February 14, 2011: Crime Scene Investigation takes to the oceans with “Coral Reef CSI.” The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is now the home of the international Coral Reef CSI program. This new partnership will expand the field of coral reef forensic investigation in coral reef locations around the world, offering more protection to these valuable and fragile ecosystems. Our guest, Rick MacPherson, Interim Executive Director and Conservation Programs Director at CORAL fills us in. Also: Discovery of the wreck of the Nantucket whaler, “Two Brothers” in Hawaii and a special expedition announcement by The Ocean Doctor!

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CSI Goes Deep.

CSI Goes Deep

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is now the home of the international Coral Reef CSI program. This new partnership, announced by CORAL today, will expand the field of coral reef forensic investigation in coral reef locations around the world, offering more protection to these valuable and fragile ecosystems.

“The Coral Reef CSI program is filling an important niche, as few marine protected areas have field investigators armed with the knowledge and tools necessary to hold responsible parties accountable for injuries to managed coral reef resources,” said Rick MacPherson, Interim Executive Director and Conservation Programs Director at the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL). “The program is a natural fit for CORAL because it is closely aligned with our own community-focused approach to reducing local reef threats in order to create and sustain healthy coral reef communities.”

This Week's Guest: Rick MacPherson, Interim Executive Director and Conservation Programs Director at the Coral Reef Alliance

Crime scene investigation (CSI) techniques have become famous through a host of popular television dramas, and the Coral Reef CSI program uses similar forensic science strategies underwater. Designed in 2006, the program has worked in thirteen countries and has trained over 300 marine protected area resource managers, enforcement officers, academics, and litigators in underwater evidence collection.

Through the program’s rigorous field training workshops, participants learn underwater forensic investigative techniques applicable to vessel groundings, destructive fishing, illegal extraction, and other negative impacts to coral

reefs. Participants also practice proper procedures for gathering and preserving evidence in the marine environment and receive expert advice on providing clear and concise analysis during decision-making processes such as court trials.

Coral Reef CSI Training - Belize (Photo courtesy of CORAL)

“By working together with CORAL, we look forward to expanding global efforts to improve coral reef investigation and enforcement,” said Dave Gulko, director of the international Coral Reef CSI field training program. “Through our partnership with CORAL, we plan to develop new educational and field methods for improving compliance and building support for coral reef conservation.”

A total of five Coral Reef CSI trainings are slated for 2011, including implementations in Honduras, Thailand, Indonesia, and Guadeloupe. Several new training modules focused on enforcement, field contaminant assays, and field sea turtle forensics are expected to be implemented later this year and into 2012.

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) unites communities to save coral reefs. The organization provides tools, education, and inspiration to residents of coral reef destinations to support local projects that benefit both reefs and people. Originally founded in 1994 to galvanize the dive community for conservation, CORAL has grown from a small, grassroots alliance into the only international nonprofit organization that works exclusively to protect our planet’s coral reefs. Visit www.coral.org or call1-888-CORAL-REEF.

Coral Reef CSI Training - Belize (Photo courtesy of CORAL)

The Coral Reef CSI program, which arose from the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) Working Group on Coral Reef Enforcement and Investigation, was designed in 2006 as a way for coral reef managers, enforcement officers, investigators, and natural resource trustees to receive training in underwater natural resource investigative techniques. The training program encourages investigation, mitigation, and prosecution success for natural resource injury events and is generating regional and national level commitments for improved coral reef investigation and enforcement. The program’s web resources and tools are available at www.coral.org/coral_reef_csi.

Also: The wreck of the Nantucket Whaler, “Two Brothers” and an Expedition Announcement.

Marine archaeologists working in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands discovered the wreck of the “Two Brothers” a Nantucket whaling ship that went down 188 years ago after hitting a reef at the French Frigate Shoals, a treacherous atoll. What was a Nantucket whaler doing way out in the middle of the Pacific? Why is this particular wreck of such interest? And how does this wreck relate to the announcement the Ocean Doctor makes this week about an upcoming expedition? To find out, we roll out our time machine and head back to the early part of the 19^th century, when Nantucket, that tiny island of Massachusetts, was the international whaling capital of the world.

