BajaNomad

PR: North American Teens Launch an Ocean Revolution

BajaNomad - 1-11-2005 at 05:38 AM

BLUE OCEAN INSTITUTE?S YOUTH PROGRAM TO INSPIRE AND CONNECT OCEAN-LOVING YOUTH FROM AROUND THE CONTINENT

25 January 2005, Loreto, Mexico

They love the ocean and know how to help save it. So goes the thinking among a group of twelve high school students from all over North America who will set out to sea this month to begin a voyage with a clear mission: creating a revolution in the way their peers think about their relationship with the ocean.

Ocean Revolution is Blue Ocean Institute?s new bilingual youth outreach program that sets its goal at nothing less than creating a sea of change among North American youth. At the helm of this revolution are twelve teens chosen from a large pool of applicants for their creativity and passion for the ocean.

?This group of young people gives us hope for the future of our oceans and coasts,? says program director, Dr. Wallace J. Nichols. ?They are a diverse group of talented, energetic, ocean-loving young Jacques Cousteau?s and Sylvia Earle?s?they are going to jump start the Ocean Revolution and change the world.?

The objective of Ocean Revolution is to build a continent-spanning network of like-minded youth, with a shared interest in solving the problems facing our oceans and coasts.

Overfishing, destructive fishing practices, pollution, excessive coastal development, and habitat destruction have all taken their toll on our oceans.

?The research is clear?our oceans are in trouble and this generation will be tasked with the challenge of restoring and protecting marine resources and cleaning up the mess we?ve made,? says Dr. Carl Safina, President of Blue Ocean Institute. ?That will require a fundamental change in our relationship with the ocean?a new sea ethic.?

The good news is that workable recommendations exist that?with sufficient political pressure to put them into action?will help restore and maintain our wild, healthy oceans. The coming generation of ocean leaders will have their hands full, some hard work to do and some bad habits to break.

The Ocean Revolution Youth Leadership Council will spend a week at sea and along the shores of Baja California learning, discussing and designing their outreach strategy. They?ll snorkel and SCUBA dive in Mexico?s premier National Marine Park in Loreto and get up close and personal with blue and gray whales. They will also participate in a grassroots marine conservation meeting to learn first hand from conservationists and fishermen what it takes to create social change.

?Expeditions into these wild ocean places will change these students in ways that the class room never will?, says Zach Rabinor, President of Journey Mexico, an adventure and ecotourism company that will guide the group on a whale watching trip. ?These experiences help kids see amazing places and animals and learn why we must work to protect them.?

?The best way to reach young people with a sea ethic message is peer to peer, that?s what Ocean Revolution is all about,? says Nichols. The group will launch its ambitious interactive website, www.oceanrevolution.org, on World Ocean Day in June 2005.

Nichols explains that the website will be like Friendster for the ocean, ?a high-tech place for budding conservationists to find each other and share their passion and knowledge.? Members will share stories and photos of themselves working for the oceans, run their own ocean blogs, sign up for oceanrevolution.org e-mail, recruit new members as well as find internship and volunteer opportunities and advice on their local ocean groups to join. ?We?ll also recruit a network of experienced mentors, people who want to help young people find their path. The idea is that all of the members will feel like they have an aunt or uncle who?s a marine biologist.?

?Even in the Rocky Mountains, we are connected to the ocean through what we eat and where our water ends up. We all have to work together to save the oceans,? sophomore Emily Munday of Butte, Montana explains.

Antonia Sohns, a junior at the Hackley School in New York, says that she has a soft spot for sharks. ?I can not just stand by and watch these populations continue to decrease annually, I want to motivate America?s youth to become active and participate in the greatest revolution of our time!?

Oswaldo Martinez-Perez, a junior from Bahia Magdalena, Mexico, hopes to help ?create a habit of conscience, for the protection and exploitation of natural resources, in each human being that lives on this planet.?

?I grew up with the ocean as my backyard, and I?ve seen it at its best,? says Natalie Arnoldi, a student at Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, and avid surfer. ?I want to make things even better?.

With offices on both coasts of North America, Blue Ocean Institute works to inspire a closer relationship with the sea through science, art, and literature. We develop conservation solutions that are compassionate to people as well as to ocean wildlife, and we share reliable information that enlightens personal choices, instills hope, and helps restore living abundance in the ocean.

OH GREAT!!

