A Spiritual Conspiracy is Underway

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:38:02 -0700

On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence and things seem dark.
But calmly and quietly, at the same time, something else is happening.
An inner revolution is taking place and certain individuals are being called to a higher light.
It is a silent revolution. From the inside out. From the ground up. This is a Global operation. A Spiritual Conspiracy.
There are sleeper cells in every nation on the planet. You won’t see us on the T.V. You won’t read about us in the newspaper, You won’t hear about us on the radio, We don’t seek any glory, We don’t wear any uniform. We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles. Most of us work anonymously.
We are quietly working behind the scenes in every country and culture of the world, Cities big and small, mountains and valleys, in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands. You could pass by one of us on the street and not even notice.
We go undercover. We remain behind the scenes. It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit But simply that the work gets done. Occasionally we spot each other in the street We give a quiet nod and continue on our way. During the day many of us pretend we have normal jobs, But behind the false storefront at night is where the real work takes place.
Some call us the Conscious Army. We are slowly creating a new world with the power of our minds and hearts. We follow, with passion and joy.
Our orders come from the Central Spiritual Intelligence. We are dropping soft, secret love bombs when no one is looking: Poems ~ Hugs ~ Music ~ Photography ~ Movies ~ Kind words ~ Smiles ~ Meditation ~ Prayer ~ Dance ~ Social activism ~ Websites ~ Blogs ~ Random acts of kindness… We each express ourselves in our own unique ways with our own unique gifts and talents.
Be the change you want to see in the world: That is the motto that fills our hearts. We know it is the only way real transformation takes place. We know that quietly and humbly we have the power of all the oceans combined.
Our work is slow and meticulous, Like the formation of mountains. It is not even visible at first glance, And yet with it entire tectonic plates shall be moved in the centuries to come.
Love is the new religion of the 21st century. You don’t have to be a highly educated person or have any exceptional knowledge to understand it.
It comes from the intelligence of the heart embedded in the timeless evolutionary pulse of all human beings.
Be the change you want to see in the world. Nobody else can do it for you. We are now recruiting. Perhaps you will join us. Or already have. All are welcome. The door is open.
~ Author unknown

LIVBLUE: How to stoke your local economy and save the ocean

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:34:57 -0700

Budget cuts deficits, layoffs and general leanness abound. Here are some easy ways to save some cash, stoke the local economy and take care of the ocean.

1. Don’t eat shrimp. Most of it is imported, is bad for the ocean (farming and bottom trawling) and bad for your budget. If you crave sea food, get the most local kind, preferably straight from the fishermen at the dock.
2. Walk, ride or share. Every dollar you spend on gas goes straight out of town. Save those pennies for the good stuff.
3. Reuse everything. Lots of shops and websites are popping up that allow you to find up-cycled items and used items, sometimes for free. Bartering and trading helps both the getter and the giver. Check out Freecycle.
4. BYO Gear. If you put your food or drink in your own container you save on waste and you save a few pennies for the juice/coffee/pizza woman. Those pennies add up and stay at home instead of paying for plastic/styro containers made who knows where.
5. Have some serious fun. Pay to hear LIVE local music, see Shakespeare in the park, take in some art and do a vacation near home instead of sending your $ to Hollywood or road tripping to Disneyland. There must be a weekend or week worth of things you’ve always wanted to do right there in your town. It’s called a StayCation and it’s more fun than the hassles of planes, trains and automobiles.
6. Grow your own potlucks and BBQs. Share what you have, what you’ve grown and what you’ve picked. Bring your gardening or fishing friends together for a meal and accompanying stories.
7. Hit the Beach. Take a picnic (see #4) to the beach, lake or river and make an evening of swimming, cleaning up an area, sorting out what you find and figuring out how much of it has a biodegradable or reusable alternative. For us, it’s usually around 70-80%
8. List your ideas below in the comments. There are lots of ways to save $, have fun and support your community.

OceanVoices

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:20:26 -0700

What is OceanVoices?

OceanVoices (beta) is a project two years in the planning by sound artist Halsey Burgund and marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols designed to collect spoken voice recordings from people around the world responding to a few personal questions about the ocean. The voices will be combined with music written by Halsey, into real-time generative audio collages based on the preferences of individual listeners. The website currently is the primary vehicle for collecting those voices, but as soon as enough are collected to seed the system, this site will also generate the streaming audio collages thereby spreading the words of all participants around the globe.

The ocean surrounds us and sustains us. The only way we can sustain life in the ocean is to work together as a global community. OceanVoices intends to bring together voices from around the world into a community whose members care about the ocean enough to express themselves for everyone to hear. Open your mouth; open your ears; join the Ocean Revolution.

Record your OceanVoice HERE NOW!

ShrimpSuck.org Viral Video Contest Winners

Tue, 9 Jun 2009 07:32:57 -0700

From dozens of excellent entries, our distinguished panel of judges have come to a conclusion on the winners of the 1st Annual ShrimpSuck.org Viral Video Contest

***1st Place: Waste Not, Shrimp Not

***Runner Up: Why Shrimp Suck

***Plus Three Honorable Mentions:

ShrimpSuck.org: Is it Really Worth It?

ShrimpSuck.org: Sick Shrimp Video

ShrimpSuck.org: Dear Shrimp

Thanks to everyone who participated in this contest...we'll back back, bigger and better, next year.

