LEVERAGING THE POWER OF SCIENCE, ADVOCACY, AND COMMUNITY TO DRIVE INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO PLASTIC POLLUTION

Plastic can be found in every corner of the globe. Plastics contaminate the environment, entangle countless marine &land animals, and are inextricably linked to the climate crisis, as plastics production is driving massive increases in fossil fuel infrastructure. Plastics even accumulate in our bodies, risking our very health. Even with the number of studies and reports over the past years on this issue, there continues to be an increase in plastic production. With direct links between the plastic crisis and the climate crisis, addressing plastic pollution globally must be a major environmental priority. 5 Gyres leads with scientific research to drive upstream solutions through education, advocacy, and community building. Providing scientific expertise to companies & organizations as we work together for a planet free from plastic pollution.

Aeon for Ocean was founded by Aeon, a 7-year-old from Minnesota, to empower his peers to protect the ocean and this beautiful planet. Aeon has been passionate about marine life since he was two years old, and he is an avid advocate for the ocean and its creatures. His love of the world’s oceans and his drive for conservation has inspired his parents and classmates alike.

Living in the Midwest, far from the coast, made Aeon especially curious about how people inland are connected to marine ecosystems. Our oceans are the life support of planet Earth, an interconnected system of all the Earth's waters. We are also part of this system with every breath we take and through the water we drink. At Aeon for Ocean, our mission is to educate kids on marine life while focusing on ocean conservation and helping them create awareness about the importance of oceans. 

As Aeon says, "no matter where we live or eat seafood, we all are in trouble when the ocean is in trouble!"

Aeon for Ocean was founded by Aeon, a 7-year-old from Minnesota, to empower his peers to protect the ocean and this beautiful planet. Aeon has been passionate about marine life since he was two years old, and he is an avid advocate for the ocean and its creatures. His love of the world’s oceans and his drive for conservation has inspired his parents and classmates alike.

Living in the Midwest, far from the coast, made Aeon especially curious about how people inland are connected to marine ecosystems. Our oceans are the life support of planet Earth, an interconnected system of all the Earth's waters. We are also part of this system with every breath we take and through the water we drink. At Aeon for Ocean, our mission is to educate kids on marine life while focusing on ocean conservation and helping them create awareness about the importance of oceans from within their schools and communities. 

As Aeon says, "we all are in trouble when the ocean is in trouble!"

We include a podcast from Blue Frontier's Rising Tide, a 2023 interview with Captain Paul Watson. David Helvarg journalist.

The Commission is committed to protecting and enhancing California’s coast and ocean for present and future generations. It does so through careful planning and regulation of environmentally-sustainable development, rigorous use of science, strong public participation, education, and effective intergovernmental coordination.

The California Coastal Commission was established by voter initiative in 1972 (Proposition 20) and later made permanent by the Legislature through adoption of the

 California Coastal Act of 1976.

In partnership with coastal cities and counties, The Coastal Commission plans and regulates the use of land and water in the coastal zone. 

On July 21 2024, Captain Paul Watson was arrested by Danish police upon arrival in Nuuk, Greenland, onboard the M/Y John Paul DeJoria. Danish authorities claim that the arrest was made due to an international arrest warrant issued by Japan, related to his anti-whaling campaigns in the Antarctic more than a decade ago.

Paul faces the possibility of extradition to Japan, where he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

We need your help to #FREEPAULWATSON.

Please sign this petition addressing the Denmark Ministry of Justice, to release him from custody. As Paul once said, “Every social revolution in the history of humanity has been carried out by the passion, the imagination and the courage of individuals”.
Now, we need individuals from all over the world to come together and campaign for the release of a man who has dedicated his life to protecting our planet. We need you. Please sign and spread the message amongst your communities. 

David Helvarg is an American journalist and environmental activist. He is the founder and president of the marine conservation lobbying organization Blue Frontier Campaign. He is also a participant in the Seaweed rebellion, an informal marine environmentalist activist movement.

WHO WE ARE

Blue Frontier, “The Voice for Ocean Action” organizes people who care about our blue planet to impact policy and promote solutions to the many challenges facing our living seas. 

For over 20 years Blue Frontier has been able to generate ocean media at the local, national and global level. This work includes six books with a seventh in the works, also several hundred articles, opinions and videos (including an upcoming documentary ‘Sequoias of the Sea’) appearing in major media including the New York Times, NPR and National Geographic.  

Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins founded the 5 Gyres Institute to investigate key unanswered questions about plastic pollution: How much plastic is floating in the world’s oceans? Where is it accumulating? Is it causing harm to people and the planet? And most importantly, what can we do about it? We explored 50,000 nautical miles in search of plastic on 19 research expeditions, publishing groundbreaking research, building a global network of ambassadors, and inspiring change.

