By Hannah Schartmann. A warm welcome to Neil Garrick-Maidment, Executive Director at the Seahorse Trust. The Seahorse Trust has the main aim to protect seahorses. Why is it important to protect them? Like so many species in our world, seahorses are going extinct at a very fast rate, which we estimate at approximately 150 million…
Tag: marine biology
The Manta Trust – Protecting rare creatures of the ocean
By Hannah Schartmann. Hi Tam, a warm welcome to the interview. You are working for the Maldivian Manta Ray Project. This project has the goal to protect mantas and devil rays. Why is it important to protect them? Mantas are some of the largest and most intelligent animals in the sea. Their complex behaviours set…
“We Built This City.” – The Oysters of New York Harbor
By Lauren Giglio. How the Billion Oyster Project is Saving the Eastern Oysters of the Atlantic Let’s take a journey together; you are roaming the streets of New York City, people-watching through the large crowds, listening to the taxis and buses beep as they fly by, the aroma of the hotdog cart surrounds you. It…
Marine biologist Jan Verbeek about the challenges in marine conservation
By Nuri Max Steinmann. Jan Verbeek is a marine biologist and scientific diver I met during the Erasmus Mundus master’s programme in marine biodiversity and conservation in Portugal. Since leaving Germany about 10 years ago, he spent the large majority of his time studying and working in the UK where he started his journey as…
Thamarasi Aththanayaka: A conservation story from Sri Lanka
By Thamarasi Aththanayaka and Alyssa Robinson. Hello, I am Thamarasi Aththanayaka from Sri Lanka. I don’t know whether you have heard about my small country, which is actually an island in the Indian Ocean. We are lucky to have a beautiful ocean with sandy and rocky beaches, as well as coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass…
Making Your Dream a Reality – an interview with coral biologist, Dennis Conetta
By Lauren Giglio. “That’s going to be me one day, Dad,” an 11 year old Dennis Conetta told his smiling father as they watched divers at the New England Aquarium perform their daily tasks in the Giant Ocean Tank. He daydreamed about his future as he observed the Caribbean ecosystem cohesively operate within the three-story…
Shark ecologist and freediver Catherine Cushenan about her adventures, Instagram, conservation and the importance of following your dreams
By Nuri Max Steinmann. I met Catherine more than two years ago. We were both doing our masters at the University of Algarve, Portugal. We used to live in the same neighborhood in Praia de Faro and randomly met again on the island of Faial, Azores, were we had some great joint adventures. Catherine is…
Interview with Lauren Fritz – Founder of The Greenest Blue, marine naturalist and writer
By Jennifer Worth. Lauren Fritz is a writer, wildlife photographer and marine naturalist who has spent the last few years country hopping all over the world as a wildlife guide for various marine based eco-excursions. Her passion for the ocean and its inhabitants has taken her from Hawai’i and the San Juan islands in the…
Lisa Roepke: Observations and Actions – Many marine biologists have different facets
By Lisa Roepke. Hi my dear ocean colleagues, lovers and guardians out there! It is a pleasure to introduce myself. But how? I could call myself so many things because I had the freedom to become whatever I wanted and was interested in. If I had to nail it, it would probably be “creative independent…
Interview with Cristina Otero Sabio – Marine biologist, photographer and artist
By Nuri Max Steinmann. Cristina Otero Sabio is a marine biologist, photographer and artist with a special affection for marine mammals. While working for the whale watching company Turmares in Tarifa, Spain, she started a photo-ID study to identify the killer whales that visit the Strait of Gibraltar every year in order to learn more…
