Sea Notes

Hi, I'm Simon Willig

Hi, I'm Simon Willig. I’m 12 years old and currently live in Redwood City, California. I love the oceans and all that lives in them. I'm a 2008 Official Explorer for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Over the next several months I hope to get you more interested in the oceans through the Sea Notes blog.

Right now I'm doing simple things like using compact fluorescent light bulbs, recycling and eating sustainable seafood (to learn more download the Seafood Watch pocket guides). These are all easy things that you can do to conserve the oceans.

I also like working with the organization Save the Bay at the Palo Alto Baylands reserve. (I’ll tell you more, later; keep reading.) I’ve been working with my friend Ayla (2007 Official Explorer) to create a PowerPoint presentation and assembly kit called "Save Our Seas" (S.O.S.) that can be presented at schools in your area. Come to and see Ayla and me present S.O.S, and find out how you can present it, too.

As an Official Explorer, I am excited about learning all I can from the aquarists (scientists who work at the Aquarium doing research and taking care of the animals). I also love educating the public on how to save the oceans and how to eat sustainable seafood by passing out Seafood Watch pocket guides.

February 23-24 was Shark Days at the Aquarium, my first event as an Official Explorer. I was both nervous and excited before the event.

First, we had the passing of the torch (or in this case the vest) ceremony from the 2007 Explorers. We talked about what we were looking forward to as an Official Explorer (which is basically everything). Right after getting the vest, I put it on and got down to business. I had a great time working at the event booth with 2007 explorers Ayla, Sierra and Eduardo, and 2008 explorer Alexa. We had fun helping each other figure out the answers to the Sharks and Rays activity booklet, taking turns helping Aquarium visitors find their way around, and discussing our favorite exhibits.

I had great fun at the sevengill shark feeding where divers held pieces of fish on poles. Sharks swam by and bit off the fish. It was awesome to see these huge sharks prey like they would in the wild. Later, I went with Ayla, Sierra and Alexa to Jellies: Living art and Wild About Otters to pass out Seafood Watch cards and learn more about jellies and freshwater otters.

A couple weekends later I found myself in the new exhibit Splash Zone staring at a wall of eel burrows. Among these strange, but beautiful snakelike fish were snowflake morays, honeycomb morays, white mouth morays and zebra morays. I also had a chance to see leaping blennies (cute little grey fish that actually do jump onto low rocks), and leafy sea dragons (a close but cooler relative to seahorses that camouflages amazingly well by having leaflike green appendages). I saw cuttlefish (a cousin to squid and octopus that, like its relatives, can change its skin to thousands of different colors) and a personal favorite: nudibranchs, which are brightly colored sea slugs that have stinging tentacles.

The next weekend I went to the Palo Alto Baylands with my mom and the organization Save The Bay. I helped plant native vegetation such as common yarrow and common aster to help the indigenous plant population recover and grow. I had a blast learning more about the San Francisco Baylands and their history while helping conserve the oceans.

Stay tuned to learn more about Explorer activities in my next entry. Until then (and always), this is Simon saying: THINK OCEAN!

Hi, I'm Alexa Stefanko

Hi, I’m Alexa Stefanko. I’m 12 years old and live near Burlingame, California. I love climbing, snorkeling, swimming, bird watching, and reading. I want be a marine biologist and specialize in animal communication in the seas. This year, I'm an Official Explorer for the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

For the past two years I have been working to support the Coyote Point Museum, a museum dedicated to educating children about the importance of protecting the environment. Last year, a group of friends and I organized the Environmental Fair and Auction for the museum and this year we are planning a Swap O Rama Rama (SORR), Fashion Show and Green Auction. At a SORR you transform used clothes into wearable art (founded by Wendy Tremayne and described at swaporamarama.org) and then you get to showcase your designs at a fashion show. I also served as a Leader-In-Training helping out at the museum’s summer camps.

I had wonderful time at Shark Days at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and can’t wait for the next event! First, we met last year's explorers: Ayla, Eduardo, and Sierra. They told us all about their experiences as Official Explorers and what to expect for the year. They were all incredibly helpful, and very interesting to talk to. I was amazed and inspired by how committed they were to protecting the underwater community.

My favorite part of Shark Days was meeting last year’s explorers. I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to work with them again. Shark Days was also my first opportunity to work with my colleague, the other 2008 Official Explorer, Simon Willig.

First, I listened to a presentation, which was given by Dr. Steve Webster, a senior biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. During the presentation, he told us all about his various shark encounters, from having a flipper nibbled by an enormous whale shark, to encountering the peaceful reef sharks in the waters of Fiji. He also explained that sharks aren’t the vicious and dangerous creatures we constantly hear about from the media. He taught us that sharks are normally passive and completely essential to a healthy ecosystem.

