Conservation International sent out an email today with these great facts on it! I just can’t help but share them with you!!
70 Percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans.
1 Percent of the Earth’s oceans are protected.
1 billion People worldwide depend on the ocean as their main source of protein.
52 Percent of the world’s fisheries are fully exploited. Another 20 percent are moderately exploited, and 19 percent are over-exploited.
3/4 Of tropical commercial fish depend on mangrove forests for food, habitat, breeding or nursery grounds.
Up to 35 Percent of the world’s mangrove forests have been destroyed in the last 30 years.
1,400 Pounds – potential weight of a northern bluefin tuna. Top predators like this one are vital to the ocean food chain.
90 Percent of large predatory fish populations—including cod, shark and bluefin tuna—have disappeared worldwide due to unsustainable fishing practices.
1 in 4 Of all marine species live in coral reef ecosystems. (It’s no wonder reefs are often called “the tropical rainforests of the ocean.”)
20 Percent of the world’s coral reefs have been lost to date. Another 20 percent are degraded.
70-80 Percent of the oxygen we breathe is produced by the ocean.
150,000+ Is the combined size in square miles of pollution-caused “dead zones”—marine habitats that no longer support oxygen-using species. That’s larger than the state of Montana.
97 Percent of all water on earth is located in the planet’s oceans.
1 The number of “blue planets” called Earth.
In related news, Mary Beth and I will be doing Reef Check from the coast of the Dominican Republic during the first week of August! We will get to check the state of some reefs that are relatively untouched by other divers. Hopefully this will mean that the reef is more pristine (though I hate blaming reef degradation on my fellow divers, we do have a large impact on the underwater environment), but even the most remote reefs have been showing stress. Corals are extremely delicate animals (yes, they are animals!) and although they are also quite resilient, they can’t recover from the stress of pollution, disease, overfishing and heat if the stress never goes away! But that’s why we’re here! To show communities all around the Caribbean (including all of you in the US!!!) the importance of the reef systems and how to protect them!
Diving in the DR
/in Dominican Republic, HELP!, slideshow/by Mary Beth SuttonCome see what we’ve done in the DR!
Now now now, just because I haven’t been blogging doesn’t mean that we haven’t been working!
One of the projects that we’ve been doing the last couple of weeks has been in the small town of Juancho in the Dominican Republic. We have been working closely with E.G.E. Haina, which is an energy generating company in the DR. For a little bit of history, E.G.E. Haina has built a windpark near Juancho, but since the windpark doesn’t create jobs, they’ve decided to help the community in other ways, which is where we come into the picture. Mary Beth has taught several health and sanitation classes in the area and has worked with teachers there too. There are other projects in the works too that include artificial wetlands, protected marine areas and ecotourism.
When I went down there in August with Mary Beth, we were getting certified for Reef Check, which creates a baseline assessment of the status of the reefs. Let’s be honest though, as much as I would LOVE to keep going back and doing Reef Check, it’s not exactly feasible or ideal for a bunch of us to travel to Jauncho every year to dive, which is what a proper Reef Check site needs. So, we have 2 of the local fishermen that have been selected from their local cooperative to be SCUBA certified!! These fishermen (whom I know and can personally vouch for – they are two great guys!) will be Reef Check trained and have other diving related responsibilities too that will ultimately benefit the whole community.
However, as any diver knows, getting certified is not cheap even in the US, which doesn’t have the kinds of import fees that the DR has… we have to raise about $500 to get them through the classes… and believe it or not, I’m not asking you for money (though of course if you want to donate to this cause, it would be GREATLY appreciated), but ideas! How can we raise $500 relatively quickly?
boating in the bay at Juancho
Reef Check in Haiti
/in Uncategorized/by Mary Beth SuttonCheck out this video about the coral reefs off Haiti! Maria and Mary Beth participated in Reef Check in the Dominican Republic, and this story is about the same thing in Haiti: volunteer eco-divers checking out the health of the reefs.
Drinkable Danish Water
/in Clean Water, sewage/by Mary Beth SuttonThe latest addition to the list of places with E. coli-infested drinking water is a surprise: try Denmark. The city of Copenhagen just gave the okay to drink tap water without boiling it first. The boil order was on for about a week. What a hassle! And in Europe, even! Just goes to show that we can’t take clean water for granted no matter how wealthy our nation. At the same time, the timing couldn’t be more appropriate, as it coincides almost perfectly with World Water Week and the WaterAid conference being held in Stockholm.
Oh, the Luxury of having Potable Tap Water!!
/in Uncategorized/by Mary Beth SuttonLadies and Gentlemen, I have made it back into the United States of America!
