Bering Sea | Ocean Doctor | Ocean Conservation in Action

I Hereby Reclaim This Land for Nature!

December 13, 2010 By Ocean Doctor

December 13, 2010: Mangroves are critically important to our coastlines, to fish, manatees and other ocean wildlife we love. But in South Florida many acres of mangroves were destroyed to make way for waterfront real estate, and around the world, mangroves face a myriad of threats. Enter the Reclamation Project, a unique art, education and restoration project hosted at Miami Science Museum. Mangrove seedlings in cups are displayed as art in galleries, retail stores and schools throughout the region, and once large enough, they are replanted along the shoreline. Along the way comes lots of new awareness about the incredible wetlands residents may be only vaguely aware of, and deep appreciation for the beauty of nature. Our guests: Reclamation Project Founder and artist, Xavier Cortada and Executive Director, Fernando Bretos. Also: Attacked by the Giant Squid’s cousins and a silky shark with an appetite for video cameras.

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.

Like the show? Learn how to become a sponsor. [Read more...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: art, bering sea, deepworker, environmental education, esperanza, Fernando Bretos, florida, giant squid, greenpeace, greenpeace ship, mangroves, Miami Science Museum, Michelle Ridgway, Reclamation Project, sharks, squid, submarine, Xavier Cortada, zhemchug canyon

Deep Reflection: Alone in the Dark at 1,300 Feet Below

September 18, 2010 By Ocean Doctor

I am inside a tiny, 1-person submarine beneath the Bering Sea, hundreds of miles offshore from the Alaskan coast. There are 1,300 feet of water between me and the surface. I’m here as part of a Greenpeace-led expedition to shed new light on the unexplored depths here.

It’s freezing cold, completely dark, and forbidding — and it’s utterly beautiful. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bering Sea, Alaska, Featured, Ocean Doctor's Reflections, Places Tagged With: alaska, bering sea, corals, curiosity, deepworker, greenpeace, humility, manned submersibles, trawl, trawling

Beneath the Deadliest Catch: Beauty & Mayhem Under the Bering Sea

September 7, 2010 By Ocean Doctor

September 6, 2010: We return to Alaska’s Bering Sea aboard the Greenpeace ship “Esperanza” and take the DeepWorker 1-person submarine down to nearly 2,000 feet where we’ll find the best and worst things The Ocean Doctor has ever seen underwater. We also visit with Greenpeace Oceans Campaign Leader, John Hocevar aboard the Esperanza.

Like the show? Learn how to become a sponsor. [Read more...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: alaska, bering sea, bp, bp deepwater horizon, corals, deepworker, dispersants, dutch harbor, esperanza, greenpeace, Gulf of Mexico, John Hocevar, Mcdonalds, New Orleans, oil plume, oil spill, OtterBox, pollock, The Ocean Foundation, trawl, trawling

You’re a Submarine Pilot!

June 28, 2010 By Ocean Doctor

June 28, 2010: The Ocean Doctor kicks off by taking you on the series’ first weekly field trip aboard the one-person submersible, the DeepWorker, on a dive to 2,000 feet, to the bottom of Alaska’s Bering Sea. Our guest is Jeff Heaton, sub pilot and operations manager at Nuytco, Ltd. in Vancouver where these incredible subs are manufactured. Also: The Gulf of Mexico — What you can do.

Like the show? Learn how to become a sponsor.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: alaska, bering sea, bp, bp deepwater horizon, corals, Cuba, deepworker, dutch harbor, greenpeace, Gulf of Mexico, jeff heaton, ltd., nuytco, oil spill, submarine, submersible

Google Earth 5.0 – Now With Genuine Ocean!

February 2, 2009 By Ocean Doctor

The ExpeditionCasts podcast is back! The series returns with the video version of the Ocean Doctor’s popular blog post, "Attacked by the Giant Squid’s Cousins." (You can access the video version below.) That’s big news. But the GINORMOUS news is that ExpeditionCasts returns along with a new version of Google Earth. Version 5.0 of Google Earth allows you to explore the other 70 percent of the planet — the world’s oceans — and access

stunning underwater video content from around the world. 1planet1ocean has been privileged to be a contributor to this enormous, er, GINORMOUS project, and you’ll find five ExpeditionCasts videos among the others Google Earth 5.0. Look for them in Alaska’s Bering Sea and off the northwestern coast of Cuba.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Bering Sea Expedition, Cuba, Cuba Research & Conservation, Events, Featured, News & Announcements, Projects & Expeditions Tagged With: alaska, bering sea, california academy of sciences, ceo eric schmidt, Cuba, Dr. Sylvia Earle, giant squid, google earth, john hanke, national geographic, National Geographic Society, San Francisco, sylvia earle, Underwater

