Oceana | Protecting the World's Oceans

Look Ma, No Fish

Posted Tue, Sep 30, 2008 by Emily Fisher

Today at Dot Earth, a short but hard-hitting video about shifting baselines that compares the observations from a Pacific ocean voyage 50 years ago with one this year, on the Junk Raft.

Sushi Guides Almost Here

Posted Mon, Sep 29, 2008 by Emily Fisher

At last, sustainable sushi cards are on the way!

Chesapeake Bay Blues

Posted Fri, Sep 26, 2008 by Emily Fisher

Well, it's official. NOAA has declared a state of disaster for the Chesapeake Bay blue crab fishery due to poor environmental conditions leading to commercial failure.

The declaration means probable funding for the watermen hard hit by the economics of the situation, and hopefully, it means the crabs will get a chance to recover from overfishing, compounded by pollution and warming waters.

The crabs' numbers have fallen by more than 70 percent since the 1990s -- did you get that? -- 70 percent in less than two decades.

What would the Chesapeake Bay region be without its signature dish, crab cakes? If this disaster declaration doesn't spur real environmental action, we may some day find out.

Acid Oceans Hit Spotlight

Posted Fri, Sep 26, 2008 by Emily Fisher

News from Miriam at the Oyster's Garter: There's a new documentary about ocean acidification coming in early 2009.

A Sea Change follows "retired educator and concerned grandfather Sven Huseby back to stunning ancestral sites (Norway, Alaska the Pacific Northwest) where he finds cutting-edge ocean research underway. His journey of self-discovery brings adventure, surprise and revelation to the hard science of acidification."

Ocean acidification is one of those climate change nasties that most people have a general idea about. But when it comes to its long-term consequences, they're blissfully ignorant, which is why a documentary like this has the potential to be a great thing, in my opinion (and if Al Gore has anything to say about it.) Watch the trailer below:

Guest Post: Stop Extinction

Posted Thu, Sep 25, 2008 by Emily Fisher

And now, a guest post:

Hi All, Leda Huta, Executive Director of Endangered Species Coalition here.

At the Endangered Species Coalition we protect the fish, plants and wildlife on the brink of extinction. Our No Species Left Behind campaign protects species from the bad acts of the Bush administration.

Corruption, abuse of science and a failure of ethics have plagued the Bush administration’s Departments of Interior and Commerce. Both departments are charged with protecting threatened and endangered marine wildlife. Yet politics have overruled science involving even the top levels of the Bush administration. For instance, the Office of Vice President Cheney has on several occasions tried to block protections for wildlife, such as the critically endangered right whale.

Ocean Hall Opens At Last

Posted Thu, Sep 25, 2008 by Emily Fisher

It's Thursday, which means it's almost Friday, which means you're probably starting to think about your weekend plans. Add this to your list: After much anticipation, Smithsonian's Ocean Hall is opening this Saturday the 27th.

The hall cost $49 million and is the biggest renovation since the museum opened in 1910. Along with models and preserved remains of whales and sharks, the hall is also the only place in the world to exhibit the preserved remains of both an adult coelacanth and its pup.

Finally, the Earth's largest environment is getting its due exhibit. I hope to check it out soon and report back...

Vote for Cocos Island

Posted Wed, Sep 24, 2008 by Emily Fisher

Aside from having some clever marketing people on staff, American Express is also in its second year of doing the Members Project, which gives $2.5 million to a project deemed by voters to make a difference in the world.

I just discovered that the Imaging Foundation is in the top 25 (right now it's #19) for its project about protecting Cocos Island, which is a UN World Heritage Site more than 300 miles west of Costa Rica.

Micah Wolf's "One by One"

Posted Tue, Sep 23, 2008 by Emily Fisher

Move over, Jack Johnson, there's a new Hawaiian singer-songwriter in town, and this guy's got a message about plastic in our oceans.

Together with the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, creators of the afore-blogged Junk Raft,
Micah Wolf made this great music video for his new song “One By One” to raise awareness about the harmful effects of plastic in the environment.

For more info on plastics, check out Algalita’s http://plasticsareforever.org, and don't forget to sign our plastics pledge if you haven't.

At Sea Turtle Rehab

Posted Mon, Sep 22, 2008 by Emily Fisher to jean beasley, karen beasley sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation, loggerheads, sea turtle rehab, sea turtles, topsail island

© Oceana/Cory Wilson

I’m back from Bald Head Island, NC – but fear not, there’s one last adventure to report. One of my last days down there, I drove to Topsail Island, which is a short drive up the coast, to see Jean Beasley’s famed turtle hospital (named after her daughter Karen).

Beasley, who won Animal Planet’s 2007 hero of the year award, is a teacher-turned-turtle activist whose hospital started as a single injured turtle under a tent in her backyard in the mid-‘90s.

The “hospital” is a small warehouse with about 20 pools of varying sizes and depths, each containing an injured sea turtle. Staffed by around 70 volunteers, (plus 150 helping with nesting on the beach), the hospital currently houses three species of sea turtles – loggerheads, greens, and Kemp's ridleys.

Waiting for Hatchlings, Part 4

Posted Fri, Sep 19, 2008 by Emily Fisher to bald head island, loggerhead sea turtles, north carolina, sea turtles, waiting for hatchlings

© Oceana/Cory Wilson

[Several days after Day 2]

It’s the end of my week here at Bald Head Island, and I think it goes without saying (if you’ve read any of the previous posts), it’s been a great trip. I’ve been especially lucky with nest #89.