Science Friday.’
One World One Ocean will be on site with IMAX cameras, and aquanaut DJ Roller ofLiquid Pictures will be shooting in 3D. Having some of the most talented photographers and videographers present, we expect spectacular content at the highest level to be produced, both for publication now, and in the future.
Mission Blue hopes that you will help us maximize this educational and outreach effort, and use this rare opportunity to increase ocean literacy. So please tweet it, facebook it, and e-mail our news from the Mission Blue website if you can. The ocean would thank you if she could!
Much more content on Mission Aquarius is on the way, so stay tuned!
