What better way to raise awareness about the state of our oceans than putting it on the silver screen? And, no less, under the direction of Academy Award winning Fisher Stevens (of The Cove fame) and Bob Nixon (Academy Award nominee and MB Board Member). The film is on the festival circuit and, as it happens, is being shown today at the Environmental Film Festival in Washington DC.

The film Mission Blue — shot during a 3-year period around the world — traces Sylvia Earle’s remarkable personal journey, from her earliest memories exploring the ocean to her rise to prominence as the world’s leading oceanographer. Spectacular underwater video reveals the breathtaking vibrancy of marine life as well as manmade devastation of these pristine environments. Nevertheless, Sylvia has a plan. That’s her Mission Blue.

“It’s her natural charisma and infectious enthusiasm that are most compelling onscreen. As one of the first and foremost American women oceanographers, she became a standard-bearer among female field-research scientists, while also marrying and raising a family, long before the term “supermom” ever entered the lexicon.” 
  ~ The Hollywood Reporter

Stay up to date on film screenings, upcoming release and more here on our website.

Raising Hope Spot awareness in Costa Rica

To that end, MarViva Foundation and Mission Blue launched a film expedition with Dr. Sylvia Earle to highlight our Central American Dome Hope Spot in January 2014.  Partners supporting the expedition were LightHawk, The Baum Foundation, Leatherback Trust, Bula Bula and National Geographic. The ecological and commercial value of the Dome’s resources were documented and global awareness and support was generated for the protection of its species and habitats.

The Central American Dome is also a site of global importance for one of the most iconic marine creatures, the critically endangered leatherback turtle. The Dome provides an important migration route and foraging area for adult turtles, as well as critical habitat for hatchlings leaving their nesting beaches in Central America. Leatherback populations in the Eastern Pacific were reduced by 90% over the past two decades, mainly due to unsustainable egg harvesting and fisheries by-catch.

For more information on Mission Blue expeditions, click here.

Google and Mission Blue Partnership Deepens

A week ago, Mission Blue and Google were very proud to launch a Beta version of the Mission Blue Explore the Ocean Community Map (pictured above). This content-rich map, allows you to connect directly with hundreds of ocean ecosystems and experience them first-hand, whether through video, photo or firsthand descriptions. We are very proud of this initiative and look forward to developing the platform further with beautiful ocean content. We would love for you to jump on and check it out! Click here.

Sylvia Speaks Out at the UN

In February, Dr. Sylvia Earle delivered a keynote at the United Nations Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, along with fellow Benchley Award winner Dr. Jane Lubchenco. With a first premise that the ocean is essential for planetary survival, Dr. Earle contended that the bottom line is all of the world’s population must start to really care about the ocean. The goal, she urged, to become ocean stewards, protecting its vital role in sustaining life on Earth, while at the same time promoting ‘blue growth’ to achieve prosperous and resilient communities.

To see Sylvia’s speech at the UN, click here.