And don't forget ShrimpSuck.org

It is World Ocean Day: Stop Eating Shrimp, Please

Mon, 8 Jun 2009 17:32:23 -0700

It's World Ocean Day: Stop Eating Shrimp, Please.

People often ask, "What one thing can I do for the ocean? How can I really make a difference?"

I answer: "Do you really want to know?"

"Uh huh, I think so", they say.

I know they’re thinking I’ll say they should recycle, carry their own water bottle, turn off their lights or walk to work.

"You can stop eating shrimp", I offer.

(Sad, sad look on their face.)

Sorry, I know that's blunt and may be bad news for the all-you-can-eat-shrimp lovers out there.

But the reality is shrimp suck. More accurately stated, the way shrimp are caught and farmed bites.

Bottom trawling for shrimp, dragging large nets on the bottom of the ocean, destroys the sea floor and can bring up as much as twenty pounds of "bycatch" for each pound of shrimp. Bycatch is a nice way of saying dead sharks, fish, turtles and invertebrates that get smashed to death in the nets. Then thrown back in the ocean, where they sink to the bottom for the crabs to eat.

If that’s not bad enough, farms that grow most of the shrimp we eat are often located where there once were mangroves and wetlands. They typically last a few years until the water is too contaminated by shrimp poop, chemicals and antibiotics to continue to farm. Then they move on to a new patch of coast leaving dead ocean behind. Removing mangroves to make shrimp farms takes away natural coastal protection, takes away carbon-sequestering forests, and destroys bird habitat and nursery areas for small fish that provide a living for small scale fishers.

Why bring up such bad news on World Ocean Day? Because shrimp is the number one seafood in the U.S. Shrimp consumption has skyrocked in the past two decades. And even most eco-savvy consumers have no idea their shrimp cocktail creates such a big footprint.

And no one is going to make a show called SHRIMP WARS with a band of eco-pirates traveling the world in a dinghy placed between you and your shrimp.

Therefore, I’m just asking nicely.

You really don't want to be part of that shrimp business, do you?

A group of young people have creatively and sometimes hilariously offered their explanations of this serious shrimpy mess on ShrimpSuck.org. Click and comment on your favorite and help choose the winning video.

It’s clear that most of the shrimp bought and sold in the US is bad news for the ocean. But, if you are really craving shrimp, there are folks who have figured out how to catch and farm them without destroying the ocean. Their product is not always easy to find, but we're helping them out. You'll find out how to find them on the site too.

So, on World Ocean Day pledge to skip the shrimp. Each pound you don't buy could be saving twenty pounds of other animals. And the habitat on the sea floor. Or some mangroves. Our ocean really needs a break.

Friends don't let friends eat shrimp. Shrimp suck. Dot-org.

The World Needs Some EcoDaredevils

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 10:45:13 -0700

Back in the 1970s, many of us idolized Evel Knievel. He was a rock star, sports hero and folk legend in one. He was both a daredevil and a cool character. Back then, his jumps over buses, fountains and canyons inspired us to launch our bicycles into the air and over puddles, mounds of dirt and hapless friends.

Now, we find new inspiration in our childhood hero.

In 1961 Robert Craig Knievel, long before “Evel” became a household name, hitchhiked through the dead of winter from Butte to our nation’s capital to protest the culling of elk in Yellowstone National Park. He lugged the rack of a massive bull elk along as a gift. It dominated the White House office of Mike Manatos, assistant to John F. Kennedy. The administration responded and many elk were saved via implementation of a transplant system.

Half a century later our country and our world face ever more serious environmental crises — loss of biodiversity, a warming planet, collapsing fisheries, looming food and water shortages for billions of people and the realization that our pollution has reached nearly every corner. Scientists forecast the 2050 Scenario as the convergence of a hotter, dirtier, more overcrowded Earth where nature will have been forgotten by most of the nine billion inhabitants who fight in violent wars for what’s left.

Jumping that chasm is the greatest challenge we have ever faced. Waiting until later is foolish at best and disastrous at worst.

Solving these wicked problems will require the most revolutionarily of changes in society and technology, rather than incremental steps.

We must be brave, creative and outspoken enough to challenge the status quo in our respective industries, departments and neighborhoods. We must undertake the audacious, impossible and dangerous. We must risk financial, social and physical pain.

In other words, we must be EcoDaredevils.

EcoDaredevils are everywhere. They are musicians, inventors, investors, scientists, activists, engineers, students, artists and entrepreneurs. They are debating, creating, evolving — sometimes crashing — and always coming back for more.

Captain Charles Moore and the Algalita.org team leading the movement to stop plastic pollution in the ocean. Feliciano dos Santos campaigning for clean water in Africa with powerful music. The crew of SeaShepherd.org putting themselves between whales and whalers. People like Bill McKibben and 350.org who have been out front on climate change for decades. In Mexico, WaterKeeper Julio Solis drag races in Baja fishing villages to raise awareness of the ocean crisis and fights off coastal developers. And Annie Leonard daring to tell the StoryofStuff.com.

Changing our light bulbs, inflating our tires and bringing our own bags are all important. But let’s be clear: it’s going to take actions far more thrilling and substantive for us to make it over this canyon.