Due to some difficulties with flying standby and full flights out of Santo Domingo, I am very excited to say this! Not only because I am a very proud American, but also because, as much as I LOVE travelling to St. Lucia and the Dominican Republic (which I need to tell everyone about still…), I also love having safe drinking water at the turn of a faucet. Anyone who knows me knows that I have this water insecurity thing – I can’t leave the house without one of my water bottles, and I always have a jug of water in my car in case I need to refill it out of reach of a water fountain/sink/hose (I’m not picky about source, I just need water!). But in some other countries, you really can’t do this. Trust me, I tried and failed. You have to buy bottles/bagged/jugs of water. And ooooooh do I hate bottled water! But what’s more is that some people absolutely cannot afford to buy clean water. Nor do they have the means to keep their water clean (read: septic tanks or sewage lines). But hey, maybe this is why I’ve chosen this line of work… I want everyone to be able to have the same idiosyncrasies as me! And not have to pay the price of their health to do so!!
Staring in the face of a storm…
/in Dominican Republic, Rambling, Reef Check/by Mary Beth SuttonMarybeth and I are in the Dominican Republic this week! (I know, it’s hard to keep track of where we are!) And you might have heard, we have another special visitor approaching from the southeast… Tropical Storm Emily. I’m not one to let a little bad weather bring me down but since we were supposed to be SCUBA diving the whole week to perform a Reef Check on some of the reefs that noone had really dived on much before, the timing is a little disappointing. The waves yesterday were already tortuous for me and my poor stomach, and our fate today has yet to be decided, but I just keep telling myself that science isn’t always pretty and glamourous, and sometime you have to roll with the punches. And the waves.
Storm or no storm though, all is not lost. Our work here in the Dominican Republic is just beginning. I have already met some ammmaaaazzzzing people here who all are really excited about the ecotourism possibilities in the area (which not only brings an income in for the locals, but also pulls the economic focus of the area off of unsustainable fishing practices). I think there are some awesome prospects here! Watch out Punta Cana!
Rainforest Camp!
/in Camp, Rainforest Camp, slideshow, st lucia/by Mary Beth SuttonYAY! We survived!! Call me crazy, but I love Rainforest Camp!
This was my second time at the camp near the Des Cartier trail in St. Lucia (and Caribbean SEA’s 5th year of camp!) and even though by the end I was sleep deprived, covered in mosquito bites and extremely dirty, I would go back right now! You know, I am not a big fan of teenagers (and this year, camp was for 11-15 year olds) because they never really want to actually DO anything… They lose that enthusiasm that younger kids have. I think that they (think they) would much rather prefer just sitting around the camp talking to the other kids or better yet, eating, but once you get them to participate, it is amazing! For example, on Wednesday night, our favorite entomologist and counselor, Brendan, hooked up a light trap to attract bugs and I’m sure you can imagine the moans and groans we heard when the kids heard that they would have to look for bugs instead of planning their mushing attack plans, but once we gave them their containers and put them in front of that light, they didn’t want to stop! They wanted to know what every bug was and kept asking for bug containers during the rest of the camp so that they could look at the bugs they would find!
Our focus this year was Reforestation – the campsite was actually affected by multiple landslides after the hurricane and so it was a perfect area to plant trees that we gathered from another nearby trail. We also took the kids to snorkel at beautiful Anse Chastanet where we could show what a healthy reef looks like compared to those that have been smothered in sediment that flows from the rivers everytime it rains. And trust me, we had plenty of rain while we were there! The sad thing, although it made for a great teaching tool, the rivers surrounding our camp (and therefore our water, although our source is higher up on the mountain) were running orange because of all the sedimentation… but you know, that’s why we planted trees! and the Forestry Department of Saint Lucia has been preparing for a major islandwide reforestation day!
For even more fun, as part of our 5 year celebration, we got to go ziplining in Dennery! It was so much fun! We had some kids who were reluctant but once you got them on the line – WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
I have pictures loaded and on Facebook, and as soon as I get to a steady enough internet signal I can add them on here… (We’ll talk about what MaryBeth and I are doing right now on another post I think!). Until then, ciao mis amigos!
Local E. coli
/in Clean Water, Domestic, sewage, TenneSEA/by Mary Beth SuttonYuck! I just read through an August 2010 report on impaired streams in Tennessee, and guess what I found? Escherichia coli, and lots of it in the Lower Tennessee River watershed. In Hamilton county alone, there are tens and tens of miles of creeks and streams with medium to high E. coli counts, some due to septic tank leakage, some due to livestock. Saint Lucia and other developing nations aren’t the only ones with poo in the water! Just keep that in mind if you’re ever out in a creek and thinking of drinking the water straight-up; there could be cows just upstream! And if you’re curious, you can check out the detailed PDF of water-quality-challenged Tennessee waterways here.
