Peter Benchley Ocean Awards: ocean conservationists recognized at gala event

This past Friday, I attended the 5th Annual Peter Benchley Ocean Awards, held at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.  The awards are presented by Wendy Benchley and David Helvarg's Blue Frontier Campaign to honor those people who have made quantifiable contributions to ocean conservation.
         
"For all the challenges we face, people like those we honor tonight offer practical, common sense solutions to help assure abundant, healthy and sustainable coasts, oceans and the communities that depend on them." - Peter Benchley Ocean Awards
           
To many outside of the ocean conservation community, Peter Benchley is known as the author of JAWS which, over the passage of time, proved to be a two-edged sword for shark awareness.  Peter recognized that, while he wrote a novel based on known perceptions (and some misconceptions) of sharks at the time, much work needed to be done to take the public's initial awareness and fear of sharks and turn it into appreciation and protection. So, while the fame of JAWS would be forever with him, Peter became an ardent and passionate ocean and shark conservationist until he passed away in 2006.
             
The California Academy of Sciences, situated in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, served as a fitting place to hold the awards.  The Academy brings together several of San Francisco's great science museums and institutions, like the Steinhart Aquarium, in a setting that stresses the importance of science in solving many of the environmental and social problems facing the world today.  The evening started with the usual reception where you could meet recognized ocean conservation luminaries, catch up with colleagues, and make new acquaintances.  But this was more than just an ocean celebrity event.  As the crowd moved to the dining area and the award presentations began, you realized that while many of the award recipients were well known to the audience, they were unknown to most of the broader public.  Their hard work and successes were not motivated by fame and fortune - if there is such a thing in ocean conservation - but by an understanding that our futures are inextricably tied to a healthy blue planet.
            
A total of eight awards were presented in various categories including national stewardship, policy, science, media, and exploration.  Here are a few highlights:
              
President Anote Tong of the Republic of Kirabati received the award for Excellence in National Stewardship of the Ocean for his efforts in developing the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, at the time the world's largest marine protected area (150,000 square miles), situated in the Pacific Ocean.  President Tong worked with his government and his people to help realize the importance of PIPA to the long-term survival of Kiribati both environmentally and economically.  The UN recognized PIPA as a World Heritage Site and President Tong is working with other Pacific island nations to form a coalition of linked marine parks that would rival any in size to date.
            
U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island received the award for Excellence in Policy for his work as a member of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, his efforts to establish the Senate Ocean Caucus, and his introduction of legislation for an Ocean Trust Fund.  As a policy maker in today's political climate where there are those who would like to not only stall any efforts on behalf of the oceans and the environment in general, but would prefer to undo much of the progress that has been made to date, it is a hard row to hoe for someone like Senator Whitehouse.  In his accepting remarks to the audience, he emphasized that perseverance will be needed in the face of some tough opposition ahead.
               
Underwater photographer Brian Skerry was awarded for his body of work that includes many photos and photo articles for National Geographic.  While his underwater work is spectacular, Brian realized an obligation to go beyond just pretty pictures and to show the whole truth - the beauty of what is worth saving and the tragedy of what is too often taking place.  With his work through National Geographic books and articles and his speaking engagements, Brian brings both enlightenment and a warning that the oceans contain incredible beauty which in many ways is under siege.
                  

Awards were also presented to Dr. Nancy Rabalias for her 30-years of research in the Gulf of Mexico's oxygen-depleted Dead Zone that threatens the Gulf ecology, commercial fishing, and tourism.  Dr. Geraldine Katz was recognized for her work as Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, working to reduce the pollution from port equipment, facilities and ships by 75% - way over the original mandate of 20% proposed by the San Pedro Bay ports' Clean Air Action Plan.  Google was recognized for its efforts in developing the Ocean layer component of its Google Earth interactive experience.  With a computer and Google Ocean, any citizen of the world can visit ocean locations, both above and below the surface, to learn more about a world that may be completely foreign to the them and, in the process, come to understand the importance of preserving and protecting it.
                     