GYRE

/ˈjī(ə)r/

A large-scale system of wind-driven surface currents in the ocean. The gyres referred to in the name of our organization are the five main subtropical gyres — located in the North and South Pacific, the North and South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean — which are massive, circular current systems where plastic accumulates.

Mr. Schwartz serves as the Marine Debris Program Manager for the California Coastal Commission, the agency charged with protection and regulation of the state’s 1,100-mile coastline. He has advised state and local governments, non-profit organizations, and members of industry on actions and programs that can reduce the causes of marine debris. 

With a long and broad history of work on plastic pollution and marine debris, topics on which he has become one of the state’s leading authorities, he has been a leader of California Coastal Cleanup Day, California’s largest volunteer event, as well as the year-round Adopt-A-Beach Program, motivating tens of thousands of citizens to fight against plastic pollution.  Mr. Schwartz served as advisor and author for the California Ocean Protection Council’s Resolution on Marine Debris. The resolution, passed in February 2007, is the most comprehensive policy statement on marine debris in California’s history. 

In January, 1981, the U.S. Congress designated Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (GFNMS), part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), under the authority of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Congress recognized the need for federal protection of these waters, adjacent to San Francisco, for their biological richness, unique habitats, threatened and endangered marine life, shipwrecks and other cultural resources.

In July 1981, NOAA received a recommendation to establish Cordell Bank as a national marine sanctuary from Cordell Expeditions, a non-profit org dedicated to the exploration and description of the Bank. NOAA evaluated the recommendation in accordance with the requirements of the National Marine Sanctuary Program regulations (15 CFR 922). Cordell Bank was found eligible for inclusion on the List of Recommended Areas and was placed on the list in 1981.

Our Mission is to increase global understanding and caring for marine environments through high quality conservation science and education.

We aim to make it easy and rewarding for the public to participate in science by building innovative tools to engage those interested in marine mammals with powerful collaborative tools that also helps scientific research. Whales are magnificent and mysterious creatures that inspire awe and admiration in almost everyone so fortunate as to observe them.

Submit your whale photos! Do you have images from previous sightings? Sending older images is a great way to get started with Happywhale.

Review our guidelines and instructions on how to take great whale ID photos.
Here are responsible whale watching practices.

Since 1980 my interest has been in public education and advocacy for the cohesive community of orcas known as the Southern Resident Orcas, now numbering only 84 individuals who range throughout the Salish Sea (Puget Sound to Georgia Strait) and along the coast to California and Alaska.

Univ. of New Mexico; UC Berkeley; Colorado College
Bachelor's degree, Sociology
1963 - 1980

Research Biologist at Cascadia Research, collecting data on large whale abundance and physiology, through photo-ID, tagging, and biopsies.

Moss Landing Marine Labs 
Jack’s San Jose State thesis work investigated patterns in humpback whale vocalizations along the U.S. West Coast. Jack looked at the spatiotemporal variation in humpback whale song activity over a 3 year span within the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary . He also reported the presence and acoustic characteristics of 5 specific non-song calls that have been documented in humpback whale populations around the world, suggesting that these 5 call types play an important role in social interaction. 

MSc Candidate

Tel: 604.822.8181
Fax: 604.822.8180
E-mail: j.mcinnes@oceans.ubc.ca

Supervisor: Dr. Andrew Trites

Education: (2019) B.Sc Biology Major, University of Victoria, Victoria BC.

Research Topic: Determining the Ecology and Community Structure of West Coast Transient Killer Whales in the Northeastern Pacific

About: Josh McInnes is from the windy seaside city of Victoria BC, Canada. Josh’s research focuses on the ecology and behaviour of marine mammals in British Columbia and Monterey Bay, California, with studies focusing on the foraging behaviour, diet, and ecology of transient (Bigg’s) killer whales and Risso’s Dolphins.

Lamya Essemlali (born 1979) is a French environmental activist, of Moroccan origin.[1] She's the co-founder and president of Sea Shepherd France,[2] the French branch of the anti-poaching organisation Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. She is also co-director of Sea Shepherd Global and co-president of the non-governmental organisation Rewild.

 In 2006 she co-founded Sea Shepherd France. She became the president of the organisation in 2008.[6]

NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries announced the appointment of Maria Brown as superintendent of both Cordell Bank and Greater Farallones national marine sanctuaries. Maria has been superintendent of Greater Farallones since '04, and assumed superintendent duties for Cordell Bank. Maria is a San Francisco Bay Area native who grew up exploring the coast and shares her love of the ocean with her husband and two boys. As superintendent, she oversees management of the sanctuaries with a focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in marine protected areas. She guides local restoration efforts of critical estuarine habitats, seabird colonies, coastal shorelines, and kelp forests. Maria is involved in response to oil spills and vessel groundings; engaging community scientists as well as local, state, and federal agency partners; and is collaborating with Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary to reduce ship strikes to endangered and threatened whales.