Links:

The Coral Reef Alliance

Nantucket Whaler Lost in Pacific Tells Its Tale at Last (NY Times)

Tip of the Week:

Audiobook from Audible.com

January 10, 2011: Award-winning underwater cinematographer, Adam Ravetch works in one of the most unforgiving, hostile environments imaginable: Under the ice in the Arctic. And with camera in hand, he pursues some of the most elusive and dangerous Arctic life, including polar bears and walrus. The critically-acclaimed film, “Arctic Tale” narrated by Queen Latifah told the story of a polar bear cub and a walrus pup against the backdrop of a changing Arctic environment and showcased 15 years worth of Adam’s incredible footage and insights. Adam joins us this week to tell us how he did it, and what’s next!

The Ocean Doctor airs weekly on WebTalkRadio.net. Want to listen on your iPod, iPhone or mp3 player? Download the mp3 file or subscribe on iTunes and don’t miss a single episode. See the complete list of episodes.

Follow The Ocean Doctor on Twitter — Become a Fan on Facebook!

Submit a question and I’ll try to answer it on the air. Even better, record your question or comment on our special message line and I might play it on the air. Call: (805) 619-9194. You can also leave questions and comments for this episode below.

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This Week: Underwater Cinematographer, Adam Ravetch

From Beneath the Ice to the Big Screen: Adventure and Discovery with Narwhals, Polar Bears, Walrus, and Camera

Marine naturalist, Arctic ice diver, and award-winning wildlife filmmaker, Adam Ravetch has been involved in film projects that has taken him to the far corners of the earth. Dedicated to creative filmmaking, he strives to bring to the screen the unforgettable  stories of marine animals.

Ravetch has become one of a handful of filmmakers to shoot beneath the Arctic ice cap. Over nearly 20 years, the unforgiving Arctic has rewarded Ravetch with some of his most fantastic moments, including his footage of polar bears predating on walrus and his close-up footage of the first moments of a newborn walrus calf with her mother.

In 1990, Ravetch teamed up with his wife, director/writer Sarah Robertson to make five Arctic films, produced by their company Arctic Bear Productions, for National Geographic and the acclaimed PBS “Nature” series. They have collected awards from around the globe including an Emmy.

Ravetch co-directed his first theatrical film for National Geographic Films and Paramount Vantage, Arctic Tale, released in 2007. Recently he filmed a one-of-a-kind behavior sequence of a walrus herd defending and beating down an attacking polar bear for the BBC’s Planet Earth Series and he is now filming a first-of-its-kind 3-D feature about polar bears.

Underwater Cinematographer, Adam Ravetch (Photo by David E. Guggenheim)

Ravetch’s career spans from the Red Sea to Micronesia but it is the Polar Sea that has captured his imagination.  Born and educated in California, Ravetch received his BS in zoology from San Diego State University. At this time SCUBA diving for Ravetch became a passion. He took every Scuba course that was offered, and later, would even give lessons to a Middle East prince. While attending California State University, Ravetch completed shark research at the Graduate School of Marine Biology. Shortly after he received the Our World Underwater Scholarship, which enabled him to travel across North America meeting and learning from the greatest minds working in marine science. Impatient with science, Ravetch became interested in the more physical job of underwater photography and wildlife filmmaking.

With a view at helping to preserve the Arctic, and Ravetch and Robertson founded The Arctic Exploration Fund, an organization that seeks to discover and film the responses of Arctic wildlife reacting to the rapid environmental changes taking place in the North.

Photo Gallery: Adam Ravetch and the Making of “Arctic Tale”

“Arctic Tale” Trailer

Get “Arctic Tale” !!

The destination was Seacamp, a marine science camp on Big Pine Key, the largest of the Lower Keys, roughly 35 miles east of Key West. As the chartered bus headed south over the old, narrow Overseas Highway, I marveled at the turquoise waters below me. I also marveled at the bus driver’s ability to keep us alive along the narrow pavement laid down upon the trestles where the Flagler Railroad once ran, long destroyed by a terrible hurricane. The railroad track now made up the guard rails.

Founded in 1966, Seacamp was among the first marine science camps and my 15-year-old, Philadelphia-raised perspective was about to change permanently. For my 15th birthday, my parents obliged my obsession with the TV series, “Sea Hunt” (starring Lloyd Bridges) and granted me my wish: SCUBA lessons. Thanks to an ad in “Boy’s Life” magazine, I found Seacamp, and in a day or so would find myself entering that world I’ve never really left since. Nearly 40 feet below the surface, I was sitting in white sands in those warm, turquoise waters, six miles due south of Big Pine Key at Looe Key, now a National Marine Sanctuary, curious angelfish eyeing me and drifting across the reef.