For some, speaking up boldly about energy efficiency at the office is a risky bet. For others it may be a massive transformation to “green” their household. Others may undertake bolder actions at higher stakes. The point is to do something for the planet that feels like risk and derring-do — to you.

They say that Evel Knievel broke many, many bones, many times. But he kept on jumping his motorcycle through the air. “A man can fall many times, but he’s never a failure unless he refuses to get up,” is chiseled on Knievel’s headstone. He represented a combination of steely will, toughness, creativity and tenacity that enthralled me as an eight year old and still does.

Look inside yourself and grab a hold of your inner EcoDaredevil. Strap on your helmet, your red, white and blue leathers, and let’s go for a ride.

Nominate an EcoDaredevil for our 2009 Award at EcoDaredevil.com

Nominate an EcoDaredevil

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 00:11:00 -0700

The 2009 EcoDaredevil Award: Call for Nominations

The first annual EcoDarevil Award was presented on Earth Day 2008 at Duke University in Durham, NC. On World Ocean Day, June 8th, 2009 we proudly announce our call for nominations for the second-annual EcoDaredevil Award. This year we will honor an EcoDaredevil from the legendary Evel Knievel's home state of Montana, with an award presentation on the campus of Montana Tech in September 2009. Nominations must be received by August 1, 2009. The 2009 Ecodaredevil winner will receive a cash award and other “green” prizes.

The first annual EcoDaredevil Award was presented to Duke doctoral student Elliott Hazen. An honorary award was also presented to Krysten Knievel, granddaughter of Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel in recognition of Evel's inspiration for the EcoDaredevil Award. Mr. Hazen was one of the co-founders of GreenWave, a student-led sustainability movement at the Duke Marine Lab. He also instituted a Green by Design class at the Marine Lab bringing in all sorts of experts from business, fisheries etc. to come and chat about sustainability.

The 2009 award winner will be chosen by 1) a selection committee of nationally and regionally recognized environmental scientists/ activists who will review all nominations; 2) peers via an on-line voting system. The 2009 EcoDaredevil Award will be announced in a ceremony at Montana Tech on Friday, September 18th on World Water Monitoring Day, an international education and outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world by engaging citizens to conduct basic monitoring of their local water bodies.
2009 Nominees must meet the following criteria:

- Be from the State of Montana;

- Age 18 to 35, or a recently (graduated this spring or enrolled for this fall) enrolled/graduated college (grad or undergrad) student;

-Has exceptionally fulfilled the core characteristics of what the Ecodaredevil Award signifies: courage, creativity and success (even failure if they’re back up and trying) in positively impacting environmental change through science, action, policy or the arts.

-Nominee must be nominated by a faculty member, researcher, student/ peer or other member of the local, regional, national or international environmental community.

-Please submit nominations via email to EcoDaredevil@me.com by August 1, 2009. Please include the following information in your nomination, electronic submissions only (sent to EcoDaredevil@me.com ):

• Name

• Age

• Location/hometown

• Year in school/college/major

• An explanation of why the nominee is an Ecodaredevil (maximum of three, single-spaced, 12-point font pages)

• At least two letters/emails of recommendation/support -- one from a faculty/teacher; one from a student/peer; and/or one from a member of the community (state, local or other).

• Supplements/supporting materials may include web links, articles, images of nominee's accomplishments

Entries will be judged upon 1) innovation/creativity of nominee's actions/accomplishments; 2) courage of nominee to perform in the face of adversity (i.e. difficulty of achievement exhibited by numbers, required time/timeliness, social/economic/political climate, etc.); 3) significance of nominee's impact on environmental change (sustainability and/or size of outcome(s); number of people affected, policies changed/implemented, honors received); 4) exceptional character exhibited by the nominee. [Note: In order to save your nomination, prepare the nomination with Word, pdf and submit as an attachment.]

The World Needs Some EcoDaredevils
By EcoDaredevil founder Wallace J. Nichols, PhD.

Back in the 1970s, many of us idolized Evel Knievel. He was a rock star, sports hero and folk legend in one. He was both a daredevil and a cool character. Back then, his jumps over buses, fountains and canyons inspired us to launch our bicycles into the air and over puddles, mounds of dirt and hapless friends.

Now, we find new inspiration in our childhood hero.

In 1961 Robert Craig Knievel, long before “Evel” became a household name, hitchhiked through the dead of winter from Butte to our nation’s capital to protest the culling of elk in Yellowstone National Park. He lugged the rack of a massive bull elk along as a gift. It dominated the White House office of Mike Manatos, assistant to John F. Kennedy. The administration responded and many elk were saved via implementation of a transplant system.

Half a century later our country and our world face ever more serious environmental crises — loss of biodiversity, a warming planet, collapsing fisheries, looming food and water shortages for billions of people and the realization that our pollution has reached nearly every corner. Scientists forecast the 2050 Scenario as the convergence of a hotter, dirtier, more overcrowded Earth where nature will have been forgotten by most of the nine billion inhabitants who fight in violent wars for what’s left.

Jumping that chasm is the greatest challenge we have ever faced. Waiting until later is foolish at best and disastrous at worst.

Solving these wicked problems will require the most revolutionarily of changes in society and technology, rather than incremental steps.

We must be brave, creative and outspoken enough to challenge the status quo in our respective industries, departments and neighborhoods. We must undertake the audacious, impossible and dangerous. We must risk financial, social and physical pain.

