LINKS
Information is power
http://fijisharkdiving.blogspot.com
Beqa Adventure Divers blog is probably the most informative blog I know when it comes to topics all around sharks! Absolute must-read for sharklovers and scientists alike!
Check out the page of the IUCN shark specialist group for tons of information around sharks, rays, skates, and chimaeras!
http://www.theoceancleanup.com
The oceans are full of trash. From big pieces down to very, very small ones, that we cannot see without a microscope. Yet they endanger wildlife as they are being mistaken with food and animals starve with bellies full of plastic trash. We have to find a way to clean as much as we can – step by step. Consider supporting this eager project with a bit of your money (if you can). I really like this idea and I am fully supporting any action that could get us to a cleaner planet!
A Scuba Diver movement, especially concentrating on sharks in peril and trash in our oceans. Every diver can help solving the problems and taking as much trash as possible on every dive. Plastic bags are covering corals or killing turtles and other marine life that mistakes them for food like jellyfish. It’s OUR trash, so let’s find a way to clean it up!
The Shepherds of our oceans! Not only talking, but also taking action against the exploitation of the seas. Since its founding by Paul Watson in 1977 it has drawn public attention to the problems and (over-)exploitation of sea creatures by various campaigns and directly affected political decision making. Great to have people like these, defending the oceans and helping those that cannot defend themselves and are killed purely in the name of tradition (if so!). What a sick world we are living in! Keep on going shepherds!
An excellent source for information on all topics concerning our oceans. The publications are constantly updated so you can see this page as kind of a gathering of all information available and put into easy texts that anyone can understand. Give it a try – it’s highly interesting and you might be surprised!
The Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) is a non-profit organization that creates films and other media to raise awareness and encourage people to protect the oceans. It´s executive Director Loui Psihoyos is a renowned photographer and filmmaker all around the world and produces some extraordinary and sometimes disturbing footage to show, what IS REALLY going on. Check out their page and especially their film THE COVE which has made people take action worldwide and is continuing to do so against the incredible insane slaughter of highly intelligent sea mammals in the cove if Taiji, Japan. Can’t wait to watch their newest film RACING EXTINCTION! Edit: By now I have watched it and highly recommend it!
Participate in a Reef Check program and contribute to the gathering of scientific data to determine the health of coral reefs worldwide. Coral reefs in all Oceans are threatened by the impact we humans have on our ecosystem. Overfishing, the acidiation by greenhouse gases like CO2, pollution and habitat destruction is giving them a hard time. Without these natural nurseries for young fish, we might loose a strong part of our biodiversity. Be a part of it and dive to record!
The Dodo is a page for everyone who loves animals. It was named after the Dodo to remind us how important it is to take care of the planet and to preserve and conserve what there is left. The Dodo was a bird, that´s been hunted to extinction. If we stand together and worship nature and its inhabitants the way we should – as the base of all life including ours – we could prevent extinctions like the one of the Dodo in future! Take part in this project and share your thoughts, pictures and videos!
For those of you interested in knowing what animals are listed on which appendixes. Very interesting and sad at the same time. Which species are facing extinction? Which ones have we lost already? If animals are listed on Appendix II their trade is highly regulated and the 120 governments that are members of CITES need to prove sustainability of their trade. If listed on Appendix I trade of any parts of these animals is completely prohibited.
The ZMT concentrates on tropical coastal ecosystems and dedicated themselves to the protection, investigation and better understanding of these ecosystems. The ZMT has research bonds with other institutes all around the world aiming at at a high scientific exchange and thus maximizing protection effort and sustainable use.
The Red Sea Environmental Center promotes coral reef research, education and conservation at the Red Sea. RSEC runs a fieldstation for marine science and marine conservation at the southeast coast of the Sinai in Dahab. It’s a great opportunity for everyone interested in the broad field of marine biology to participate in Reef Check programs and learn more about corals, fish and the ecosystem coral reef.
