Ecology Radio Debuts! The Ocean Doctor Interviews Dr. Sylvia A. Earle

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Ecology Global NetworkIt’s new and it’s now LIVE! Ecology Radio is a new, hour-long Internet radio magazine featuring the latest, cutting-edge environmental topics. Each month, Dr. David E. Guggenheim, host of The Ocean Doctor Radio Show show, brings an ocean-related segment to Ecology Radio, debuting with a very special guest: “Her Deepness,” Dr. Sylvia A. Earle.

Dr. Sylvia A. Earle at the helm of the Deep Rover submersible (Photo: David E. Guggenheim)

Dr. Sylvia A. Earle at the helm of the Deep Rover submersible (Photo: David E. Guggenheim)

Ecology Radio is a service of the ECOLOGY Global Network, a service of ecology.com, the nexus of the Worldwide Web, international television, international radio and personal data delivery systems regarding all facets of ecology and the environment, all delivered on ecology.com with plans to expand to other media delivery platforms.

The ECOLOGY Global Network’s mission is to use the modern tools of information and communication to inform, educate and inspire the global community to respect, restore and protect our natural and human world, and to encourage all people to become stewards of the environment in which we live.

Ecology Radio

 

Ecology Global Network

VIDEO: Viet Village Urban Farm Sustainable Aquaculture Park

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This video was produced especially for and shown at the Blue Vision Summit 2011 in Washington, DC for the panel, “Voices from the Gulf,” May 21, 2011.

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The Gulf’s Green Future: One Community’s Hopeful Example After the BP Oil Spill & Katrina

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Your tax-deductible contribution will result in hands-on work that will directly benefit the Gulf of Mexico and the New Orleans East community.

VIDEO: A Whale’s Unforgettable “Thank You”

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As featured in The Ocean Doctor Radio Show, we’re pleased to present an amazing, inspirational video documenting the “rescue of a nearly-dead humpback whale, hopelessly entangled in fishing gear in the Sea of Cortez.” Michael Fishbach, co-founder of Earth Island Institute’s, Great Whale Conservancy, and his family and friends came to the whale’s rescue and were awestruck by what the whale had to give them in return. A hearty Ocean Doctor salute to Michael and the Great Whale Conservancy!

[youtube EBYPlcSD490 590 356 ]

A Fragile Empire: National Geographic Examines Threats to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

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"A Fragile Empire" can be found in the May 2011 issue of National Geographic magazine on newstands April 26

“A Fragile Empire” can be found in the May 2011 issue of National Geographic magazine on newsstands April 26 (Photo: National Geographic)

Earlier this year, World Resources Institute released its “Reefs at Risk Revisited Report” (featured on The Ocean Doctor Radio Show) which spelled out a rather grim future for coral reefs due to both local and global threats, should we fail to take action. One of the bright spots in its report was Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, which has fared better than many other reefs around the world and has in place strong protections and management practices. But even this massive and remote reef system isn’t immune from the impacts affecting coral reefs worldwide. In “A Fragile Empire” National Geographic Magazine (May 2011) writer Jennifer S. Holland explores the various factors that are threatening Australia’s monumental reef. From rising water temperatures, to bleaching, massive flooding and high levels of acidity, the reef is in danger of collapsing and the prospect for recovery is uncertain.

A warming climate is pushing corals against the upper limit of their thermal tolerance, evidenced by mass bleachings like the one in 1997-98. A 60-year decline in ocean phytoplankton — microscopic organisms that form the base of the food chain — may also be playing a role. Recent flooding in Australia washed enormous plumes of sediments and toxins far offshore to the reef tract. And now, thanks to increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, the oceans are becoming more and more acidic as more of this atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater. As the oceans become more acid, limiting the ability of organisms, like corals and shellfish, to build their limestone shells and skeletons.