In other words, we must be EcoDaredevils.

EcoDaredevils are everywhere. They are musicians, inventors, investors, scientists, activists, engineers, students, artists and entrepreneurs. They are debating, creating, evolving — sometimes crashing — and always coming back for more.

Captain Charles Moore and the Algalita.org team leading the movement to stop plastic pollution in the ocean. Feliciano dos Santos campaigning for clean water in Africa with powerful music. The crew of SeaShepherd.org putting themselves between whales and whalers. People like Bill McKibben and 350.org who have been out front on climate change for decades. In Mexico, WaterKeeper Julio Solis drag races in Baja fishing villages to raise awareness of the ocean crisis and fights off coastal developers. And Annie Leonard daring to tell the StoryofStuff.com.

Changing our light bulbs, inflating our tires and bringing our own bags are all important. But let’s be clear: it’s going to take actions far more thrilling and substantive for us to make it over this canyon.

For some, speaking up boldly about energy efficiency at the office is a risky bet. For others it may be a massive transformation to “green” their household. Others may undertake bolder actions at higher stakes. The point is to do something for the planet that feels like risk and derring-do — to you.

They say that Evel Knievel broke many, many bones, many times. But he kept on jumping his motorcycle through the air. “A man can fall many times, but he’s never a failure unless he refuses to get up,” is chiseled on Knievel’s headstone. He represented a combination of steely will, toughness, creativity and tenacity that enthralled me as an eight year old and still does.

Look inside yourself and grab a hold of your inner EcoDaredevil. Strap on your helmet, your red, white and blue leathers, and let’s go for a ride.

Nominate an EcoDaredevil for our 2009 Award at EcoDaredevil.com

Interview for Sea Voices

Wed, 27 May 2009 19:31:07 -0700

Interview for Sea Voices, a forthcoming book about people taking care of our ocean

Q: What does the ocean mean to you?....

A: As marine biologists we know that the ocean = life. Intellectually, and scientifically we know that is true. And each year it becomes more and more clear as we explore more of the ocean's ecology. But emotionally, the ocean holds an important place in our lives as well. The sounds, smells and sights of the ocean sooth us and remind us that we're small. We need to be reminded of how small we are.

Q: What are some of the problems we are facing, in particular with the turtles?...

A: Generally, we've put too much IN to the ocean, taken too much OUT of the ocean and we are destroying the EDGE of the ocean. As a result, our ocean is full of pollution in many places, our fisheries are collapsing and fishing communities are having a hard time and coastal areas have lost biodiversity and productivity. For sea turtles, this is particularly problematic, as they are sentinels of ocean health. they eat the plastic in the ocean and are sickened by pollution. They get caught in our fishing gear and are hunted for their meat and their nesting and feeding habitats have been transformed. As a result all seven sea turtle species are considered endangered or threatened.

Q: Can you give a little bit of back-round on the turtles in danger (perhaps a quick comparison of how they are and how they should be)

A: Long ago sea turtles were one hundred times more abundant in our ocean. What we see now is a remnant of their former populations. They used to be one of the principal bioengineers on the beaches, reefs and seagrass beds of the world and their presence was the keystone of ocean and coastal ecosystems.

Q: Can you explain what it is that you do to help... and what can the ordinary person do to help?...

A: Our work essentially focuses on removing the gravest threats to sea turtles and restoring their natural roles in the ocean. We do this by working closely with people: fishermen, other scientists, coastal residents, travelers, government folks, business people any anyone who expresses interest. By building a diverse network of people with this shared goal, and by sharing our new knowledge in creative and useful ways, we build local sea turtle "movements". While it's a sea turtle on the flag, the bigger goal is healthy oceans and coastal communities.

Q: What are some of the other dilemmas we are facing in the ocean that are of major concern to you, and again what needs to be done about it?.... Are you at all optimistic that if we act quickly we can change our current situation in the ocean,?... How fast do we need to act if at all?...

A: Global warming is essentially ocean warming. The ocean has always been our buffer against drastic changes in climate. But when it warms quickly, becomes more acidic and sea level rises, those changes are disastrous. In front of us right now is a huge opportunity to change the way we relate to the ocean, recognize that the status quo doesn't work and seize the range of ways we can reinvent virtually everything we do. It's not an exaggeration to say that we need an Ocean Revolution. We have the knowledge, much of the technology is "off-the-shelf". We just need the personal and political will to make it happen.

Q: Do you have a favorite quote?

A: One simple quote I seem to come back to and share with the young people we work with is: "Don't stop. Never, ever stop."

The work we do can be thankless at times. Sometimes our adversaries seem unstoppable, better funded. But we can't stop. We've made some progress, just read the news. But still, we have a long way to go. And when we are done with our work, we'll pass the baton to the next generation of ocean revolutionaries to continue.

Q: Lastly, what books, movies, websites, and organizations are favorites?

