Oceanographer Sylvia Earle talks about the devastating impact of plastics

Oceanographer Sylvia Earle talks to Christiane Amanpour about the devastating impact that plastics are having on our oceans and what we can do about it.

world’s largest marine park in the southern ocean

A landmark international agreement to create the world’s largest marine park in the Southern Ocean has been brokered in Australia, following five years of compromises and failed negotiations. Over 1.5m sq km of the Ross Sea around Antarctica will be protected under the deal brokered between 24 countries and the European Union. It means 1.1m sq km of it – an area about the size of France and Spain combined – will be set aside as a no-take “general protection zone,” where no fishing will be allowed at all.

- The Guardian

video: nature is speaking

video: nature is speaking: the ocean

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hope: UK establishes new 322,000 square miles marine reserve in the pacific ocean

The UK is to establish the largest, continuous marine reserve in the world, around the Pitcairn Islands. The Pacific zone will cover 834,000 sq km (322,000 sq miles) - more than twice the land area of the British Isles. The intention is to protect the wealth of ocean life from illegal fishing activities. A satellite "watchroom" has been established to monitor vessel activity, and to gather the information needed to prosecute unauthorised trawling.

- BBC

This is awesome news! Kudos to the Brits on this brilliant action to help conserve the wildlife of our oceans!

Other massive marine reserves that have been established and that are mentioned in the article:

• Chagos Islands Marine Protected Area (397,667 square miles, Indian Ocean, UK initiative)
• Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (490,343 square miles, Pacific Ocean, US initiative)

obama creates world’s largest ocean preserve

Vowing to protect fragile marine life, President Barack Obama acted Tuesday to create the world’s largest ocean preserve by expanding a national monument his predecessor established in waters thousands of miles from the American mainland.

The designation for a remote stretch of the Pacific Ocean marks a major symbolic victory for environmentalists, who have urged the president to take action on his own to protect the planet as Congress turns its focus elsewhere. But the initiative will have limited practical implications because little fishing or drilling are taking place even without the new protections.

Protecting the world’s oceans and the vibrant ecosystems that thrive deep under the surface is a task that’s bigger than any one country but the U.S. must take the lead, Obama said, announcing the initiative during an ocean conservation conference.

“Let’s make sure that years from now we can look our children in the eye and tell them that, yes, we did our part, we took action, and we led the way toward a safer, more stable world,” Obama said in a video message.

- Washington Post 

marine life facing 'major extinctions'

Marine life is under severe threat from global warming, pollution and habitat loss, with a high risk of "major extinctions" according to a panel of experts.

These are the conclusions of a distinguished group of marine scientists who met at Oxford University, England, in April to discuss the impact of human activity on the world's oceans.

Source: CNN

This is the kind of news that makes me want to say, "Stop this planet, I want to get off!" We humans are screwing up the environment so horribly with our greed, carelessness, shortsightedness, and stupidity. For being the Earth's so-called "master species," we leave a lot to be desired. Hopefully we'll correct our foolish ways before everything unravels.

Since getting off the planet is not an option, I have to believe in a New Earth (Earth 2.0?), and a humanity-wide shift in consciousness. I and many others see signs of this shift happening already, but there are times I wish it was occurring faster (a revolution in consciousness, if I may). Perhaps the whole global warming thing will be the event that will force humans to finally realize how truly connected everything is. I have to believe we can rise and be a benevolent species, not the slash/burn/pollute/destroy idiots we have been so far.

what have we done?

The global picture is that we have lost 80-90% of the big fish.

- Professor Danny Pauly, University of British Columbia

We humans have got to start doing things differently. I'm leaning more and more toward becoming vegetarian.  Not that I don't love fish and other seafood, I simply can't in good conscience be a part of this insane, uncontrolled, and relentless annihilation of our planet's species anymore.