Created by: MastersDegree.net
This very cool infographic was brought to my attention to share on my blog by a member of the design team at Masters Degree, and they created this graphic to take a closer look at the environmental effects of ocean pollution. So thanks Meika! 
So here’s a sobering thought – In 40 Years We Could Face An Ocean Without Fish. Go check out that link and see if you still want to order fish for lunch today 
In fact I’ve seen this decline myself in the lessening aggregations of Snapper in the Red Sea each year.
The theme for this year’s world ocean day is Youth: the Next Wave for Change.
If we can get young people into preserving the ocean now then there might be some life left in it for their children to enjoy… otherwise there will only be the photos we can take today and the sour fishy aftertaste of extinction. Please take a moment today to check out these links and see how you can help – even if it’s only be spreading the word. World Ocean Day – “Wear Blue, Tell Two”. Hopefully this blog post will reach more than two
A while back I put together a list of sustainable seafood guides. They are displayed below in my sidebar but here again for convenience:
Here’s a few of my pictures to celebrate the beauty and life we still have for now:
Please keep help our oceans from turning into this:
It’s been a while since my last Macro Monday so I thought I’d combine it with a nice large soapbox from which to make you aware of the danger that divers (and photographers especially) pose to pygmy seahorses. Pygmy seahorses don’t deal with stress very well (who does) and by not very well I mean it can be fatal to them. So when we say that bright flashlights and strobes stress them you can see how this would be a very bad thing.
Dr. Richard Smith has published a recommended code of conduct to be followed when interacting with Pygmy seahorses. Richard’s PhD thesis was all about them so his guidelines are based on hundreds of hours of observing them and also watching the interactions between seahorses and humans. The idea behind the code is that it will be something that can be: “printed, emailed and talked about as much as possible.”
So please head over to his site and download the pdf, take it with you when you dive and show your dive guides! He even has it in a few different languages. They are simply adorable little creatures and they need our protection so spread the word….
This week’s Photo Friday entry: ’Many’
Click image to go to see alternate sizes (looks better larger).
This weeks theme is “Many” which makes me think of schooling fish. It is truly awe inspiring to see a whole school of huge schooling fish especially when they swarm past you! One of the best places to see this natural spectacle is (or should I say was) Ras Mohammad National Park in Sinai, Egypt where every year in the summer all the fish get together in great schools for a mass sporning. You’ll have to be quick if you want to see it for youself though, you will not be able to see this for much longer. Foolish & irresponsible politicians in Sinai have once again allowed fishing in this amazing area. The fish will be wiped out in a small number of years, the tourist trade in that area will fall away and it will be all their own fault. Obviously anyone who has any moral or environmental sense is outraged.
EDIT: I’ve just found out that they overtuned this and fishing is now banned again in this area due to pressure from tourism companies and environmentalists! YAY – well done everyone.
As well as schools of snapper I’ve also seen schooling unicorn fish and batfish.
If you want to see more of my underwater photos from the Red sea, Egypt then check out other photos in my Red Sea 2009 Gallery and Red Sea 2010 Gallery..
See all the other photo Friday entries (and submit your own) for ‘Many’ here.
To celebrate Earth Day today I’d like to introduce to to some Florida Manatees. The are an endangered species that die out in winter when it gets too cold.
Some sanctuaries have been set up in Crystal River where it is possible for you to go and interact with them (as long as you don’t harass or stress them). 
Once you see them in person its impossible not to love them! They vie with each other for your attention as long as you give them a good tickle. In fact I did more scratching of bellies than I did taking photographs which should tell you how compelling they are
You can find out some facts about Manatees here and how to get involved with saving them here.
I haven’t finished processing all my manatee photos from our trip yet be when I do I’ll do another log post with more photos so stay tuned and thanks for looking.
I personally feel that fish are friends, not food, but for those of you who love to eat fish AND want to protect the oceans it can be hard to work out what should and shouldn’t be eaten these day…
I’ve put a few links to online & print-out-able guides to what food from the sea is sustainable (ie you can eat them without devastating the oceans) here and in the sidebar for future reference:
Its World Oceans Day! This year’s theme is “Oceans of Life” and in the wake of the BP oil spill a lot of the world’s attention is (quite rightly) focused on the state of the worlds oceans and specifically mans effect on that.
I’m glad to see that “The conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity” is on the programme today at the UN world ocean day.
I know that my blog has been quite wordy recently and I have spoken about saving the oceans before so for this world oceans day I’m going to celebrate the oceans of life with you in the form of pictures (click to see larger)… I hope you enjoy.
For more information and other great blog posts on world ocean day here are some links:
http://colorclouds.blogspot.com/2010/06/voices-from-ocean.html
http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2010/06/world-ocean-day.html
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/schasis/on_world_oceans_day_gulf_oil_d.html
http://www.theoceanproject.org/wod/
Dont forget to check out what you can do to help!
Today is Earth day 2010. Happy Earth day! But shouldn’t we be trying to protect & preserve our earth & oceans all year round? I think so too so to give you a little food for thought this earth day I wanted to introduce you to a book full of great tips you can do on any day of the year…
Split into five sections (enjoy, conserve, clean, protect, learn & share) this book provides some great (and easy) tips that we as ordinary folk can follow to help protect our planet. For example do you ever visit the beach? – make sure you take everything away that you brought with you onto the beach – including those cigarette butts & empty plastic bags – did you know that plastic bags actually kill turtles? They mistake the floating bags for jellyfish and eat them
Also, wear waterproof sunscreen (you don’t want to be a one-person oil spill, leaving grease in the water). The book has my favourite underwater photographer saying “Take only pictures and leave only bubbles, while exploring underwater wonders”.
And the best thing about this book? Its only $10 (or under £10 if you are a .co.uk purchaser)! Its quite an old book (2006) but sadly these points are all still more relevant than ever.
Want free resources to help save the plant? Here are a few I like…
50 Things You Can Do To Stop Global Warming
Marinebio.org: Marine biology & ocean conservation
Wildlife trusts & action groups:
http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/
http://www.stopsharkfinning.net/
Any more ocean/wildlife trust sites you want to share? Leave a comment with the link (And I’ll try to filter you out from under all the spammers).
Dont forget to turn out your lights today at 8:30pm for one hour where ever you are…