The Heart of the Bering Sea Beats with Discovery

April 28, 2008 By Ocean Doctor

Kenneth Lowyck in DeepWorker

It’s hard to get a big smile out of Ken Lowyck, Greenpeace’s capable Action Unit Coordinator (and sub pilot) based in Toronto. I snapped the photo to the right and captured Ken’s pre-dive excitement last summer on August 1, just minutes before he was launched on the dive to 700 feet in Pribilof Canyon in the Bering Sea that resulted in one of the expedition’s most important discoveries. I imagine the modest smile that appeared on his face has returned today as Greenpeace has announced that the tiny, unassuming white sponge he retrieved on that dive was never before documented by Homo sapiens, and may well herald future announcements of other new species from the expedition. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bering Sea Expedition, Bering Sea, Alaska, Conservation, Featured, Ocean Doctor's Reflections Tagged With: alaska, aleut word, bering sea, canyons, discoveries, Discovery, greenpeace, Ken Lowyck, natives, Pribilof, sponge, toronto

You're Invited! See Never-Before-Seen Video from the Bering Sea Expedition

April 3, 2008 By Ocean Doctor

See new Bering Sea footage while cruising on the Potomac River in Washington, DC

To celebrate the Marine Fish Conservation Network’s 15th anniversary, Dr. David Guggenheim will be the featured speaker aboard a cruise along the Potomac River in Washington, DC on May 7, 2008. As the first human being to pilot a submarine into the Bering Seaâ€™s two largest canyons he will show rare footage from Greenpeaceâ€™s recent scientific expedition to these extraordinarily beautiful and mysterious ocean depths. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bering Sea Expedition, Events Tagged With: bering sea, Bering Sea Expedition, environmental organizations, fish conservation, greenpeace, guggenheim, marine fish conservation network, marine science, mysterious ocean, ocean depths, potomac river, science groups, sea expedition, submarine

Blogus interruptus

December 29, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

Guanahacabibes, Cuba Read any authority’s advice about blogs and you’ll see at the top of the list: “Blog regularly.” Even for someone who enjoys writing as much as I do, I don’t believe in writing for writing’s sake — I like to share original experiences and ideas, not just rehash stale news. Still, I’ve experienced quite a few blog-worthy adventures in the four months since my last post shortly after the Bering Sea Expedition, but haven’t written a single word. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Conservation, Cuba, Cuba Research & Conservation, Featured, Flotsam, Ocean Doctor's Reflections Tagged With: alaska, bering sea, blogs, Cuba, Guanahacabibes, sea expedition

Bering Sea Expedition Continues on Dry Land

September 8, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

The brilliant pink coral, Swiftia pacifica, found at 1,300 feet in Pribilof Canyon, Bering Sea, Alaska (Photo by David E. Guggenheim)

BERING SEA, Alaska — This past summer, the Greenpeace ship M/V Esperanza carried two manned submersibles, a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) and an international research team to the Bering Sea for a three week survey of Zhemchug and Pribilof Canyons,to map and document deepwater corals living at depths of more than 1,000 feet. The expedition was conceived of and was led by Greenpeace. 1planet1ocean president David E. Guggenheim participated as a sub pilot and scientific consultant. Pribilof and Zhemchug Canyons revealed diverse and complex ecosystems, rich with corals, sponges, fish and other marine life. They also revealed striking human impacts from trawlers, damage that was documented during the expedition. More than a terabyte of video data and numerous biological specimens are now being analyzed and results are being shared with a range of decisionmakers and decisionmaking bodies, including the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council.

Filed Under: Bering Sea Expedition, Bering Sea, Alaska Tagged With: alaska, BERING, bering sea, Bering Sea Expedition, canyons, David E. Guggenheim, ecosystem, fish, greenpeace, guggenheim, Marine, north pacific fisheries, sea expedition, Swiftia, Zhemchug

Expedition to the Bering Sea Concludes Successfully with New Insights, New Questions

August 17, 2007 By Ocean Doctor

A bald eagle sits atop Unalaska’s Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Ascension with Esperanza at anchor in background.
(Photo by David E. Guggenheim)

With a Terabyte (1,000 Gigabytes) of high-definition video, photographs and other data, along with numerous biological samples, now making their way around the world to scientists, policymakers and public forums, new insights and perspectives are emerging as the hard work of reviewing this vast volume of new data moves forward. The science team and sub pilots have departed Esperanza, which is continuing west along the Aleutian Island chain, continuing important outreach to local communities. The ship will eventually continue west to Japan.

Before departing Dutch Harbor, the science team/sub pilots made the first public presentation of its findings, including imagery and videos, to the community of Unalaska. The following day, members of the community were invited aboard Esperanza during an Open House to meet with the crew and see the ship up close. [Read more...]