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Whale Tagger Nan Hauser Makes a Big “My Hero” Splash

Nan Hauser, the intrepid whale tagger who works in the Cook Islands, recently had her work documented by Peter Stonier the Conservation International filmmaker for the My Hero International Film Festival. The video — available for viewing here — was selected as for first place in the “Series” category, underscoring public interest and support of whale protection efforts.

Nan Hauser, President and Director of the Center for Cetacean Research and Conservation, is based in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, where she is the Principal Investigator for the Cook Islands Whale Research Project and Director of the Cook Islands Whale & Wildlife Centre. Nan’s research includes population identity, Photo ID, acoustics, genetics, surface & underwater behaviour, navigation and migration of cetaceans. Her satellite tag work includes results on how whales migrate over long distances using linear constant course segments.…

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Hong Kong Kids’ Aerial Art Encourages the Public to Respect Sharks

Each year, up to 73 million sharks are killed for their fins. Most end up in shark fin soup, a delicacy in both Hong Kong and Mainland China.  However, the last few years have seen a sea change in Hong Kong’s attitude toward shark finning—and an event early this month demonstrated how far the island territory has come.
On November 8th, nearly a thousand children, their teachers and ocean community leaders gathered on Repulse Bay Beach on the south side of Hong Kong Island. They were there as the culmination of Kids Ocean Day, an educational program that links students to the ocean environment, and raises awareness of human impact on the ecosystem.
Directed by aerial artist John Quigley, the kids lined up to form a shark with a severed fin, accompanied by the words “Save Me” in Chinese.…

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Dame Roz Savage Talks Ocean Rowing at Buckingham Palace

You’ll have noticed that I don’t often blog on personal subjects these days, preferring instead to focus on my three pet topics of Adventure, Inspiration, and Environment, but I think you’ll want to hear about this.
Yesterday I went with my mother, sister, and partner Howard, to Buckingham Palace to collect my MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire.) The award itself was announced in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June, but it was only about six weeks ago that I’d received the notification of the date of my investiture – giving me plenty of time to panic about what to wear. 
The notification arrived with lots of detailed information, and an enormous certificate in copperplate handwriting, signed by Her Majesty, but no hint as to who might be conducting the investiture ceremony.  …

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Ghost Gear – A Scary Matter

Having removed tons of abandoned fishing gear throughout southern California over the last 11 years, Ocean Defenders Alliance (ODA) recently launched Operation Deep Sweep, which represents an exciting new phase for us.
In late August of this year, we moved our two boats from our homeport in Los Angeles County up to Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, CA.  As a part of this operation, we are now removing ghost gear from the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuaries (CINMS!)
Plans in place to protect and preserve
The Channel Islands are a chain of eight islands located off the coast of Ventura, California that received National Marine Sanctuary (NMS) status in 1980.  ODA applied for, and was granted, a permit that allows us to go into this protected area and remove any hazardous man-made debris we find.…

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Global Ocean Refuge System Launched by Marine Conservation Institute

Recently at the Third International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC3) in Marseille, France, Marine Conservation Institute announced a new effort to recover and maintain the diversity and abundance of marine life, the Global Ocean Refuge System or GLORES (pronounced glôr-ees).
Human activities are threatening our oceans and pushing many marine species toward extinction.  MPAs are the most cost-effective way to protect the diversity and abundance of ocean ecosystems, but less than 3% of the sea is protected (the area of stronger, no-take protection is lower, ~1% according to MPAtlas.org).  GLORES will be a worldwide system of protected areas to prevent mass extinction of marine life.  As the human population grows, climates change and oceans acidify, a diversified portfolio of protected places ensures us against these changes. …

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CCAMLR Meets Again to Determine Fate of Ross Sea Hope Spot

Representatives of two-dozen countries and the European Union—the member governments of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, or CCAMLR—are meeting to determine whether some of the waters of the Antarctic, including the Ross Sea, one of Mission Blue’s original Hope Spots, will be protected or left open to industrial fishing and other human activities.
Fishing and oil drilling could be banned across more than two million square kilometres of the frigid seas around Antarctica in a historic attempt to conserve the last pristine ocean.
Negotiations will centre on a proposal for a 1.25m square kilometre “no take” zone, which would cover much of the Ross Sea. Another proposal would establish several other smaller protected areas in the seas around East Antarctica, adding a further 1.9m sq km protection zone.…

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First Pacific Leatherback Conservation Day in California – Oct. 15

Peak Season for Sightings of California’s Official Marine Reptile Along the Coast
The leatherbacks are here! The state of California’s first official Pacific Leatherback Conservation Day on October 15 comes at the peak of the season for leatherbacks feeding on jellyfish along the state’s coastline. As many as 300 endangered leatherbacks swim the coastline every year in search of jellyfish. While many threats to the survival of the critically endangered sea turtle remain, California’s coast is today a safe haven for this ancient marine species.
So far this year 16 sightings of the elusive leatherback sea turtles along the Central California coast were reported by whale watchers, fishers and researchers to the Leatherback Watch Program, a citizen science program organized by Turtle Island Restoration Network (SeaTurtles.org)…

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Ocean All-Stars Make a Splash in Monaco with BLUE Ocean Film Festival

MONACO, October 4, 2013
If necessity is the mother of invention, then the pressing needs of our ocean explain the spawning of innovation at BLUE Ocean Film Festival & Conservation Summit (BLUE). This annual multi-disciplinary summit is a convergence of bright minds with big hearts focused on expediting ocean conservation – now when it’s needed most.
BLUE – a watering hole for ocean aficionados
BLUE sets in motion a mix of ocean all-stars mobilized by a supportive environment of breathtaking (and sometimes gut-wrenching) films, creative ideas and new technology.
Inventors, leaders, filmmakers, explorers, producers, artists, scientists and celebrities gather to see what’s new and share thoughts on how to amplify the voice of the ocean. BLUE has created an ecosystem of diverse intelligence with one mission – to use the power of entertainment to educate and inspire ocean stewardship.…

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Manta Trust becomes Mission Blue Partner

While the oceans of our planet cover more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, we still know so little about what goes on beneath the waves.  There are vast areas, great depths and even hundreds or perhaps thousands of species that we still barely understand.  Manta rays can certainly be classed as a species we still have so much to learn about and that is why in January 2012, The Manta Trust came into being; a UK registered charity aiming to improve our understanding of these animals and promote their long-term conservation.
What is the Manta Trust?
The Manta Trust is a growing group of scientists, educators, photographers, film-makers, conservationists and advocacy experts who have joined forces to co-ordinate global research and conservation efforts for both manta rays and their close cousin’s, the mobula rays.…

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Feds Clamp Down on Whale Kills in California’s Drift Gillnet Fishery

New federal emergency fishing regulations are forcing California’s drift gillnet fleet for swordfish and shark to stop fishing for the season if a single endangered sperm whale gets entangled in a net. All vessels that fish offshore will now be required to carry on-board observers at all times.
The emergency measures were finally imposed today after two endangered sperm whales were observed killed in the fishery in 2010. The rules will be enforced by requiring new vessel monitoring systems tracking the locations of all drift gillnet vessels off the U.S. West Coast.   
Download the emergency regulation from National Marine Fisheries Service here. Download the Marine Mammal Take Permit here.
Also today, Turtle Island Restoration Network (SeaTurtles.org) published a new online exposé calling for an end to the gillnet fishery titled, California’s Deadliest Catch.…

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