The young and the old were recognized: a Hero of the Seas award was presented to posthumously to Peter Douglas who helped create the California Coastal Commission in 1972 and, as Executive Director from 1985 to 2011, faced off with developers, industrialists, and even governors to ensure that the California coast was healthy and safe from destructive development, making it the state treasure that it should always be for the people of California.  Sadly, Peter passed away this past April.
           
A true David and Goliath story, eleven-year old Ta'Kaiya Blaney, a native First Nations Canadian, was awarded the Christopher Benchley Youth Award, named for the Benchley's late son.  Ta'Kaiya has been taking on the big oil companies that are seeking to build tar-sands pipelines, refineries and shipping terminals in British Columbia.  Concerned with the fate of oil spills on the local sea otters she loves, she has focused her activism through song and has had considerable YouTube exposure for her song, Shallow Waters.  She has more songs on the way and is now working with Greenpeace and First Nations to continue her fight to protect her homeland ecology.
                

                  
It was a great evening to hear what is being accomplished by a wide range of people who all share a common passion for preserving the environment.  No one is naive; all understand the challenges ahead and all are prepared to work towards real change.
                   
"May we all have our spirits renewed and refreshed while we rededicate ourselves to the protection of our last great commons from sea to shining sea and across this great blue marble planet we call home."
                  
Photo Credits:
Top: Deb Castellana
Bottom: Jennifer Foulkes

Blue Vision Summit 3: ocean conservationists bring the issues to Washington

Beginning this Friday, the third Blue Vision Summit will get underway in Washington D.C. Organized as a coming together of like-minded ocean conservationists and advocates, its goal is to focus on solutions to the many problems facing the ocean environment. With distinguished speakers and panelists, the summit runs through the weekend and culminates on Monday with a storming of the Bastille - actually a move to the halls of Congress to personally meet with legislators and discuss ocean issues.

I will be there, taking notes and meeting some new faces and catching up with some colleagues I have met before (You see? Not everybody stays in touch via Facebook!). There will be presentations and discussion groups on everything from acidification to ocean plastic to the aftermath and legacy of the Gulf oil spill - with opinions and recommendations from some of the leading experts in the field of ocean science, policy & management, and education.

"Join the Blue Frontier Campaign and members of the national and international marine community at Blue Vision Summit 3 as we come together to raise the profile of our community and work towards the enactment and enforcement of national ocean policy, addressing climate change impacts and Gulf restoration. Since the last summit, we have seen a strengthened bottom-up blue movement and a first national ocean policy. Recent setbacks in our efforts for healthy seas such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and on-going and growing concerns over the collapse of marine wildlife and ocean acidification reinforce the importance and timeliness of this event. We hope you will join us at the summit and in our efforts to create healthy marine environments. The 2011 Blue Vision Summit will include the 4th Annual Peter Benchley Ocean Awards. The ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, May 21st and it will conclude the day’s sessions. "

The Blue Vision Summit is the brainchild of David Helvarg, ocean conservationist, accomplished author, and director of the Blue Frontier Campaign, a recognized ocean conservation non-profit. The first Blue Vision Summit was in 2004, followed by 2009, and now this one - that couldn't come at a more important time what with the Gulf Oil Spill and a new ocean policy that is besieged by many politicians who, it seems, consider protecting the marine environment and endangered species as inconsequential priorities compared to the economic demands of big oil and other interests. The long-term consequences seem to elude them.

If you would like to attend the Blue Vision Summit, check out the event's website. Even if you can't make it, just perusing through the website will give you an idea as to the topics of discussion, and I am sure there will be plenty of post-summit follow up on the website. And I will post my impressions of the summit and what strategies and battle plans these ocean advocates have in mind to protect our seas now and in the future.



Visit the Blue Vision Summit 3 website.
Learn more about the Blue Frontier Campaign.

Saved By The Sea: review of David Helvarg's new book

There are many books available that delve into the complexities of the oceans or detail the many facts and figures to document the threats faced by the oceans and the marine life within. But there are few that make a personal one-to-one connection. David Helvarg's new book, Saved By The Sea, is a fascinating look at a man's life and how the thread of the ocean is woven throughout.

