Coral Reef | Ocean Doctor | Ocean Conservation

Cuba Could Be Impacted by Gulf Oil Spill

May 15, 2010 By Ocean Doctor

Cuba’s Northwestern Coast Along the Gulf of Mexico

For the most up-to-date information on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill’s potential impacts on Cuba, please visit our special “Cuba at Risk” page.

Since its discovery of oil and natural gas reserves in the Florida straits, Cuba’s preparations for full-scale offshore oil and gas development has raised alarm in the United States, particularly in Florida where it is estimated that much of a catastrophic spill originating in Cuba would be swept by Gulf currents. Ironically, it is now Cuba that faces the threat of a massive oil spill by the United States. The disastrous oil spill from the BP Deepwater Horizon now threatens Cuba, the largest and most biologically diverse island in the Caribbean, due to those same Gulf currents. To make matters worse, the economic embargo imposed upon Cuba by the United States decades ago makes collaboration and coordination exceedingly difficult during this crisis. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cuba, Cuba Research & Conservation, Featured, Gulf of Mexico, News & Announcements, Projects & Expeditions Tagged With: coral reef, corals, Cuba, embargo, Gulf of Mexico, oil, oil spill

A Blueprint of Collaboration ? and Friendship ? with Cuba

November 17, 2009 By Ocean Doctor

Nearly 60 representatives from Cuba, Mexico and the U.S. convened in Havana in October 2009 to finalize a "Plan of Action" for future collaboration in marine research and conservation focused in the Gulf of Mexico and Western Caribbean Sea

HAVANA, Cuba — On October 25-26, 2009 the third meeting of a growing partnership of U.S, Cuban and Mexican institutions dedicated to strengthening collaboration in marine research and conservation convened in Havana, Cuba and has resulted in the near-finalization of a new five-year “Plan of Action,” a blueprint for future collaboration. The ongoing effort, led by The Ocean Foundation, the Center for International Policy, the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, and the Mexican Secretariat of the Navy has set the stage for an unprecedented level of collaboration among the three nations, including the creation of new projects and partnerships along with additional funding to support them. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Cuba, Cuba Research & Conservation, Featured, Projects & Expeditions Tagged With: Conservation, conservation policies, conservation priorities, Consuelo Aguilar, coral reef, Cuba, cuba and the united states, cuban scientists, Dr. Robert Hueter, embargo, Gulf of Mexico, Havana, havana cuba, marine protected areas, mexican institutions, sea turtle, shark, The Ocean Foundation, western caribbean sea

OMG, I Thought You Were Dead!

September 23, 2009 By Ocean Doctor

You’ve seen it in the faces of infants when they recognize their mother’s smiling face above. You’ve seen it on the face of an old friend across the room when she suddenly recognizes you…after all those years. And Doug Shulz, producer at Partisan Pictures, saw it clearly on my face, when he tapped me on the shoulder and pointed toward an old friend I hadn’t seen in nearly 35 years.

When we humans recognize a friend, our faces convey it with a distinctive widening of the eyes. Combine that with the surprise of seeing someone we aren’t expecting to see, our eyes grow even wider, often accompanied by a cartoon-like jaw drop. Judging from Doug’s expression while observing my face, I can only imagine how wide my eyes were. Since we were 20 feet beneath Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico waters, it must have been difficult for him to discern between an expression of surprise and delight versus a textbook example of wide-eyed diver panic. My eyes were transfixed on my old friend with a funny name whom I hadn’t laid eyes on since I was a teenager. Larger than life, vibrant, and embracing the sun, my friend was very much alive and healthy, clearly enjoying the good life in Cuba.

Ocean Doctor on Blue Planet Almanac Radio with Mike Austin

August 23, 2009 By Ocean Doctor_

On Monday, 8-24-09 at 8:00 AM Pacific time [11 AM Eastern], Mike Austin of Blue Planet Almanac radio will host world-class “Ocean Doctor,” Dr. David Guggenheim of 1Planet1Ocean. Streaming live at HealthyLife.net radio, surfers will point their Internet browser to that site and click, “Listen Live.” HealthyLife.net’s 3 million monthly listeners also listen via Microsoft Windows Media Player in Talk Radio. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Events, Featured Tagged With: 50 speeches, 50 states, 50 years, coral reef, Cuba, David Guggenheim, OceanDoctor

Expedition to Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico: Preparations Underway

July 13, 2008 By Ocean Doctor

Exploring Cuba's Gulf of Mexico HAVANA, CUBA – Final preparations are now underway for an August expedition to explore and map one of the least known areas of the Gulf of Mexico — Cuba’s northwestern coastal waters, including Cuba’s spectacular Los Colorados barrier reef. A joint effort of the University of Havana’s Centro de Investigaciones Marinas (Center for Marine Research) and the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, this, the fourth expedition in a multiyear project entitled, Proyecto Costa Noroccidental (Project of the Northwest Coast). (See Exploring, Studying Cuba’s Gulf of Mexico for details on this important effort.) The fourth expedition will concentrate study on Los Colorados, an area with remarkably healthy coral reefs, despite the alarming decline in the health of coral reefs elsewhere in the Caribbean. This research is providing the most comprehensive biological picture yet of this little-explored region, and Cuba’s healthy corals may offer important clues for protecting and restoring corals elsewhere. (See Can Cuba’s Mysteries Help Save the World’s Coral Reefs? in OceanDoctor’s Blog.) [Read more...]