Seven years ago, we mourned the deaths of the 11 who died in the Deepwater Horizon explosion, and watched in growing horror as a torrent of oil poured forth from the depths of the Gulf of Mexico towards some of the most abundant waters of our continent. Like today, it was spring and the diversity of life was particularly rich.
As the inaugural effort of Conservación ConCiencia, a historic fishing exchange between Puerto Rican and Cuban commercial fishers, entrepreneurs and government officials was held last November 2016. Conservación ConCiencia led this exchange in collaboration with the Cuban Fisheries Research Center and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources with the support of The Ocean Foundation and funding provided by the United States Embassy in Havana.
March for Science Earth Day 2017: April 22 on the National Mall, D.C.
WASHINGTON, April 17, 2017 -- Earth Day Network has released a way to register for teach-ins on the National Mall this Earth Day, April 22, through an app called Whova. Users can check the app for locations, times, and descriptions of each teach-in and reserve spots at their teach-ins of interest. All teach-ins are free of cost, and science enthusiasts of all ages and educational backgrounds are invited to register and attend.
Tallahassee, Florida. April 13, 2017. For the first time in 17 years of Florida-based research, scientists have discovered a mating ground for the Endangered smalltooth sawfish. During an expedition early April to the shallow-water back-country of Everglades National Park, a research team captured, tagged, and released three adult sawfish (one male and two females) in an area previously known almost exclusively as juvenile sawfish habitat.
We know what is at stake. Over 50 square miles of estuarine biodiversity buoyed with patriotic heritage unlike anything else in the world. Mallows Bay, home to hundreds of sunken steam vessels dating back to World War I, has most recently been home to rich wildlife and a recreational jungle gym of sorts for frequent kayakers, fishermen and explorers. But why should we care so much about the outcome of its pending National Marine Sanctuary (NMS) status decision from NOAA?
Perhaps you have been to see the movie Hidden Figures. Perhaps you were inspired by its depiction of three black women succeeding because of their extraordinary ability in the context of racial and gender discrimination. From this perspective, the movie is truly inspiring and worth seeing.
Let me add two more lessons from the movie for you to think about. As someone who was a very serious math nerd in high school and college, Hidden Figures is a triumph for those of us who sought success with calculus and theoretical statistics.
The other night I shared pizza with young cousins Harry and James in Lafayette, California. I discovered that they visited one of my all-time favorite places—Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Like me, their most vivid memories were of the dolphins, the incredible wildlife and outdoor adventures to be had, in other words, the magic of Loreto.
I spent the 8th and 9th of March in Puntarenas, Costa Rica for a Central American workshop to develop capacity for foreign ministries engaged in responding to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 69/292 request for the negotiation of a new legal instrument to address conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions (BBNJ) under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and help the global community implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals (especially SDG14 on ocean).
History can only repeat itself if a structure exists to frame and support its stories. Along the Chesapeake, in the narrow Nanjemoy Peninsula, the decaying 18th Century steamships of Mallows Bay are more than merely a skeletal vessel for American tales. Set to become the first of two new National Marine Sanctuaries in over two decades by NOAA, the shipwreck of Mallows Bay is a thriving archive of watershed biodiversity.
This is part one of a three-part series on the urgency for safeguarding Mallows Bay.
On January 28, I arrived in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, one of the 16 cities that make up “Metro Manila,” the most densely populated urban area in the world—reaching an estimated daytime population of 17 million people, about 1/6 of the country’s population. It was my first visit to Manila and I was excited about meeting with government officials and others to talk about ASEAN and its role in ocean issues.
Last week, the Collaborative Institute for Oceans, Climate, and Security held its first conference at the University of Massachusetts Boston Campus—appropriately, the campus is surrounded by water. The beautiful views were obscured by wet foggy weather for the first two days, but we got glorious weather on the last day.