Beautiful Palau

Just last week, Eco Ocean was calling for positive results from the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity happening in Japan right now. More Marine Protected Areas are needed for starters. Palau is all over this. Beautiful, Palau.

According to PR Newswire, Palau has set aside 600,000 acres of ocean and Pew Oceans scientists are applauding this while encouraging other nations to do the same.

"We (Pew) call on other countries large and small to follow Palau's example. When whales, dolphins, sharks and other species are depleted, the entire ocean ecosystem suffers from the resulting gaps in the natural food chain. Sanctuaries such as this can play a significant role in stemming the drastic decline in ocean biodiversity," according to the release.

Sidenote: Palau used to support Japan on whaling but now the island nation supports conserving the leviathans.

Fathomless

To get in

takes raw stupidity called daring; a human thing.

A roiling sea shamelessly bursts across the land,

cutting caves in hard basalt,

turning boulders into sand and bones into bleached dust,

cliffs stare sternly beyond, waterfalls are heedless.

The friend on the beach, out of reach.

He rises and falls peering deeper into this water,

Water that makes the earth blue from space.

Pools of morning light provide a degree or two of comfort,

shafts spear downward shaping endless dimension,

into a blue darkness,

He tries to calmly breathe through this thin, plastic tube,

waves toss him, water splashes into it,

gurgle, sputter, try to relax,

the tempered glass the size of his hand fogs,

He can see out of only one small spot - like him -

one small spot, looking,

breathe,

into fathomless

breathe,

uncertainty.

Tell the UN We Need More Marine Protected Areas

The Nature Conservancy released a new report saying more marine space needs to be set aside for protection. This is exactly what is being discussed and hopefully agreed upon at the UN biodiversity summit this week.

Only 1.7% of the world's oceans are protected. We need to bring that number up, while acknowledging that reserves are one very good tool of many needed to save the oceans.

Speaking of the Nature Conservancy, Eco Ocean is running the NYC Marathon to raise money for the Nature Conservancy. It's a great organization so I'm happy to raise money for them. Check out my fund page for more information.

See the full TNC report here.

Hurry Up

Who Knew

Sister Made

Who knew wool could be used to raise awareness about marine conservation? Apparently Christine and Margaret Wertheim did. Or at least they started to realize it as their crochet coral reef took over their house, and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in DC started calling.

Check it out. It's all wool.

Photo courtesy of Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef Project.

Vital Opportunity for the UN, in the Fox's Den

The UN conference to do something about massive global species loss kicks off this week. Ironically, the host country is Japan. Earlier this year, Japan helped stop international agreements that would have limited trade in tuna, sharks, and other depleted and important marine species.

Meanwhile, there is no doubt that even for glass half full people, the challenges of species extinction are extremely daunting for the UN and the 190 nations involved. A big win would be a solid agreement to set aside more land and sea for protection. These kind of protected places have huge economic value.

Why should we care? Unless steps are taken to reverse the loss of Earth's biodiversity, scientists warn that the rate of extinction will climb and natural habitats will be degraded or destroyed — contributing to climate change and threatening agricultural production, fish stocks in the oceans and access to clean water, according to the Associated Press.

It's easy to be in denial because it's such a huge problem. It's easy to not want to hear still more bad news. But it's like killing the future. And it's a tragedy because we know better. So we have to hear it, and we have to try to do something about it.

Read more here.

Spooky Reef

Just in time for Halloween. British artist Jason de Caires Taylor has built an artificial reef, made out of statues of people. Sitting in shallow water, it's nothing short of spooky. But it's potentially good for conservation too, as it will draw at least some of the hundreds of thousands of tourists away from Cancun's well-tread natural reefs.

Read more here.

Photo by Jason de Caires Taylor.

Harvest the Wind

Plug In

Offshore wind just got another gust at its back. Glad to hear several big investors are going to build an undersea transmission line to bring wind energy ashore along the US mid-Atlantic states. It looks promising, what with the respectable likes of Google involved, fewer permit issues (on paper) than terrestrial lines, and few technical issues. This would be a great incentive for offshore wind farms. But of course, we'll see, we'll see.

This story made big headlines, including the New York Times, which called the line an "energy spine". If the new line and the wind turbines can be sited without major disruptions to fisheries and marine ecosystems, seems like a great step toward the renewable energy economy we so desperately need.