So powerful were the experiences I would have in those few weeks that I returned for three summers as a camper, followed by eight summers as an instructor, and I’ve never lost touch for long with the camp’s leaders, Irene Hooper and Grace Upshaw, who are still changing lives there today. I knew before the end of that incredible summer in 1974 that I had found a cause worth dedicating myself to. The oceans were incredibly beautiful, tantalizingly mysterious, but to my amazement — even back then — in grave peril. Like so many others, I thought the oceans to be too vast and limitless, and to my eye, appeared so pristine that it was hard to imagine that we were already taking too many creatures from the sea and dumping too much of our waste into it.

A Seacamp flattop teaching vessel at Looe Key (Photo courtesy of Seacamp Association)

My treasured memories of Seacamp would fill a volume, but a few came to mind this morning as I realized that it was June 24, the first day of camp for more than a hundred new campers, settling into their new bunks for the next two and half weeks. I remember being first to the bottom on a deep dive to 125 feet and finding a collosal sea turtle asleep just inches from where I stood. I remember surfacing from a dive to find it hailing sideways, our boat surrounded by three menacing waterspouts. I remember peering down into the water from atop the old Bahia Honda bridge at night to see the slow-moving, eerie sillhouette of an enormous shark, illuminated by the bioluminescent plankton in the water. I remember seeing my first tarpon underwater — massive, prehistoric-looking fish, a group of six swimming past me, their huge scales gleaming in the morning sunlight like polished silver. I remember Mel Fisher, discoverer of the Spanish Galleon, Atocha, proudly slapping a silver ingot he recovered from the wreck onto a table top, its great report stunning the audience into silence, then boastfully telling us it was worth 50 thousand dollars! I remember my surprise at seeing tiny Key Deer quietly yet swiftly swimming from island to island in the backcountry. And I remember laughing harder than I’ve ever laughed as two dolphins hijacked the canoe of two of my students and gave them the ride of their young lives. (I almost lost my job over that one — a tall tale for another time.)

Today, many Seacamp alumni are my close friends and colleagues. If you saw the wonderful film, Arctic Tale, it was made by Seacamp alumnus Adam Ravetch, who’s gone on to become a major underwater filmmaker. Dr. James A. Bohnsack, who was my favorite instructor at Seacamp and someone I consider one of the biggest influences in my life, is the Team Leader for Ecosystems and Biodiversity Investigations in the Protected Resources Branch at NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Miami. His voice and leadership have been critical for protecting fish resources. Dr. James D. Thomas, a good friend and colleague, is a professor at NOVA Southeastern University and has traveled the world in search of tiny crustaceans called amphipods and helping to unlock environmental trends through patterns in their distribution. Jim is helping us now identify the myriad of amphipods we collected in the Bering Sea during the Greenpeace-led expedition in 2007. I recently met fellow Seacamper, Gaelin Rosenwaks, at the Explorer’s Club in New York and learned of Global Ocean Exploration, a company she founded to “devoted to bringing cutting-edge expedition research science to the public through photography, writing, film, and web-based products.”  As I write this, Gaelin is blogging from aboard a research ship near the Hebrides studying salmon. Not all Seacampers go on to work in marine science…in fact, most don’t. Some are accountants, attorneys, software engineers, interpreters, teachers, etc. But I doubt any can forget their Seacamp experiences, and most I’ve met since continue to hold a special place in their heart for the oceans and a greater, enduring awareness of their fragility.

When I began the Ocean Doctor’s “50 Years – 50 States -50 Speeches Expedition” earlier this year, my Seacamp experiences were, predictably, front and center in my mind. Young people have a natural fascination about the ocean, if only given the chance to experience it. I wish I could toss all of the nearly 10,000 students in the 12 states I’ve visited so far into those turquoise waters of Looe Key. Short of that, I hope that my words, images and videos can convey a small fraction of the wonder of those waters. From the heartwarming responses I’m receiving from students all over the country — even students who’ve never seen the ocean — I’m optimistic.

Big Pine Key coming into view as my flight returns to Miami from Havana

Never could I imagine in 1974 that I would spend a decade of my career working less than 100 miles south of the Keys on a large island, sitting at night with a mojito in my hand gazing northward toward the Keys. As I returned from Havana a couple of weeks ago and peered out the window (yes, I still prefer the window), the first land I saw was Big Pine Key, and there was Seacamp, still occupying that special corner of the island, and that special place in my heart.