A:
-Books: Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations (by Clay Shirky) and The Man Who Planted Trees aka L'homme qui plantait des arbres (by Jean Giono)

-Films: Voyage of the Lonely Turtle (PBS-Nature) and The 11th Hour (Leo DiCaprio)

-Orgs: Grupo Tortuguero (grassroots sea turtle conservation group in Baja), SEEturtles.org (helps people see, connect with and help sea turtles)

Bio

Wallace "J." Nichols is an ocean scientist, activist, community organizer, author and dad. He works to inspire a deeper connection with nature, sometimes simply by walking and talking, other times through writing or images. Science and knowledge can also stoke our fires. But he knows that what really moves people is feeling part of and touching something bigger than ourselves. J. is a Research Associate at California Academy of Sciences and founder/co-director of Ocean Revolution, an international network of young ocean advocates. He earned his MEM in Environmental Policy and Economics from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and his PhD in Wildlife Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from University of Arizona. He advises a creative group of international graduate students and serves as an advisor to numerous non-profit boards and committees as part of his commitment to building a stronger, more connected environmental community. Blog: wallacejnichols.org

Indy 500, Helio Castroneves and Helium Balloon Fiasco

Sun, 24 May 2009 16:38:04 -0700

Today the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 produced one winner: Helio Castroneves, the driver known as “Spiderman”. The No. 3 Team Penske Dallara Honda car and driver completed the 200 laps in the least time, hence they won.

The race also produced thousands of losers--people and animals. I don’t know their names. Many of them don’t have names.

I’ve been to The Brickyard twice for the race. While Indycar racing isn’t really my thing (I like 1958 IHC trucks), the nearly century old event is truly an American classic and frankly a phenomenon like nothing I’ve ever witnessed.

In this era of green living, climate change and clean energy, the Indy 500 increasingly stands out as a dinosaur-like monument to fossil-fueled entertainment for the 400,000 spectators and millions who watch on TV.

But the cars now run on cleaner ethanol and at least one driver is trying her best to update the sport.

Still, burning carbon and rubber to get high tech land-rockets to go fast around in circles remains a very popular attraction, showing no signs of fading.

And my point isn’t to debate the merits of the largest single-day sporting event in the world anyhow.

Rather, I’m going to write about balloons.

The PR folks for the Indy 500 race tell me that this year, as in years past, lots and lots--30,000 to be exact--helium-filled latex rubber balloons were released into the skies above my beloved Indiana. True, mass-releases of balloons look sort of cool for about five minutes (but not THAT cool--see photos, kinda boring actually and most people don’t even watch). Then they are over, forgotten, and just make a big, fat mess of the place. The thousands of colorful balloons disappear from view, only to fall back to Earth randomly and many miles from the Speedway. No one picks them up. No one is responsible for them. Rather they end up littering the countryside, landing in water and being eaten by animals. We just don’t roll like that in America (do we?).

When asked why they pollute Indiana so blatantly like this, the PR folks argue that the balloons are biodegradable. True. It just takes a very long time for them to biodegrade [the latex balloon manufacturers bend over backwards to make it all sound very eco, comparing a balloon to an oak leaf]. So they sit on the ground or float in the water, waiting to biodegrade, get picked up by some kind soul or they get eaten by an animal. No matter how you look at it, mass balloon releases are IRRESPONSIBLE. We call dropping trash on the ground “littering” and we have laws against that--thanks Hooty the Owl who taught me to “Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute” when I was a kid.

This year the Indy 500 included a stunningly beautiful “balloon glow” where dozens of non-littering hot air balloons beautifully lit up the night.

Lots of music and weeks of activities, food, parties and fun make the Indy 500 the quintessential American sports extravaganza. But the main focus is really on the track, where the real action is.

Why such a high powered event needs to release thousands of balloons to be scattered all over our beautiful Indiana countryside is beyond me.

In the last 10 years some locations have seen a 260% increase in the number of balloons found on beaches and there are many more in the water. Statistically it may not be a huge pollution problem, but it's wrong and needless, many say.

When asked, the Indy 500 PR folks said that it’s “a tradition” and that the IMS ensures “that our balloon launch does not harm animals or the environment”.

Hmmm, how do you “ensure” that when thousands of balloons are flying off in 1000s of different directions. Impossible.

I’ve searched and searched in the history of the race and the track and can’t find anything that suggests that polluting Indiana with shredded balloons is a “tradition” worthy of the latex it’s wrapped in.

So, The winner of this year’s Indy 500 mass-helium-balloon-release marred event is a man named Helio.

That’s kind of funny in an ironic sort of way. And sad.

The losers of the massive Indy 500 Helio-balloon release are the animals and human and animal residents of Indiana, who get to clean up (or eat) the mess. (see photos of balloons found in sea turtles below, click for bigger view and info)

Bummer. An entirely avoidable bummer, at that. Kids all over the world are learning that such “pointless pollution” is to be avoided and challenged immediately.

Maybe the 94th running of the race in 2010 will be different, Helio-balloon free and a better, cleaner event.

And maybe Danica Patrick or better yet, race-car driver and eco-activist Leilani Munter, will win the Indy 500!

Please kindly ask the folks who put on this great show to clean things up in 2010:

IMS Public Relations
imspr@brickyard.com
www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com

Related: Indy Star: Indianapolis 500 Speedway’s eco-efforts

Where to Bury a Dog

Fri, 22 May 2009 18:19:01 -0700

My brother Joshua and friend Pierre came up this week to bury Josh’s dog, Indio. As good a dog as ever there was. And I don’t say that lightly, have raised, and buried, two of the best 13 year old labrador retrievers and one of the sweetest 11 year old Newfoundlands the world has seen.

