Brandi from SORAC (Sea Otter Research and Conservation), a Monterey Bay Aquarium program dedicated to studying sea otters in Monterey and advocating for their recovery, greets the public. The sea otter is still threatened and their numbers have been in decline for unclear reasons over the last few years.
The ocean is a gift—in this case literally. Chicago school teacher Lina Virzintas created the The Ocean Registry were you can buy a parcel of ocean and give it to someone as a gift. Like the idea of naming a star or celestial body after someone that can always be seen with a telescope, your piece of ocean can always be visited on Google Oceans. Proceeds of the purchase goes toward ocean conservation.
Jean-Michel, Celine, and Fabien Cousteau at the Launch of their new book series on America’s National Marine Sanctuaries. Photo by Jason Bradley
From left to right: Merove Keifetz from Arkive, Fabien Cousteau of Plant a Fish, Wallace J Nichols of SeeTurtles, Jenifer Galvin director of Free Swim, and computer programer Alan Chung lead a panel on whether or not social media can save the oceans. Their short answer was no, but their belief is that it is an effective tool in reaching a core group of engaged readers, and an important way for photographers and filmmakers to get their messages out.
An awesome collection of monochromatic large format prints from Berkley White, owner of Backsctter, on display in the lobby of the BLUE Ocean Film Festival.
Berkley White from Backscatter posing in front of one of his large format prints of a Bahamian hammerhead shark.
images Monterey Bay’s deep-sea critters by Jason Bradley on display in the lobby of the BLUE Ocean Film Festival. The current issue of Wetpixel Quarterly features images from this collection
Jason Bradley in front of his large format print of the MBARI’s (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) deep-sea sub the Ventana.
COO Charles Kinder with his wife Debbie who is the CEO of BLUE Ocean Film Festival. These two along with festival director Arlene Burns made this fun and exciting week in Monterey happen.