Did you know that more people die from falling coconuts every year than from shark attacks? A very enlightening statistic! I was most curious about what I could do to help protect sharks. After reading the Seafood Watch cards I learned not to eat sharks because their populations are so unstable. I was also reminded how important it is to never litter or pollute because ultimately much of the trash and pollutants make their way to the oceans.

Another fun part of Shark Days was the craft tables. I helped the participants create stamps of ocean creatures to put on their postcards (and even created a few of my own). I also worked at the event booth greeting visitors, handing out information about Shark Days and answering questions.

This year as an Official Explorer, I’m excited about absolutely everything! I can’t wait to meet new people, learn about our precious oceans and how to protect them and share that knowledge with others.

Help Us Win a Webby!

Our Seafood Watch mobile service has been nominated for a Webby Award—the Oscar of the online world—but we'll need your help to win.

We're competing against such heavyweights as NPR, NYTimes.com, Yahoo! Inc., and Zagat Survey. You can help sustainable seafood win by casting your vote for the Webby People's Voice Awards -- and encouraging your friends and family to do the same.

There's not much time left. Voting closes on Thursday, May 1. The winners will be announced on May 6.

New Hope for Chile's Whales

Two great pieces of news for whale lovers -- and anyone who wants the kind of oceans that can support a growing population of whales.

First, new sightings of humpback whales off the Chilean coast are the latest and best sign of a comeback for a population that was hunted virtually to extinction. The Los Angeles Times has not only a report, but fantastic video of a humpback feeding (surrounded at one point by what looks like leaping sea lions).

Second, Chile is poised to declare its entire coastline a whale sanctuary -- perhaps by June, when it hosts the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Establishing the sanctuary would make permanent a ban on whaling that now extends through 2025.

Bárbara Galletti, president of the Cetacean Conservation Center in Santiago -- which is working with Chilean officials to establish the sanctuary, told the Santiago Times, "This is about creating a country where there is respect, deep respect. Respect for our heritage, for our waters, and for life itself. And that’s what should be unilaterally declared, that our country offers a sanctuary to the whales.”

Costa Rica and Mexico have also created sanctuaries and conservation groups are working to establish a protected zone covering all of Latin America’s Pacific coastal waters. All these efforts are being pressed in conjunction with the IWC meeting in Santiago.

The Chilean organization Ecooceanos estimates that nearly half of the world’s whale species, including endangered blue whales, pass through Chilean waters on a regular basis.

Monday's Photo: Narwhals

They're called the unicorns of the sea. Narwhals are Arctic dwellers, related to belugas and unique because the left tooth of male narwhals grows into a twisted tusk.

Now, researchers tell us, they may become the poster child for endangered Arctic wildlife.

The March 2008 issue of the journal Ecological Applications is devoted entirely to the topic of "Arctic Marine Mammals and Climate Change." Narwhals are considered the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change on northern ecosystems.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Stanford University biologist Terry Root (who wasn't part of the study) said the analysis published in the journal reinforces her concern that the narwhal "is going to be one of the first to go extinct" from climate change despite a relatively healthy population today.

"There could a bazillion of them, but if the habitat or the things that they need are not going to be around, they're not going to make it," Root told AP science writer Seth Borenstein.

While polar bears can adapt somewhat to the changing Arctic climate, narwhals can't, Root said.

The journal, published by the Ecological Society of America, evaluated the status of 11 Arctic marine mammals. In addition to narwhals, other species at greatest risk include polar bears, hooded seals, bowhead whales and walruses.

There's a lot we can do -- individually and as a society -- to tackle the growing volume of carbon dioxide we're putting into the atmosphere. It's the challenge of our lifetime, and well worth the effort -- for the narwhals and ourselves.

New Bloggers Joining Us

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium, lots of folks are working every day to protect the oceans and ocean wildlife. In the Sea Notes blog, you've heard regularly from two of us. Now we're going to add two new voices

Each year the aquarium selects Official Explorers -- young people between the ages of 10 and 13 who serve as ambassadors for the oceans during many special events here. They meet with visitors, take part in activities like Underwater Explorers SCUBA sessions and find ways to help shape a future with healthy oceans.

Our 2007 Official Explorers recorded their experiences in journals posted to our own website. Now we'll share their thoughts and observations here.

Each year, they've proved to be amazing, articulate advocates, as you'll discover in the months to come.

So here's an introduction to Alexa Stefanko of Burlingame, California and Simon Willig of Redwood City, California our 2008 Official Explorers. Alexa, age 12, has helped raise funds to save the Coyote Point Museum in San Mateo, California, while Simon, also age 12, is co-creating (with 2007 Explorer Ayla Besemer), “Save Our Seas,” a program for kids who want to teach other kids about ocean conservation.

Look for their bylines in the blog throughout the year.

Friday's Featured Film: Sunset in Malaysia

It's Friday, and it's been a very busy week, what with Earth Day events , public hearings to create new marine protected areas in California and a big step forward in the House of Representatives for Oceans 21 -- legislation to better protect the oceans. And you've been busy, setting a good example by spreading the word about sustainable seafood and the need for global action on climate change.

