By Madeleine MacGillivray Wallace. Following President Biden’s inauguration on January 20th, news of his recent and planned climate-related actions have inspired millions of conscious Americans and set the environmental sector abuzz. As both a conscious American and a member of the environmental sector, I can attest to the jolt of informed optimism. Many are already…
British Divers Marine Life Rescue: Saving one seal at a time
By Zuzanna Dusza. British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), set up in 1998, was initially a group of divers gathering together to respond to a common seal mass mortality event caused by the Phocine Distemper Virus epidemic in East Anglia. Since then, the organisation has participated in rescuing marine wildlife whether due to marine disasters…
Make The Ocean Great Again – The Vision Lives On
By Nuri Max Steinmann. More than three years ago, the idea for this blog was born. Back then, the world wasn’t facing a pandemic, but the global sentiment wasn’t that bright either. Climate change was soon recognized as a climate crisis, as powerful hurricanes, devastating wildfires, floods, record-breaking heat and Donald Trump were all over…
Interview with award-winning ocean filmmaker Ulf Marquardt
By Hannah Schartmann. Hi! A warm welcome and thanks a lot for the interview. Can you tell me a bit more about you? What is your background? Hello and thank you for having me here. Since I watched my first Godzilla movies in local cinema as a kid, I was interested in filmmaking, and when…
Interview with Susan Bengtson Nash, Program Director of the Southern Ocean Persistent Organic Pollutants Program at Griffith University, Australia
By Hannah Schartmann. A warm welcome and thank you very much for the interview. Can you tell me a bit more about you? What is your background? I am a polar scientist and I am passionate about Planetary Health. I lead the Southern Ocean Persistent Organic Pollutants Program (SOPOPP). The Program focuses on investigating how…
Make Sea Cucumbers Great Again – A Success Story from Zanzibar
By Nuri Max Steinmann. Sea cucumbers are among the least appealing animals on this planet. They are not only called like a vegetable, they also look like one, so why even care? Besides their great variety of colours and sizes, their importance for marine ecosystems is well documented. But they have also gained a lot…
Minimal Wanders – sustainable clothing that keeps plastic away from our oceans
By Minimal Wanders. The notion that plastic bottles can take up to 1000 years to completely degrade shouldn’t be news by now. Not only that, but bottles made from PET will never actually biodegrade. Over time, they decompose into smaller particles called microplastics, which are even more problematic for our ocean and aquatic life than…
3 steps to make your trip to the Azores more sustainable – even in times of COVID-19
Worldwide, as tourism industries continue to struggle during COVID-19 restrictions, coastal communities that are reliant on tourism are particularly affected by the crisis. That is also the case on the Azores Islands, the Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, located about 1,500 km west from Lisbon. Sustainability Change Maker Carolina Mendonça from the Azores…
The Important Link Between Industry and Conservation – The Firth of Forth Lobster Hatchery
By Duncan MacDougall. Too often, well-meaning conservation efforts conflict with local industry. There are many conservation projects which inadvertently involve trying to undermine huge swathes of local economies without considering the consequences of such reckless behaviour. Of course, successful conservation projects must have local people on their side. So, how can seemingly conflicting interests, conservation…
Aljoscha Wothke, CEO of the Environmental Research Institute Charlotteville (ERIC), on marine conservation in Trinidad and Tobago, COVID 19 and more
By Robyn Thomson. Based in the rural fishing village, Charlotteville, Environmental Research Institute Charlotteville (ERIC) is an organisation dedicated to promoting sustainability for the people and ecosystems around North East Tobago. Their mission is “to value and integrate diverse knowledge and experience to manifest a mutually beneficial relationship between the coastal communities and ecosystems of…