Capt. George - 1-11-2005 at 07:40 AM

More of them....professional enviromental phonies looking for a soft bed of easy money.....The only thing they'll be looking to save is stocks and bonds...Dealt with these chits all my life....The main reason I'm in Mexico....bye-bye Baja...

There are probably open positions with
"The Interior Department GOON Squad",
believe me, I've dealt with them at the Cape Cod National Seashore....Fifteen years of battling and grief, all for naught.

Don't you live in Abreojos?

richard nauman - 1-11-2005 at 09:41 AM

Hey Captain George,
Maybe you should ask around in town about Jay Nichols (named in article) before you write things like that about people you don't know.

Didn't I read somewhere here that you moved to Abreojos? Abreojos would be a giant version of Guerrero Negro right now if it wasn't for a bunch of locals and people from all over the world working together. There are many local people who care about the place they live.
For one example check out:

Javier Villvicencio


This project discussed in this article sounds great to me. What's wrong with taking a bunch of people on a boat trip to check out the Sea of Cortez? It's my idea of fun.

I'm not sure what Interior Department Goon Squads or Cape Cod have to do with this article. Don't even get me started on the soft bed of easy money thing. Most people I know or have known who work for Conservation Organizations have advanced degrees that took years to earn and cost thousands of dollars, make poorwages if they are not volunteers, have few benefits, no job security and normally wind up old and poor without health insurance. How old were you when you retired? Do tax payers fund your retirement? Most profesional environementalists are just finishing paying off their student loans at the age you retired.

If you don't have anything of value to add to the thread why post insults about people you don't know? Its ironic that you say you are in Baja to get away from "these chits" and live in Abreojos! Instead of posting mean spirited messages why not use the time to learn some Spanish so you know whats going on where you live.
RN

Javier Villvicencio

[Edited on 1-11-2005 by richard nauman]

[Edited on 1-11-2005 by richard nauman]

[Edited on 1-11-2005 by richard nauman]

rts551 - 1-11-2005 at 07:11 PM

whew... wish people would leave Abreojos alone.

Dave - 1-11-2005 at 08:04 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by richard nauman
Most people I know or have known who work for Conservation Organizations have advanced degrees that took years to earn and cost thousands of dollars, make poorwages if they are not volunteers, have few benefits, no job security and normally wind up old and poor without health insurance.


Did they know all this before they started...or are they just like teachers?:biggrin:

maybe...

dbrooks - 1-11-2005 at 08:20 PM

if **** generation of environment killing old fart bags didn't screw the oceans up in the first place - then these "professional (high school?) environmental phonies" wouldn't NEED to try and fix it!

They are trying to fix what *** F$#*ed up!
Quote:
Originally posted by Capt. George
More of them....professional enviromental phonies looking for a soft bed of easy money.....The only thing they'll be looking to save is stocks and bonds...Dealt with these chits all my life....The main reason I'm in Mexico....bye-bye Baja...

There are probably open positions with
"The Interior Department GOON Squad",
believe me, I've dealt with them at the Cape Cod National Seashore....Fifteen years of battling and grief, all for naught.


[Edited on 1-12-2005 by BajaNomad]

mas y mas

Capt. George - 1-11-2005 at 09:22 PM

blah, blah, blah y blah.....please stay the f__k out of my neighborhood!!!!!

Come visit and the first thing I'll do is ask all the locals to assist *** out of town. First the tortugas, then the abolone, then the langosta......then let the locals bus tables for the wealthy gringo environmentalists looking to break balls in another country...STAY HOME WHERE *** BELONG. <)>>>>< Capt. George aka el Vikingo de Punta Abreojos.......

[Edited on 1-12-2005 by BajaNomad]

gee wiz...

dbrooks - 1-11-2005 at 11:40 PM

I've been off this board for about six months (I was in Costa Rica and Nicaragua) - I come back and I can't even post personal attacks anymore - where's the fun in that!? What happened to the halcyon days when that crazy surf chick in San Antonio Del Mar (I think) used to get all riled up about the most ridiculous stuff?!? That was fun!

BajaNomad - 1-12-2005 at 07:23 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by dbrooks
What happened to the halcyon days when that crazy surf chick in San Antonio Del Mar (I think) used to get all riled up about the most ridiculous stuff?!?


http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=5306

http://www.puntabanda.com/communityboard/viewthread.php?tid=...



[Edited on 1-12-2005 by BajaNomad]