Posts Tagged ‘conservation’
Finding Refuge: A Conversation with Award-Winning Wilderness Photographer and Filmmaker Ian Shive
We sat down (virtually) with renowned photographer, filmmaker, and conservationist Ian Shive to chat about hope, wild places, and his upcoming book, Refuge. Among other adventures, the book captures the extraordinary marine life in the Pacific Remote Islands and Rose Atoll Marine National Monuments and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument—the protection of which Marine Conservation Institute fought for nearly a decade.
Read MoreCrisis in the Canopy – Endangered Birds Link Wildfires to the Sea
“For me, marbled murrelets have always embodied the dynamic connection between land and sea. I first encountered them as a kayak guide in Southeast Alaska, where the tiny birds would rise with a string of bubbles to the surface, then flap wildly to gain air, buzzing away like pudgy little helicopters.”
Read MoreIf not now, when? Conserving Seamounts on a Global Scale
Seamounts are massive underwater volcanoes that occur across the planet. They attract and support large numbers of animals including fish, sharks, sea turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals at the surface and shelter an incredible array of deep-sea life, including cold-water corals and sponges that build crucial structures, or ‘homes’, for large amounts of marine life on the bottom. These habitats are the ‘old-growth forests’ of the ocean – they are long-lived, slow growing, and extremely slow to recover following disturbance from activities like bottom trawling or seabed mining. Of the 10,000 plus seamounts known to exist, only around 10% are protected from some type of destruction. Marine Conservation Institute has a campaign to protect the 60 seamounts off the coast of California and is working with partners to protect many more around the world.
Read MoreWorking to Ensure Effective Marine Conservation at the 6th International Marine Conservation Congress
Science advances and good ideas spread in the scientific community when members get together at conferences. Marine Conservation Institute’s team of scientists recently attended , virtually that is, the 6th International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC6). They played a very busy role co-hosting a two-day workshop, organizing a symposium viewed by over 100 people and giving…
Read MoreThe Peaks and Troughs of California Seamounts
Featured Image: An orange basket star covers a yellow Picasso sponge at Davidson Seamount, approximately 75 miles off the California coast. Courtesy of NOAA. Seamounts Are Oases of Life Seamounts are found all across the world’s oceans, acting as small oases of life dotting the otherwise sparse deep seafloor. These massive underwater volcanoes provide ecologically…
Read MoreNature is on the ballot this November
Most citizens could not be blamed for thinking that the big environmental events over the last 3 years have been the Trump administration gutting one Obama policy and regulation after another. We’re pulling out of the historic Paris Climate Accords; we’re planning to sell drilling rights to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; we’ve undone rules…
Read MoreDive In: A Virtual Congress to discuss Global Marine Conservation Issues
The sixth annual International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC) is underway, and Marine Conservation Institute has a seat at the table—virtually, that is. Will you join us? The IMCC brings together conservationists from around the globe to develop new tools to bridge marine science and policy. Every year, over 200 marine conservation professionals and students attend…
Read MoreSharks, Ships, and Unsheltered Seas – In the Galapagos Islands, Shark Week magnifies the looming threat of international fishing fleets.
In the Galapagos Islands, Shark Week magnifies the looming threat of international fishing fleets. A High Seas Treaty might help to create marine protected areas that could protect shark habitat across international borders.
Read MoreClimate, Biodiversity, and Oceans: They’re All Connected
In a world that grows ever warmer and ever more degraded by human activities, scientists and policy makers have watched with unease as the triple crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and the decline of ocean health have reinforced each other in a downward spiral. Each of the three crises makes the other two worse.…
Read MoreNorth Atlantic Right Whales Move One Step Closer to Extinction as Trump Dismantles Protections
Earlier this month, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced that the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) was moved from Endangered to Critically Endangered status on the IUCN Red List.[1] Less than 250 mature whales remain after a decade of continual population decline, with particularly elevated deaths since 2017. These extra…
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