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A Statistically Impossible Plea for Help

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Vessel "Oliva" breaking apart and spilling oil at Nightingale Island (Photo: D. Guggenheim)

Vessel “Oliva” breaking apart and spilling oil at Nightingale Island (Photo: D. Guggenheim)

EARTH DAY 2011: This isn’t what I had planned to write for Earth Day. But it’s the most important thing I can write today. I write these words with a single, challenging purpose: I need you to care deeply about something. I need you to care about something that wasn’t supposed to be possible. I need you to care so deeply that you choose to help. And to make things even more challenging, what I need you to care about is a place you’ve never heard of and are very unlikely to see in your lifetime, a place that’s such an infinitesimally tiny speck lying quite literally in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean, it appears on few maps (and even befuddles Google maps). And unless you’re one of the fewer than 300 people that call Tristan da Cunha home, it will take you at best 5-7 days to get to this airstrip-lacking place even if you dash out the door before finishing this paragraph. Tristan da Cunha is, quite literally, the most remote inhabited island in the world. A sign on the island boasts this factoid, alongside a marker pointing east toward the nearest civilization: 1,511 miles to Cape Town, South Africa. Read more

Ocean Inspiration: A Tribute to Jacques Cousteau

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Ocean Inspiration: A Tribute to Jacques CousteauJacques Cousteau’s 100th anniversary is an opportunity to come together and reflect on the future of Planet Ocean. Ocean Inspiration is a time to reconnect with our creative and intellectual capacity, and together move forward to positively impact our future.

Explorers, dancers, scientists, artists, musicians, filmmakers, family and friends will come together in this once in a lifetime event. Through spirited discussions and live performances, the audience will be encouraged to create their own form of ocean advocacy.? May 18 & 20, 2011:? New York, NY / Washington, DC Read more

VIDEO: Dramatic Rescue of Freighter Crew by Prince Albert II Expedition Team, Penguin Rescue (CNN)

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Dramatic video shot by Kristine Hannon details the rescue of 12 crew members aboard the bulk carrier, “Oliva,” on March 17, 2011, where it grounded the prior day. Within hours of the successful rescue, the ship broke in two and sunk, unleashing a massive oil spill, threatening millions of seabirds including the endangered Northern Rockhopper penguins. Read more

VIDEO: Oil Slick Threatens Endangered Penguins (CNN International)

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Dr. David E. Guggenheim, the “Ocean Doctor,” is interviewed about the tragic oil spill at Nightingale Island and rescue operations to save the endangered Northern Rockhopper penguins. Read more

Desperate Penguin Rescue Efforts Continue: Nearly 3,000 Penguins Relocated from Nightingale

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Tristan da Cunha's community swimming pool converted for penguin rehabilitation

Tristan da Cunha's community swimming pool converted for penguin rehabilitation

During a briefing by The Ocean Foundation to the conservation NGO community in Washington, DC, Katrine Herian, a project officer of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) stationed at Tristan da Cunha, informed us by telephone that the desperate effort to rescue endangered Northern Rockhopper penguins from neighboring Nightingale and Inaccessible Islands (the latter a World Heritage Site) continues, with roughly 2,300 penguins already relocated for rehabilitation on Tristan da Cunha and another 600 birds expected last evening. Read more

Oil Now Surrounds World Heritage Site, Inaccessible Island. Thousands of Endangered Penguins, Seabirds at Risk

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Inaccessible Island, a World Heritage Site

Inaccessible Island, a World Heritage Site

ABOARD PRINCE ALBERT II: I spoke today with Katrine Herrion, a project officer of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) stationed at Tristan da Cunha.

Katrine was camped on Inaccessible Island last weekend and reports that as of Sunday, oil completely surrounded the island. She and her team observed nearly 100 oiled penguins just before they departed. Clearly many more are being impacted.

Trevor Glass, Director of the Tristan da Cunha Department of Conservation was planning to return to Tristan da Cunha from Nightingale Island with around 750 penguins for rehabilitation. This represents a small percentage of the number of birds estimated to be impacted at this point, conservatively estimated at more than 10,000.

Because penguins cannot fly, it is impossible for them to avoid the oil when entering and exiting the water. Oil impacts the waterproof properties of their feathers and makes them vulnerable to hypothermia by reducing their feather’s insulation abilities. Oil can seriously impact the birds’ eyes and other tissues and can poison them if they ingest the oil while attempting to clean their feathers. A number of oiled seals have also been observed on Nightingale Island. Read more