Monthly Archives: June 2016

The High Stakes of Communicating About Sharks

 
By Colin Ruggiero, Filmmaker/Photographer

 
Shark Week is upon us, those seven days every year when the Discovery Channel uses dubious tactics and a misunderstood predator to boost it’s ratings. In light of that, I thought I’d reflect briefly on fear of sharks and a recent lesson I’ve learned about conservation in the age of soundbites and sensational media.  
Not long ago I got news that a large tiger shark had been killed on a small island in the Bahamas where I’ve spent a lot of time. Many of the locals there have a general policy of killing any potentially dangerous sharks that they find near the island in shallow water. They go out with a bang stick, which is a long pole spear with a high-powered firearm round at the tip, kill them and drag them back to the public beach.…

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Parallel Voyages Inspiring the World

 
Both a Laysan albatross named Wisdom, the oldest known bird in the world, and the Worldwide Voyage of Hōkūle‘a have traveled countless thousands of miles over the last several decades. World renowned oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle reflects on this incredible connection in the video below.

Track the Hōkūle‘a on its Worldwide Voyage here, and learn more about Wisdom and her new chick here.…

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The devil in the deep blue sea

With the ocean covering approximately 71% of the world’s surface, it is extremely hard not to notice what pollution is doing to our blue planet. The sea is the lifeblood of our planet and provides over 70% of the oxygen that we breathe and over 96% of the planet’s water supply; Without the ocean we would not exist today.
Pollution is bringing our ocean to the point of disaster and we must act fast to ensure that it remains healthy for the good of our generation and generations to come.
There are many ways in which you can make a difference to the pollution of the ocean such as:

Reduce your energy consumption and be aware of your carbon footprint. You can do this by leaving your car at home and either walking to work or riding a bike.…

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Deep Sea Mining…Out Of Our Depth

Aliens finally made it to planet Earth. And it just so happens these aliens value — above all else — the American quarter, those shiny metal pieces emblazoned with George Washington. Upon surveying the planet, the aliens note that the highest concentration of quarters are located on Manhattan Island. So, they deploy enormous mechanical arms that raze New York City, destroying icons of culture and human achievement hundreds of years in the making. What’s left is rubble strewn with quarters, which the aliens methodically gather up and stockpile. The aliens congratulate themselves on the efficiency and handsome profitability of their operation.
If this sounds like an absurd manner in which to value one of the greatest cities on Earth, that’s because it is. …

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Hope Spots: An Actionable Plan to Save the Ocean

The immense problems facing the ocean often leave us feeling powerless. But what if there was a concrete, actionable strategy to nurse the ocean back to health? Dr. Sylvia Earle argues that there is. As a result, Mission Blue and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are opening up nominations for ‘Hope Spots‘ – marine areas in a network targeted for enhanced protection that are critical to the health of the ocean.
Hope Spots are areas in the ocean recognized by scientists for having unique ecological attributes that make them especially deserving of designation as marine protected areas. They may have an exceptional abundance and diversity of species such as the Coral Triangle Hope Spot in the Indo-Pacific. Or perhaps they have an ecosystem essential to marine life migration such as the Sargasso Sea Hope Spot in the Atlantic Ocean.…

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