Today I reflect on the experiences many of us Seacampers shared, like the pungent, organic scent of mangroves standing in bathtub-warm waters. Like the impossibly beautiful sunsets of painted oranges and purples, and knowing the next night’s would probably be even better. Like the earth-shaking roar from above that triggered our sprint outside to worship the DC3 kissing the treetops as a gray cloud of mosquitocide billowed from its hold on top of us. Like the mild sting of a Casseopea jellyfish in your armpits. Like the sound of the incessant crunching of colorful parrot fish’s beaks against the coral. Like the constant, steely yet curious stare of the barracuda. Like the sandpaper feel of a shark’s skin or the glassy smooth feel of the dome of a Moon Jelly on your fingertips. Like the sickenly sweet taste of bug juice. Like the light of the moon dancing on Coupon Bight as the splashes of distant fish echo in the night. To my fellow Seacampers, I think of you today — and most days. And to Eastern Airlines: A late but sincere thanks for the ride…I’ll never forget it.

A Special ExpeditionCasts Presentation: Lessons from Ocean Explorers: Why Conservation Needs Exploration. Renowned ocean explorers and adventurers gathered at the Carnegie Institution for Science on March 7, 2009 to kick off the Blue Vision Summit, a project of the Blue Frontier Campaign. With stunning imagery and stories from the deep, this unique panel discusses the importance of ocean exploration, its future, and how exploration is vital to the advancement of the conservation of the oceans. (You can watch this video below or on your iPod or compatible MP3 player by subscribing free to ExpeditionCasts in iTunes.)

Introductions

David Helvarg (Executive Director, Blue Frontier Campaign)

Ralph Nader

Moderator: Dr. David E. Guggenheim (The “Ocean Doctor,” 1planet1ocean)

Panelists (in order of appearance):

Dr. Sylvia A. Earle (Deep Search Foundation; National Geographic Society)

Philippe Cousteau (EarthEcho International)

CAPT Philip G. Renaud (Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation)

Dr. Enric Sala (National Geographic Society)

Adam Ravetch (Arctic Bear Productions; “Arctic Tale”)

Roz Savage (Ocean Rower, Eco-Adventurer)

Wrapup

David Helvarg

Included in this Podcast are videos and visual materials produced by  Greenpeace, the National Geographic Society, Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, National Geographic Films/Arctic Bear Productions, and Roz Savage.

ExpeditionCasts are a project of 1planet1ocean. An Ocean Doctor production.

Subscribe (free) to ExpeditionCasts on iTunes

Breathtaking Imagery, Touching Story Brings Awareness of Global Warming’s Arctic Impacts to Millions

Sarah Robertson and Adam Ravetch are presented with the Lowell Thomas Award at The Explorers Club in New York (Photo by David E. Guggenheim)

NEW YORK, New York — Our good friends and colleagues Adam Ravetch and Sarah Robertson of Arctic Bear Productions and the Arctic Exploration Fund made their Hollywood directorial debut this year with the hit, feature length, theatrical film ARCTIC TALE. They were recently honored for this important achievement, and the important conservation message the film conveys, with the presentation of the prestigious Lowell Thomas Award at the Explorers Club in New York. The award is named in honor of famed adventurer and broadcast journalist Lowell Thomas and is awarded to those who have pushed the lmits of discovery, knowledge and human endurance and have excelled in communicating the importance of exploration and the field sciences to the general public.

A story of unsinkable family devotion, unfolding courage and extraordinary survival, ARCTIC TALE takes audiences of all ages on an epic adventure inside an icy kingdom at the very top of the earth. There a bold little polar bear, Nanu, and a wily young walrus, Seela, are about to tackle the brave new world that confronts them with everything they’ve got. The storyteller of this unforgettable ARCTIC TALE, with a script written partly by nature itself, is Academy Award nominee Queen Latifah with music by Ben Harper, Aimee Mann and The Shins. The DVD, released in early December 2007, includes a behind-the-scenes look at the grueling work and seemingly insurmountable challenges of filming in the harsh environment of the Arctic.

As a compilation of Adam and Sarah’s incredible work in the Arctic, it can be said that this film was 15 years in the making. While incredibly entertaining and visually stunning, the film conveys important conservation messages facing the Arctic today, especially global warming. Our heartfelt congratulations to Adam and Sarah.

Sarah Robertson and Adam Ravetch, Directors of Arctic Tale

Donate to the Arctic Exploration Fund to help Adam and Sarah continue their important work in the Arctic.