Preparing for Rainforest Camp
/in Camp, Rainforest Camp, Rambling, st lucia/by Mary Beth SuttonThis coming Monday is the start of our 5th annual Rainforest Camp in St. Lucia! We will be camping overnight for a week in the rainforest area near Micoud, St. Lucia with about 50 kids, from 11 to 15 years of age! And on behalf of Mary Beth, our good friend Brendan and all the other counselors, can I just say… YIKES! Haha! Actually, we are all really really excited… There is something so amazingly fun about being out in nature without cell phone signal and electricity, under the stars and out with all the whistling frogs, tarantulas and oooohhh the beautiful St. Lucian parrots that fly over in the morning… We drink cocoa tea (like a spiced hot chocolate) and eat bakes (a kind of fried or grilled dough thing), salt fish, green figs and bread fruit, all so lovingly prepared by our head chef Mr. Mathurin and his team of whichever group of campers we’ve assigned to that particular meal. The camp is, of course, focused on a particular environmental topic – this year, due to the large impact of Hurricane Tomas in November, we will focus on reforestation and it’s role in water quality. We went shopping for supplies today and even had a little pre-camp fun with some of our kids from the Marigot Bay community while planning, water testing, jumping off of rocks and snorkeling.
Although it’s not easy to say how well camp will go, I am so extremely excited and optimistic about our plans for the next week! But ask me how much I like Rainforest Camp next Saturday… my opinion may completely change!
Great Ocean Facts
/in Conservation, Coral/by Mary Beth SuttonConservation International sent out an email today with these great facts on it! I just can’t help but share them with you!!
70 Percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans.
1 Percent of the Earth’s oceans are protected.
1 billion People worldwide depend on the ocean as their main source of protein.
52 Percent of the world’s fisheries are fully exploited. Another 20 percent are moderately exploited, and 19 percent are over-exploited.
3/4 Of tropical commercial fish depend on mangrove forests for food, habitat, breeding or nursery grounds.
Up to 35 Percent of the world’s mangrove forests have been destroyed in the last 30 years.
1,400 Pounds – potential weight of a northern bluefin tuna. Top predators like this one are vital to the ocean food chain.
90 Percent of large predatory fish populations—including cod, shark and bluefin tuna—have disappeared worldwide due to unsustainable fishing practices.
1 in 4 Of all marine species live in coral reef ecosystems. (It’s no wonder reefs are often called “the tropical rainforests of the ocean.”)
20 Percent of the world’s coral reefs have been lost to date. Another 20 percent are degraded.
70-80 Percent of the oxygen we breathe is produced by the ocean.
150,000+ Is the combined size in square miles of pollution-caused “dead zones”—marine habitats that no longer support oxygen-using species. That’s larger than the state of Montana.
97 Percent of all water on earth is located in the planet’s oceans.
1 The number of “blue planets” called Earth.
In related news, Mary Beth and I will be doing Reef Check from the coast of the Dominican Republic during the first week of August! We will get to check the state of some reefs that are relatively untouched by other divers. Hopefully this will mean that the reef is more pristine (though I hate blaming reef degradation on my fellow divers, we do have a large impact on the underwater environment), but even the most remote reefs have been showing stress. Corals are extremely delicate animals (yes, they are animals!) and although they are also quite resilient, they can’t recover from the stress of pollution, disease, overfishing and heat if the stress never goes away! But that’s why we’re here! To show communities all around the Caribbean (including all of you in the US!!!) the importance of the reef systems and how to protect them!
Summer Watering Reminders
/in Conservation, Domestic/by Mary Beth SuttonIn the hot drought-oriented summers of the US Southeast, lawns and plants could easily turn brown and die off without extra watering. However, an average of 30% of that water evaporates off without actually making it into the ground, and in desert climates like the Southwest, that loss can jump up to 50%! So if you have to water your plants, make sure you’re getting the most out of it with a few tips.
1. Try to water early in the morning or late in the evening during cooler times of the day when the sun’s not out in full force. You’ll cut your evaporation losses substantially, as well as your water bill!
2. Water the plant’s roots, not the foliage. Not only will water tend to evaporate off the leaves more easily, but it also increases your risks for pests and disease. You can water the roots more deeply with that water you used to waste on the leaves and hence less often!
3. This seems like a no-brainer, but make sure you are actually watering your plants, and not the sidewalk or concrete! Check the range of your automatic sprinkler system, or if you water manually, never leave the hose running unattended where it might end up stuck on the driveway and running water straight into the drain.