Think(ing) Green Thursday

Our friend Michelle is once again hosting Think(ing) Green Thursday for us, and I hope that many of you will consider joining us.

I have been in love with the sea ever since I was a child, and read Elizabeth Enright's "The Sea Is All Around". I have lived near the sea for the past fifty-three years, and would never wish it otherwise. I'm sure we are all aware of how dire the situation is these days for the waters that comprise such a large share of our planet.

I am turning once again to Sea Notes, the blog of Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, for my post today.

Along with so many important considerations that President Obama is undertaking these days, is an Ocean Policy Taskforce. He would like to create a National Ocean Agenda and Policy for United States oceans. Obviously, to accomplish anything in this direction, we need cooperation and collaboration of other nations. For instance, Cuba and Mexico must cooperate with the United States in order to restore health and oversee the declining populations of sharks and sea turtles, and design a management plan, in the Gulf of Mexico. It is hoped that our efforts will inspire cooperation in this direction all around the world.

Also, on November 3rd, Sea Notes reported in an article titled "In Over Our Heads", about an on-going program which interested me very much. It seems that there is also climate change in the sea and that what we do far above, affects what goes on among the sea animals down on the ocean floor. This may be hard for us to imagine, but it is true.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has recently reported that food supplies to 60% of the ocean floor are affected by the amount of carbon captured and held there. MBARI employs a robot they call the Benthic Rover (see picture) programmed to travel along the ocean floor to measure the impact of climate change below the surface.

I am one of so many of us who often grumble about modern technology. But I find this sort of thing truly amazing, and am so grateful that there are people out there using this technology to help restore the health of our environment - land, sea and air.


All pictures in this post from Monterey Bay Aquarium