Support Our Work

You can make a difference for the future of our oceans by supporting our work. The Ocean Doctor’s current projects, listed below, are projects of The Ocean Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your contribution is tax-deductible.

The Ocean Doctor’s Current Projects

Cuba Marine Research and Conservation Program: Cuba contains some of the most healthy marine ecosystems remaining in the Caribbean. For more than a decade, The Ocean Foundation’s Fernando Bretos and David E. Guggenheim have been working with the University of Havana’s Center for Marine Research and other Cuban partners on conducting marine research and conservation programs to protect sea turtles, sharks and other species. Since 2007, The Ocean Foundation has led the Trinational Initiative for Marine Research and Conservaiton in the Gulf of Mexico and Western Caribbean, an unprecedented partnership among Cuba, the U.S. and Mexico to elevate marine research and conservation to a new level.

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Viet Village Urban Farm Sustainable Aquaculture Park: Village de l’Est, known locally as “Versailles” in New Orleans East, holds the highest concentration of Vietnamese outside of Vietnam. Settled in 1975 by Vietnamese refugees when Saigon fell to the Communists, the community’s residents bought boats and have fished the Gulf of Mexico — 80 percent of the community is dependent on fishing and the fishing industry. But in 2005, Hurricane Katrina nearly wiped the community off the map. Still recovering from that disaster, the BP oil spill now leaves the future of fishing uncertain in the Gulf. Now, in a partnership with The Ocean Foundation, the community is looking at next-generation, sustainable land-based fish farming as a solution.

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The Ocean Doctor’s “50 Years – 50 States – 50 Speeches” Expedition: This unique expedition is ajourney of outreach, education, and discovery announced by Dr. David E. Guggenheim, the “Ocean Doctor,” on his 50th birthday, to bring at no charge programs about the oceans to schools in all 50 U.S. states. By its culmination, the expedition will reach tens of thousands of students, sharing firsthand accounts of ocean exploration and important lessons about the oceans and their conservation.Through outreach in the visited communties, engagement of the media, and encouraging the visited schools to connect with each other, this project is helping to create an enduring wave of renewed interest in the oceans by its next generation of explorers, scientists and stewards.

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Nightingale Island Disaster Penguin & Seabird Rescue: On March 16, 2011, the Greek freighter, MS Oliva ran aground on Nightingale Island in the middle of the South Atlantic, part of the the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, and spilled more than 300,000 gallons of heavy marine oil. The Tristan de Cunha island group represents the second largest concentration of sea birds in the world. Half of the world’s endangered Northern Rockhopper penguin population is found here. The Ocean Foundation is working to assist the desperate rescue and rehabilitation efforts being carried out there.

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The Ocean Doctor Radio Show : In collaboration with Matrix Media, the national talk radio syndication firm that launched Animal Planet Radio, Travel Channel Radio and the HGTV Design Minutes, a new radio show, The Ocean Doctor, hosted by Dr. David E. Guggenheim, airs weekly on the WebTalkRadio.net network. Each week, hear the latest ocean news, take a field trip, and hear interviews with ocean explorers and conservation leaders.