The Mendocino Coast Audubon Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the appreciation and protection of wild birds in Mendocino County.

Regular Membership Meetings: Usually held the 3rd Monday of the month from September through June. Meetings are free and open to the public.  Our calendar contains up-to-date information on dates, times, and locations.

Chapter Board Meetings: Board meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month at 6:00PM via Zoom. Contact the Zoom Czar for a link. 

Field Trips: Field trips are usually scheduled on the second  Saturday of the month, September through June, to local birding hot spots.  See our calendar for changes, additional trips, and bird walks.

Monthly Bird Walks: MCAS-led bird walks at the Mendocino Coast  Botanical Gardens are scheduled year-round on the 1st Saturday and the  3rd Wednesday of each month. 

Michael Stocker is an acoustician and naturalist by trade and a musician by avocation, he has written and spoken about marine bio-acoustics and the impacts ocean noise pollution on marine life since 1992, presenting in national and regional hearings, national / international television, radio / news publications, and museums, schools, universities. His understanding of physics and biology has proven invaluable in court testimony and legal briefs, defending the environment against the dangers of human generated noise in the sea.

Michael’s gift for conveying complex scientific and technical issues in clear, understandable terms is key in his role as a public spokesperson on issues of ocean conservation, physics, communication technology, and biology. He has been the subject matter expert in many national and international radio and television interviews, and published various articles on science, biology, acoustics and technology in national and international journals. 

Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) administers the Master of Science in marine science program for California State Universities in northern and central California, and is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in both education and research. San José State University oversees MLML, and is the primary funding source. An outfitted marine operations department, active research diving program and state of the art equipment allow for cutting edge research in a wide variety of disciplines including: marine ecology; the biology of marine plants, invertebrates, fishes, turtles, birds and mammals; oceanography.

Natasha is a marine scientist & filmmaker based in Northern California. She has worked in ocean science, conservation & communications for over 20 years. She is a producer for Peabody Award winning Brick City TV. As a diver, surfer & ocean lover who has not only spent her career, but most of her life working & playing in the ocean, she is dedicated to the ocean & working toward a healthy ocean for all.  
Natasha is the Media Director at Marine Research & Exploration (MARE) where she works on developing media content on deep-sea research & blue technology. She is also the Assoc. Dir. of Blue Frontier (ocean climate action policy, building a citizen movement toward healthy oceans.) Natasha has a B.S. in Marine Biology from Boston University & M.S. in Marine Policy from University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). 

From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings, & climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce, NOAA’s products & services support economic vitality & affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product. NOAA’s dedicated scientists use cutting-edge research & high-tech instrumentation to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers & other decision makers with reliable information they need, when they need it.

NOAA’s mission to better understand our natural world and help protect its precious resources extends beyond national borders to monitor global weather and climate.

Our agency holds key leadership roles in shaping international ocean, fisheries, climate, space and weather policies. NOAA’s assets — research programs, vessels, satellites, science centers, laboratories and a vast pool of distinguished scientists— are essential

The Noyo Center strives to:

• Place the Mendocino Coast at the forefront of marine research and education.
• Engage individuals of all ages in scientific exploration of the natural world.
• Exhibit a rare blue whale skeleton that washed ashore near Fort Bragg in 2009.
• Facilitate collaboration among scientists, public agencies and private business in research and management of natural resources.
• Support the restoration and protection of coastal and marine ecosystems.
• Promote investigation of climate variability and education about improved resiliency.
• Draw visitors to Fort Bragg and the Mendocino Coast.
• Diversify economic development for Ft. Bragg & Mendocino County.

The Noyo Center has a three-pronged approach to development,  supporting an innovative research program, creating an integrated  education program and building a world-class facility for research,  education and tourism

Fifty years ago Jacques Cousteau introduced the public to the submerged visual splendor of the sea in his book and film “The Silent World.” Unfortunately his title also introduced the public to the misconception that all of the oceans’ stunning and majestic beauty occurred in a world of somber silence.  Now the ocean is being increasingly industrialized and the major byproduct of the growth is ocean noise.  The public is still learning and coming to terms with the interference and damage that can be done to the natural ecosystem in the ocean by a proliferation of man-made noise.

Anything but Silent

We know now that the Sea is anything but silent. Given that sunlight does not penetrate more than a few hundred feet below the surface, and at any time more than half of the world oceans are under the dark veil of night, the ocean is actually an acoustic realm. Sound travels almost five times faster and much more efficiently underwater than it does in air. 

