The Coral Triangle in South East Asia is home to one of the most biodiverse marine environments on our planet but plastic pollution is rapidly degrading this delicate ecosystem. To prevent the Coral Triangle from being suffocated by plastic, the No-Trash Triangle Initiative was founded on Bangka Island, North Sulawesi, in late 2017 by marine…
Tag: Conservation
The Manta Trust – Protecting rare creatures of the ocean
By Hannah Schartmann. The Manta Trust is a UK-based charity that was formed in 2011 to coordinate global research and conservation efforts for manta rays, their close relatives and their habitat. As charismatic megafauna, manta rays act as a flagship species, helping to promote and engage the general public in the wider message of marine ecosystem conservation. Through this top down…
“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…
First A Volunteer, Then A Team Member – Working with Whale Sharks on the Maldives
By Chloe Darwinn. Dhigurah, a narrow island in South Ari Atoll. At three kilometres long it is home to a community of just over six hundred people on land, as well as an abundance of life under the waves. From minuscule planktonic life, to the ocean giant and world’s biggest fish – the whale shark….
For Dr Louise Gentle, conservation is more than preservation
By Kaitlyn Elverson. Dr Louise Gentle is a well-loved wildlife conservation lecturer at the Brackenhurst Campus at Nottingham Trent University in Nottingham, UK. Her research and work at NTU has stretched over many topics, from why Wombats poop cubes to Yellowhammers, but for this interview, I asked Louise some things that targeted the bigger picture…
Interview with Zara – Fighting for the protection of sharks on the Gili Islands, Indonesia
By Hannah Schartmann. Zara is working for the Gili Shark Conservation Project, which is situated on the island Gili Air in Indonesia. This area is home of two threatened shark species, the Black Tip Reef Sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) and the White Tip Reef Sharks (Triaenodon obesus). The aim of the project is to protect shark…
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…
Interview with Andrea Lema – Fighting against plastic pollution and for zero waste models in Ecuador
By Nuri Max Steinmann. Andrea Lema is an young Ecuadorian activist fighting for the rights of nature in her home country. She studied economics and has a master’s degree on environmental and sustainable development. She is the founder of the NGO ‘PlastiCo. Project’, which aims to reduce single-use plastic and promotes the implementation of zero waste models…
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…
Make The Ocean Great Again 