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BLUE NOTES #111
May 21, 2013
By David Helvarg
A BLUE VISION REALIZED
“Our oceans face an unprecedented set of challenges from climate change, pollution, energy extraction, and more,” warned Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, the opening speaker at Blue Vision Summit 4 in Washington, D.C. last week. He went on to suggest we have the power to move from “takers to caretakers of the sea.” (See the full text here.) That power was on full display during the 4th Blue Vision Summit May 13-16 when hundreds of seaweed rebels from more than twenty states came together including many who surged onto Capitol Hill to advocate for a healthy ocean during more than 100 constituent meetings with their elected representatives and staff members.  As of last count these included direct citizen meetings with at least 6 senators and a dozen Congressmen and women.
The Summit opened Monday evening with a Celebration of the Sea in the historic Carnegie Institution whose marble rotunda was decorated with hanging plants that resembled a kelp forest. Blue tables groaned with good organic food and spirits and spirits also soared as 3-400 revelers wandered among stunning underwater images from an “Oceans in Focus” display by the International League of Conservation Photographers. They ate fish, seahorse and turtle cookies, watched ocean themed films, listened to music by Mark Holmes  and an artists panel moderated by Sherman’s Lagoon cartoonist Jim Toomey that included Wyland, Claudio Garzon, Jay Asher and Courtney Mattison. (Did you know they’re also tattoo artists?) This was well reported on in a National Geographic Ocean blog worth checking out.
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The oceans, and the challenges they face, are so vast that it’s easy to feel powerless to protect them. 50 Ways to Save the Ocean focuses on practical, easily-implemented actions everyone can take to protect and conserve this vital resource: what fish should and should not be eaten; how and where to vacation; storm drains [...]
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