Indio is in good company on our land with Blue, Red and Greta.

We dug a deep wide grave in the good orchard soil, between the cherry tree and the apple tree. Indy was wrapped in Josh’s best old indian blanket and put to rest with a few of her favorite things.

There’s nothing like a good dog. At barely two year, this one’s life was cut far to short. And while there will be others, and good ones at that, Indy will live in our hearts and our trees.

Upon her grave we made a small fire with alder and redwood and roses and Josh read a passage we’ve both held close:

“There are various places within which a dog may be buried. We are thinking now of a setter, whose coat was flame in the sunshine, and who, so far as we are aware, never entertained a mean or an unworthy thought. This setter is buried beneath a cherry tree, under four feet of garden loam, and at its proper season the cherry strews petals on the green lawn of his grave. Beneath a cherry tree, or an apple, or any flowering shrub of the garden, is an excellent place to bury a good dog. Beneath such trees, such shrubs, he slept in the drowsy summer, or gnawed at a flavorous bone, or lifted head to challenge some strange intruder. These are good places, in life or in death. Yet it is a small matter, and it touches sentiment more than anything else.

For if the dog be well remembered, if sometimes he leaps through your dreams actual as in life, eyes kindling, questing, asking, laughing, begging, it matters not at all where that dog sleeps at long and at last. On a hill where the wind is unrebuked and the trees are roaring, or beside a stream he knew in puppyhood, or somewhere in the flatness of a pasture land, where most exhilarating cattle graze. It is all one to the dog, and all one to you, and nothing is gained, and nothing lost -- if memory lives. But there is one best place to bury a dog. One place that is best of all.

If you bury him in this spot, the secret of which you must already have, he will come to you when you call -- come to you over the grim, dim frontiers of death, and down the well-remembered path, and to your side again. And though you call a dozen living dogs to heel they should not growl at him, nor resent his coming, for he is yours and he belongs there.

People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass bent by his footfall, who hear no whimper pitched too fine for mere audition, people who may never really have had a dog. Smile at them then, for you shall know something that is hidden from them, and which is well worth the knowing.

The one best place to bury a good dog is in the heart of his master.”

by Ben Hur Lampman

World Turtle Day

Fri, 22 May 2009 09:12:47 -0700

Tomorrow is World Turtle Day, so we encourage you to celebrate by going to SEE a turtle (the sea kind or otherwise), make plans to SEE turtles (find some ideas HERE) or contribute your support to your local turtle group (they all need your help).

Tomorrow is also Carl Safina's birthday, so we encourage you to celebrate by going to SEE Carl. Just kidding. But you can drop him well wishes via his blog and thank him for his tremendous, longstanding writing, thinking and advocacy on behalf of sea turtles and their habitat.

In addition, Oceana has dedicated their blog to World Turtle Day!

World Turtle Day was created by American Tortoise Rescue as an annual observance to help people celebrate and protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world.

One last thought to get you inspired for WTD09: "Am I not turtley enough for the turtle club?"

Plastic kills Sea Turtles

Wed, 20 May 2009 19:57:43 -0700

The ocean has increasing amounts of plastic in it. Not only does it look bad in the water and on the beaches, clog your motor and potentially poison you, it can kill or make sick thousands of ocean animals who evolved in a world without plastic and simply mistake the stuff for food or habitat.

There’s no denying that plastic is bad for ocean wildlife, try as some people (like the folks who make it) might. Albatross feed the stuff to their chicks, marine mammals ingest it and get tangled in it and sea turtles choke on it.

If you want to read more about the problem check out THIS, THIS, THIS, THIS and THIS.

Meanwhile, here’s a little video made up of photos from my colleagues around the world (arranged by Manuel Maqueda) who work to protect endangered sea turtles. And another one that shows how one turtle we tracked, Adelita, swam right through the area called the Great Pacific Plastic Garbage Patch.

DSN: Sea turtles get it on, and on, and on...

