OCEAN
What you need to know
The Ocean is ONE big Ocean.
It is at average 3.7 kilometers deep.
The deepest spot is 11 kilometers deep. That’s 1/4 more than Mount Everest in the Himalayan mountains.
But – other than the Air and High Mountains, which are almost void of life, the Ocean is full of life from top to bottom. You weren’t even aware.
And all that is under threat.
1. Most of the ocean is already overfished, means there are almost no fish left; definitely not enough for big fishing by 1,000s of floating megafactories with x-kilometer long nets. An insane size of ripping life out of the Ocean.
While gradually deep sea trawling (pulling those gargantian nets across the ocean floor ripping off all plants, shells, killing it all off at the root level leaving behind desert floors) gets “regulated” (must get banned since it always is ecocide) and more and more ocean regions get protected – while criminal industries keep looting it for lack of policing, something even worse is emerging:
2. For electric car batteries they now want to scratch off the deep ocean floor for “rare earths” rich in minerals with gigantic deep sea robot factories. Can you even imagine HOW BAD that will be? Entirely out of sight of the public? No one can afford taking photos and filming of what’s truly going on. And no industry in history yet respected environmental protection rules. Will you permit dirty industry to do that for some bogus environmentally sound technology myth? Will you educate naive populations believing it? Will you hold politicians accountable?
Those are boss battles to watch and build veritable armies for.
Meanwhile, get started with the evident. If kids do, it, you all can do it. And it matters!
Turtles have been on these beaches 65 million years before us.
Read ZANDER's story
Zander was fooling around on the beach shooting fireworks, as a voice boomed through the dark ‘Stop it! Don’t you know it disturbs baby turtles trying to find their path to the water?’ An ‘old lady’ appeared, her authority so strong that the party was over.
The next morning, as Zander walked into his kitchen and saw the same lady having coffee with his Mom, shock turned to amazement as he listened to Linda Soderquist, the State Permit Holder for Florida beach turtles, explaining the turtles’ paramount need for safe hatching grounds.
From this day, Zander’s world has revolved around sea turtles and protection initiatives.
At age 11, he created Turtle Talks, an educational Activity Book. 250,000 free copies have been distributed to schools worldaround! Find out how to create Good Turtle Beaches, and join in. It’s amazing!
It’s just fair that we share them with them.
BOOKS IN CLASSROOMS
“My country fins sharks?! You have to be fu**in kidding me.”
Read Taylor's story
Sharks, like wolves, have long been vilified as monsters, even man-eaters. But that is false! Sharks have been here for 300 million years, longer than trees, and humans are not on their menu. The proof – they don’t eat us.
Hurtful encounters are test bites in murky waters, caused by stress, or accidents. Hence, experts ask media to cease using the term “attack”. They should instead educate the public on shark finning, a cruel practice killing 70 million sharks per year, just for a tasteless bowl of soup, driving 90% of species to extinction!
Worse, like wolves, sharks are apex predators, stewards of ecosystem abundance. Without sharks, smaller predators eat up all fish, creating dead zones in the ocean. We need to act on this!
So here comes Taylor, out on the waves, hanging loose with friends – the ultimate certified beach bum – and she has a crush on sharks! Shocked to learn that also her own country, oh so green New Zealand, was finning its shark population to extinction – “What??!!” – Taylor jumped up, started a blog, grabbed her shark costume, spoke at schools and TEDx, teamed up with experts – and soon celebrated the finning ban! Hooray! And people voted her Kiwi of the Year.
Now it’s on you: please learn the truth, and save our sharks! Speak up, evoke protection, and maybe, with ace ocean experts, swim with them…
“11 years old and willing to help.”
Read OLIVIA's story
As an artist, a saxophone player and aspiring ornithologist, Olivia Bouler has a childhood like no other. When she heard of the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf Coast, that the lives of millions of animals were threatened, she had to do something.
“11 years old and willing to help…” she wrote to the Audubon Society, an organization working hard to help recover the ocean and its creatures. Olivia offered to donate bird drawings to help fundraise for wildlife recovery efforts.
Her 500 original drawings generated $200,000 of donations!
Boundlessly creative and tireless, she has since created a children’s book, “Olivia’s Birds: Saving the Gulf,” organized concerts, local cleanups, and now works on a project supporting Gulf birds in their second home in Costa Rica!
Will you wield your talents for a cause you love?
DOLLARS RAISED
“I found the Prime Minister swimming in a sea full of trash.”
– Flossie and the Beach Cleaners
Flossie also finds a whole lot of other stuff and cleans it up.
Funny gal that she is, Flossie also gives artsy upcycling workshops at schools.
“We have trashed Paradise. How about we clean it up?”
EVENTS SPOKEN AT
This is what commitment looks like.
#fulltimeforfuture
Think back at how many uplifting photos and videos you have seen on this tour …
Positive news media playing an important role for positive change and young people have unique powers as protagonists and as creators. We wish to see much more of it!
As you browse the next section, think about the unique feel, how it compares to what you are used to, think about the feasibility and how it can enrich life in your schools and society. Who in your region might be up to such meaningful media production?