oceana
Malibu Magazine’s Blue Issue
Just in time for World Oceans Day, this month Malibu Magazine released its Blue Issue, which showcases high-profile ocean activists and their participation with various conservation organizations.
Among the activists are actor Pierce Brosnan, supermodel Tatjana Patitz and world-renowned architect Harry Gesner.
Gesner, who was highlighted for his support for Oceana, is known for his visionary style; his Wave House was an inspiration for the Sydney Opera House. He is also a WWII veteran and an avid surfer.
“Waiting for the wave, seeing it, paddling for it, taking it, dropping in — that’s my church, that’s where I go,” he told Malibu.
Dr. Daniel Pauly on The Spill
Oceana board member and renowned fisheries biologist Daniel Pauly spoke to OnEarth magazine about the gulf oil spill’s effect on marine life and fisheries.
“We cannot really grasp the measure of this accident because we don’t know if we are at the beginning, the middle or near the end of it,” he says.
Watch the video for more from Pauly.
Andy Sharpless is the CEO of Oceana.
New Climate Bill Bribes States, Risks Coastlines
Yesterday, Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman unveiled their climate change bill. As you know, the U.S.’s consideration of any climate change legislation is historic – but in the light of the Deepwater Drilling Disaster, the senators’ proposal leaves me dismayed.
The “American Power Act” trades away our oceans to the oil industry even as at least 5,000 barrels of oil continue to gush from the broken Deepwater Horizon pipeline every day. Here’s the first released video of the broken pipeline spewing oil:
Arctic Protections Finalized
In a definitive victory for the Arctic, the government released final regulations protecting almost 200,000 square miles of U.S. Arctic waters from industrial fishing.
The new regulations, which close all U.S. waters north of Alaska’s Bering Strait to commercial fishing, will be effective starting December 3, 2009. The closure will allow for more time to assess the health of Arctic ocean ecosystems and the potential impacts of large-scale fishing given the impacts the Arctic is already facing from climate change and ocean acidification.
And don't forget the looming threat of offshore oil drilling in the Arctic. Last month the government approved a plan for drilling in the Beaufort Sea next summer, and a similar plan for the Chukchi Sea is currently under review with a decision expected this month.
Conservationists, scientists, and local communities agree that the science-based precautionary approach we have achieved with industiral fishing should be replicated with oil, especially given the higher risks of oil spills in the Arctic and the inability to contain, control or clean up an accident in the icy waters of the Arctic.
Congratulations to everyone who helped make this happen!