Mon, 18 May 2009 12:29:56 -0700

Sea turtles get it on, and on, and on…
Wallace J. Nichols is a sea turtle biologist and marine conservation activist affiliated with the California Academy of Sciences, Ocean Revolution, and the Sea Turtle Network, among others. J’s blog is dedicated to new beginnings and fresh ideas, especially among young people.
Green turtles mating in Sipadan, Malaysia (right).
Photo by Petter Lindgren at Flickr.
There should be a sign posted along beaches of the world during a certain season: “WARNING: Enter water at your own risk”. I’m not speaking of extreme undertow or heavy shore-break. Not water quality, or red tide concerns. Nor warnings against poisonous jellyfish. These are all important water safety concerns, but I am referring to something else, something almost as dangerous. I am talking about the distinctly unique experience of being in the water with green turtles during mating season.
On a recent research expedition to Indonesia, we had the opportunity to sneak up on a pair of mating green turtles. It’s a sight to behold for its grace, beauty, ancient simplicity and…well, its ruggedness.
Green turtle mating happens in the water. Often in beautiful turquoise tropical water, near idyllic sandy beaches backed by bent palm trees. Add a Barry White or Marvin Gaye soundtrack and a couple of mai-tai’s and it’s honeymoon city.
A bit of an aquatic turtle dance precedes copulation. Males nip and bump and eventually mount the female. To a biologist, it’s kind of like watching two boulders with flippers getting it on. Other than the female guiding the rigid ball of turtle to the surface to breath, there’s not much apparent movement during the act. Throughout the mating season males maintain high activity levels, presumably associated with locating and mating with as many females as possible to maximise their reproductive output (Hays et al., 2001).
The male turtle hangs on to the front edge of the female’s shell with a pair of large recurved claws. The male’s tail has another “claw” at the end. This facilitates a sturdy three-point attachment, whereby the penis can enter the cloaca of the female. Attempts to knock male #1 off of the female turtle by males #2 through 17 are frequent, severe and generally unsuccessful. Physical damage to both members of the copulating pair is common.
Occasionally, a horny, excluded male will mount the pair (this is going absolutely nowhere for male #2). Further on, another male may join the fun and attach his tripod of claws to male #2. So on and so on, as a chain of turtle love and hormones extends to four or more. When this sort of thing happens with earthworms in the garden, it’s merely curious. With 400 pound sea turtles its a bizzarely orgyastical circus of ancient oceanic sexuality. Bring your camera.
But it gets better. Male turtles are known to hang on (and in) for hours on end. For 2, 8, 12 hours…or more.
Through the years, this has been impressively noted by the males of the human species. I’m willing to bet this is somehow related to the belief that turtle eggs are aphrodisiacs beyond compare. Incidentally, and perhaps not unexpectedly, the dried and shaved green turtle penis is considered wickedly potent when added to booze, a sort of Viagra with King Kong strength. First hand experience tells me that neither are particularly effective.
Back in the ocean, males are the pursuers, the females are the deciders. An unreceptive female will press rear flippers together and/or rest on the sea floor, prohibiting access to her cloaca and eggs. That leaves the males swimming in circles around her, biting each other, mounting each other, mounting logs or buoys or…(back to the warning signs on the beach)…you.
A horny male green turtle will aggressively mount a swimmer, snorkeler or diver. Expect a big claw on each shoulder and a large tail around underneath. Attached to 400 pounds of reptile ready for some all day and all night lovin’. Consider yourself warned.
Cue soundtrack, “Let’s get it on“…and on, and on, and on….
Citation:
Hayes, G.C., Broderick, A.B., Glen, F., Godley, B.G., & Nichols, W. J. (2001). The movements and submergence behaviour of male green turtles at Ascension Island Marine Biology, 139 (2), 395-400 DOI: 10.1007/s002270100580
Tags: green turtle, mating behavior, Reproduction, sea turtle, sex

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 at 13:45 as part of Sex Week at Deep Sea News and is filed under Critters, Mating & Reproduction, Megavertebrate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

What will you do with your blue marble?

Thu, 14 May 2009 14:15:36 -0700

Do you know where to get the best local, sustainable seafood? Do you clean up plastic litter, even if it’s not yours and no one is watching? Do you take reusable bags to the grocery store? In other words, do you live blue?

Well then, here’s a marble.

If someone hands you a small blue marble don’t be surprised. Here’s what to do: give it away to someone who is also taking care of our little blue planet. Or give it to someone else along with a tip about how to live blue: where to get the best local organic food, how to avoid plastic waste, or which politicians and businesses are true blue.

Then pause for a moment and consider that thousands of similar recycled-glass blue marbles are passing from hand to hand right now, making their way around the Earth, our big blue marble. If you get one, give one. And then, please share your story with all of us at BlueMarbles.org and inspire others to live blue. Next June, we’ll check in on all the stories those blue marbles tell.

Blue Marble is the name given to the most replicated photo ever, it’s the one made by Apollo 17 astronauts as they pointed their Hasselblad camera back at an illuminated Earth. From up there we looked small, fragile, beautiful…and blue. Sort of like a blue marble.

Understandably, the green patches of our planet get most of the eco-attention—albeit not nearly enough—while the blue expanses quietly take the hit. I’ve heard it said that less than 1% of eco-funding goes to caring for the blue world. But, the fact is we live on a blue planet, not a green one, or a brown one. Earth is mostly water, surrounded by a light blue or dark blue sky. Life came from the ocean, and most of our planet’s life and habitable space is in the ocean. We know all too well that the ocean gives us our climate, the air we breathe and food to eat.

But we’ve treated Big Blue like a giant dump. Our chemicals, exhaust, emissions and trash are blown away with the breeze or washed away with the tide. Invisible. Out of sight. Out of mind. Global warming, ocean acidification, toxic seafood and plastic-laden seas and beaches mean that dilution is no longer a viable solution to pollution.

But our hope isn't false or shallow. Soon, the health of the ocean, once the wallflower of the environmental movement, will move center stage, and not a moment too soon.

Those in the know say that 2010 is going to be a big year for the blue parts of our planet. Beginning with World Ocean Day this June 8th (now recognized by the UN) a string of ocean events flows outward including the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Archie Carr, the father of sea turtle conservation, the premier of the IMAX film OCEAN, World Ocean Day 2010 and the anniversary of Jacques Cousteau’s 100th birthday. Ocean explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle, aka “her Deepness,” has made a global network of marine protected areas her TED Prize wish. Our new administration is poised to change the way climate change and energy politics are played for the better (to put it mildly).

The message is quite clear: we must do more for the ocean, we must do it better and we must do it now.