Orca Network is a non-profit organization connecting whales and people in the Pacific Northwest since 1996. “We are all intricately connected, from tiny plankton to forage fish, salmon, orcas, tall firs and cedars, mountains, rivers and the ocean. It is time to reflect, to reconnect, and to respond as better caretakers of our planet.” — Susan Berta, Orca Network

Sr. Fellow with The Ocean Foundation, Charter serves also as Director of Friends of Coastal Coordination, a fiscally hosted project of The Ocean Foundation. Charter is a specialist in advocacy on ocean protection issues, including marine spatial planning, media techniques to secure conservation outcomes, & preventing and mitigating industrial impacts on ocean ecosystems. As Co-Chair of the National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Coalition, Richard was involved in initiating & maintaining the twenty-seven-year congressional moratorium on offshore oil and gas leasing which prevented new drilling along the U.S. West Coast, the Atlantic Coast, & Florida’s Gulf Coast, as well as in Alaska’s Bristol Bay.
 
Charter coordinated local government support that helped to bring about the creation of the Gulf of the Farallones, Cordell Bank, Channel Islands, and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries.

Rising Tide, the Ocean Podcast, is hosted by Blue Frontier’s Executive Director, David Helvarg and Inland Ocean Coalition's Executive Director, Vicki Nichols Goldstein. Assoc. Director & award-winning filmmaker Natasha Benjamin is sometimes co-host.

Rising Tide is a compelling platform that delves into the vast realms of ocean and climate science, conservation, and exploration featuring experts, scientists, mariners, and explorers. Each half hour episode navigates through insightful discussions on marine life, and the critical issues affecting our seas. Informative, educational and humorous, it is a valuable resource for anyone passionate about understanding and preserving our ocean world.

Sheila has led the development of the Noyo Center from its inception in 2015. She has worked in coastal and marine conservation for more than twenty-five years, most recently with the California State Coastal Conservancy where she served as senior staff to the California Ocean Protection Council. Sheila’s experience developing highly collaborative programs like the California Seafloor and Shoreline Mapping Program or the Coastal Ocean Currents Monitoring Program has enabled her to work with all of California’s marine labs, with local, state and federal agencies, and with academic and industry leaders conducting leading-edge marine research.  When not at work, Sheila can usually be found on or near the ocean.

https://nc.mymcn.org/about/staff-partners/

Ted grew up whale watching in California's Monterey Bay. In 1980, his parents, both naturalists and educators, founded Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris. In 1994, Ted joined the company as a leader of ecology based wildlife safaris, working on all seven continents. After earning a Masters of Science in Conservation Biology from Duke University, Ted returned to the company to lead polar expeditions. Since that time Ted has been deeply involved in all aspects of Antarctic tourism management. He served on the executive committee of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) for five years, where he helped minimize the environmental impact of tourism in Antarctica.

With over three decades of experience in eco-tourism, much of it in Antarctica, Ted has experienced first-hand the impacts of humans on marine ecosystems. While some current trends are encouraging – the recovery of many great whale populations.

As the only community foundation for the ocean, The Ocean Foundation’s mission is to improve global ocean health, climate resilience, and the blue economy. We create partnerships to connect all peoples in the communities in which we work to the informational, technical, and financial resources they need to achieve their ocean stewardship goals.

Our vision is for a regenerative ocean that supports all life on Earth.

As the only community foundation for the ocean, The Ocean Foundation’s 501(c) (3) mission is to improve global ocean health, climate resilience, and the blue economy. We create partnerships to connect all peoples in the communities in which we work to the informational, technical, and financial resources they need to achieve their ocean stewardship goals.

Because the ocean covers 71% of the Earth, our community is global. We have grantees, partners, and projects on all of the world’s continents. 

Sea Shepherd France
“There comes a time when protesting is no longer enough; after philosophy, action is needed.” Victor Hugo

Founded in 1977 by Captain Paul Watson, SEA SHEPHERD is the most combative ocean defense NGO in the world. Sea Shepherd works on three major axes:

Going beyond protest alone and intervening actively and non-violently in cases of illegal attacks on marine life and marine ecosystems.

Tim Bray is the President of the Mendocino Coast Audubon Society is a retired Hydrogeologist with extensive knowledge of his topic.

“Wind-driven upwelling along the California coastal shore drives an extraordinarily productive marine ecosystem, attracting many kinds of birds,” Wray explains. “By contrast, offshore marine conditions are far less productive and support a less diverse group of birds, many of which are seldom seen from shore.”

These two different ecologies are juxtaposed off the Mendocino coast, providing the opportunity to see a wide variety of seabirds employing different feeding strategies.

Bray cohosts a monthly radio program on Mendocino County’s KZYX public radio station (The Ecology Hour) with Dr. Robert Spies, a marine biologist.