David Helvarg, founder and president of the Blue Frontier Campaign, a Washington D.C.-based ocean conservation organization, is a journalist, diver, television producer, war-time correspondent, and even a private investigator. And so his perspective on the oceans and how it developed, is different from, say, that of a marine biologist or scientific researcher. This book is full of personal experiences that emphasize to the reader that mankind is connected to the sea, whether man knows it or not.

First and foremost, Saved By The Sea is an autobiography. Helvarg starts from his childhood in New York City in the early 50's and moves from there - to Florida, San Diego, San Francisco, Hawaii, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Alaska, Antarctic, Fiji, Belize, and many more locales - whether to reside, travel on vacation adventures, or work on assignment. And through this eclectic existence there is an aquatic arc that begins with New England's waterways, fueled by TV's Sea Hunt, author Rachel Carson, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, and then Helvarg's own experiences as a young adult and working journalist, where he saw man's connection to the sea and how man was threatening the planet's greatest body of life.

"I came to appreciate the close connections between issues of war, development, population, poverty, and natural resource management, including management of the greater part of our blue world that's salt water."

The human condition is part exhilaration and part personal tragedy, and Helvarg reminds us of this with his relationship with Nancy Ledansky, an ardent adventurer who was his close companion for over ten years but who was lost to cancer. At this point in the book, I sensed a shift in Helvarg's life direction from someone who had seen many of the sea's wonders firsthand and then reported on the many adverse changes taking place, to someone who was now dedicating himself to activist change through the establishment of the Blue Frontier Campaign.

Many of us hope that with age comes a measure of wisdom - the end result of life's many ups and downs - and I could feel it at the close of Helvarg's book (perhaps I was searching for it, as he and I are the same age). Cynicism can be the evil cousin of wisdom but Helvarg keeps the spark alive as recounts the excitement of a dive at Anacapa Island in California:

"I am cold, wet, salty, and grinning like a fool. At moments like this, enveloped by the wonder of the everlasting sea, it's hard, despite the best available science, not to be optimistic."

But Helvarg does not escape from the hard truth: mankind has left his mark on the sea. And while there appears to be a growing ecological awareness, Helvarg leaves us with a question as to whether that rise will meet the ocean's decline in time.

"I'm not sure it will be enough to turn the tide. All I know for certain is that if we don't try, we lose. And this salty blue world of ours is too heart-achingly beautiful, scary, and sacred to lose. If you don't believe me, join the space program, travel out into the cosmos, and look back from the heavens. It's not God's green earth - it's God's blue marble."

While Saved By The Sea details many of the issues threatening the health of the oceans, it departs from many other ocean conservation books by retaining a very personal narrative - a man in love with life and in love with the sea. David Helvarg's impassioned writing gives us insight into what a life with a cause is all about.

Saved By The Sea will be available in leading bookstores on May 11.

Blue Vision Summit: bringing together the players to spread the word

Earlier this month, the Blue Vision Summit was held in Washington D.C. This conference represented a coalition of several ocean conservation groups, government bodies, and scientific organization, coming together to forward an agenda of proactive steps regarding ocean issues. Over 400 recognized scientists, oceanographers, decision-makers, political influentials, representing over 200 organizations including NOAA, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and National Geographic to name a few.

The summit was the brainchild of the Blue Frontier Campaign, headed by David Helvarg, author and ocean activist. The Blue Frontier Campaign has a 10 point plan to generate greater proactive interest by the general public regarding ocean issues by harnessing the power of education and media communications of all types.

There are many worthwhile organizations making their best efforts regarding preserving our aquatic resources. Summits like this allow them to pool their collective brainpower and capabilities to speak with a more unified approach. There are enough well-intentioned organizations; sometimes what is needed is for the public to hear them as one voice. It will be interesting to watch what comes from this event over the months to come.

To learn more about the Blue Frontier Campaign, their 10 point plan, and what was accomplished at the recent Blue Vision Summit, check out their web site. Click here.