Your local “blue” organizations—the frontline warriors—need your help. These days “help” means money, so update your memberships at Save Our Shores, Surfrider, O’Neill Sea Odyssey, FishWise and all the other blue orgs today. While you’re at it, renew your commitment to the national organizations like Ocean Champions, Ocean Conservancy and Oceana, the people who, day-in and day-out, lobby for and shape the plans and policies that will restore healthy oceans. Hit the beach, roll up your sleeves and volunteer to pick up that trash even when no one is watching. Without local support these groups are not going to make it, which means neither will we.

If you’re not convinced, just consider what our ocean would look like without the people who have fought for it through the years. More oil rigs, an extra few thousand tons of trash, lots more runoff, fewer fish, whales and turtles, lack of public access and poorer ocean illiteracy leap to mind.

We all owe these ocean saints a world of thanks. Maybe your neighbor, teacher, co-worker or partner is one of them. In fact, I’ll bet you’re one of them, too. If so, then one day, very soon, I hope someone puts a blue marble into your hand and says, “thank you.”

And then, when that blue marble is yours, you’ll know exactly what to do with it.

On June 5th Celebrate World Ocean Day and Ocean Revolution 5 at the Catalyst with the Mother Hips and Hot Buttered Rum (catalystclub.com).

The Plastics Out There and In Here

Tue, 12 May 2009 17:02:25 -0700

The Plastics “Out There” and “In Here” (published on HuffingtonPost.com)

There's a patch of ocean out there about as far as you can get from people on this small blue marble we call Earth, and it is slowly filling with tiny flecks of plastic.

First, they said it was a “large area” the size of Texas. Then it was two Texases. Then, a continent. They said the plastic fragments outnumbered plankton, then later that there was six times, and then seven, and now thirty times as much plastic as plankton. They call it the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the Trash Island, The North Pacific Gyre, or the Pacific Trash Vortex. It's described as an oceanic trash dump, a giant bowl of plastic soup, a place where sea turtles and albatrosses fill their stomachs with lighters and bottle caps.

I know of a half-dozen expeditions now mounting or planned to visit this heart of the plastic problem … “out there.” But, here's what else I know: they don’t need to go “out there” to see the problem, because the problem is “in here,” too.

And over there, where you are.

It's in the Sargasso Sea and the Mediterranean. It's in our lakes and rivers. It's on remote sea turtle beaches in the South Pacific. It's in your kitchen. And, it's in your blood.

Scientists have known that tiny pieces of plastic pose an ominous threat to life in the ocean, and to us, since 1972. New toxicological research is making it increasingly clear that our century-long love affair with plastic is taking its toll "in here." Chemicals such as phthalates and bisphenol-A leach from plastic containers into the food or liquid inside and, from there, into our bodies. Once inside us they can poison us or cause cancer, neurological damage, endometriosis and birth defects, as well as liver and kidney damage. Other chemicals like PCBs, DDT and PAHs cling to the plastic bits and work their way up the food chain, and eventually back to us.

Yet plastic production and pollution has only soared. Maybe you've heard the stats? A trillion plastic bags are used each year, most discarded after a single use. Billions upon billions of plastic bottles, cups, utensils and straws pile on top of them. Then there are all the containers that virtually everything comes in: the plastic we wrap things in, and the myriad little toys, trinkets, clips and holders that do one thing and are then tossed. Not to mention the merely useful items like cell phones, cassette tapes, CD's and laptops that were once cool enough to be kept for awhile, but are now obsolete garbage.

Cigarette butts, the most common item removed from our beaches by the folks who spend their free time doing such saintly things, are mostly plastic. Discarded fishing gear, nets, ropes and glow sticks are plastic, too. Such items create a particularly insidious problem as they float along for years, “ghost fishing” for anything unlucky enough to get tangled in their sprawling web.

In many parts of the world, disposable plastic is a recent phenomenon. As a field biologist I witnessed the introduction and growth of plastic in Mexican and Indonesian coastal communities—places without regular garbage disposal let alone recycling programs. Before plastic, aluminum and glass containers were returnable for a deposit, nearly everything else was biodegradable or burnable. Along came plastic and you know the rest.

Don’t get me wrong, addressing the distant patch of plastic in the ocean is noble and important, but the first step to fixing things “out there” is to get a grip on the plastic “in here” at arm's reach.

Now, here's the good news. A large percentage of the plastic cleaned up on our beaches and from our oceans is avoidable. There are alternative, reusable or biodegradable substitutes available now, with today's technology. I'm not talking about ten years form now or some sci-fi version of a plastic-free future. I'm talking about TODAY. A huge percentage of our plastic problem could be addressed immediately, using simple, cost-effective, off-the-shelf technologies. All we need is the personal and political will to say “no” to disposable plastic wherever and whenever there's a better alternative.

To help, just try these three things:

• See if you can go ONE day without using disposable plastic. Email me if you need helpful tips. If you can go a day, you can go a week.

• Once you've done that, challenge another person to do the same, and help each other by lending your reusable bag, sending reminders and encouragement, or gently applying peer pressure.

• Then add your voice to the growing chorus of thousands of communities, cities, workplaces, and schools who are striving to drastically reduce their waste streams.

There is a solution to all the plastic swirling "out there" in the Pacific Ocean. It begins and ends “in here”—inside me and inside you.

Wallace J. Nichols (wallacejnichols.org)