No wonder you're feeling a little tired. Exhilarated, yes, but ready for a little R&R.

What better way to end the week than to stroll down to the beach, stick your toes in the sand, take a deep breath of the salty air and just....relax and enjoy the sunset.

Chefs and the Sea

When it comes to bringing informed and righteous indignation to an issue, few people can approach the fire of a good British journalist. One of the best is The Telegraph's environmental editor, Charles Clover, who authored The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World and What We Eat. He brings his passion -- and incisive prose -- to the subject of whether top chefs are doing enough to save the oceans through their seafood choices.

His latest article, "Terms of Endangerment" , published online by Vanity Fair in conjunction with its annual Green Issue, offers up an eye-opening short course on the state of chefs and seafood in the United States. He names names of chefs who are definitely not contributing to the health of the oceans, passes out a few laurels to those who are, and offers suggestions on how each of us can do our part. (Hint: Use a Seafood Watch pocket guide, or access one from your mobile device when you're at the restaurant.)

And he's uncompromising as he holds chefs accountable if they don't do right by the oceans:

"Does it matter what celebrity chefs do?" Clover asks. "Are they the last untouchables when it comes to the marine environment? I think that it does, and that they are not. Why? Because when it comes to trends in the food they serve, chefs are the leaders and we are the led.

"Why should the directors of oil companies and chemical manufacturers end up in court for pollution—which now is a much smaller component of the oceans’ problems than it once was—while chefs and restaurateurs are blithely sending whole species to extinction?"

Why indeed?

(PS -- If you want to meet some of the chefs who are committed to making good choices, check our our annual Cooking for Solutions events on May 16 and 17. A number of the chefs lauded by Charles Clover have participated in past years, and several -- including Alton Brown (pictured), Michelle Bernstein, Barton Seaver and Rick Moonen -- will be honored at the Monterey Bay Aquarium this year.)

Bluefin on the brink?

Once again, bluefin tuna are in the news, and once again, it's not good news.

In this month's issue of Conservation Biology there's a call for a five-year moratorium on fishing for bluefin tuna in the western Atlantic, and for the closure of the Gulf of Mexico spawning areas. This follows WWF's recent plea to close fishing for Atlantic bluefin in the Mediterranean.

At the aquarium, we're encouraging our visitors to write to the National Marine Fisheries Service and encourage them to bring an end to overfishing and protect Atlantic bluefin tuna, as well as other overfished species. As we recently reported, scientists do have hope for saving the bluefin, but we must act quickly.

Play the game, courtesy of Ocean Legacy (beware, it is addictive!) and send a letter to ask for stronger rules to prevent overfishing.

Saving the Oceans One Meal at a Time

You've heard it before: You are what you eat. Turns out that Planet Earth will become what we eat, too.

The environmental impacts -- on the oceans, marine life and the rest of the biosphere that supports us -- can be measured by the food choices we make. So it's heartening to share two stories this Earth Day about better food choices being promoted by two Monterey Bay Aquarium partners.

First, there's a fabulous article in the Los Angeles Times (by Pulitzer Prize-winning oceans writer Ken Weiss) about the Low Carbon Diet advanced by Bon Appétit Management Co., the food service company here at the aquarium and at 400 other cafes at corporate headquarters, universities and cultural institutions nationwide. Its immediate goal is to reduce the carbon footprint of its foodservice operations by 25 percent.

This includes eliminating air-freighted seafood, buying all meats and vegetables in North America, cutting back on tropical fruits, completing energy audits of their facilities, and putting less meat and cheese on the menu.

And that's just the beginning.

Bon Appétit has long been a partner of our Seafood Watch program, and it's convinced its parent company, Compass Group North America, to follow a similar sustainable seafood path.

Applause to Bon Appétit and to ARAMARK, a world leader in professional facilities management and food services, which has just entered into a partnership with the aquarium under which ARAMARK commits to new practices that will guide its purchases of sustainable seafood for all ARAMARK operations across the United States. As part of the partnership, ARAMARK is beginning immediately to shift its seafood purchases toward sustainable sources. The company will complete the transition by 2018.

This is big news, too, because ARAMARK's operations in the United States alone employ about 180,000 people and serve tens of millions of people at businesses, universities, schools, sports and entertainment facilities, parks and other locations. This includes scores of major league sports facilities, convention centers, leading zoos and aquariums, and national parks and attractions.

We've been able to reach landmark agreements like this because of the changes individual Seafood Watch supporters have made. By asking for sustainable seafood at the grocery store and at restaurants, they've brought this issue to the attention of big companies like ARAMARK. By creating consumer demand, and inspiring big buyers to follow their lead, they're helping to change fisheries and fish-farming practices around the world.

It's truly making a difference, on Earth Day and every day.