Sea Notes

Acid Oceans

At the Copenhagen conference on climate change , there was new (and long overdue) attention to the impacts of global carbon pollution on the health of the ocean. Much of the science is coming out of Monterey Bay.

The Associated Press provides a solid overview of what ocean acidification will mean for the animals at the base of the food web. It's a sobering story that underscores the urgency of action to curb -- and reduce -- the greenhouse gases that we produce to heat and cool our homes, run our factories, raise our food and commute.

The Center for Ocean Solutions-- a three-way partnership among the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Stanford University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute -- told the story in Copenhagen, and in a short online video. It's well worth checking out.

Aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard's been raising the issue for quite a while. More recently, actress Sigourney Weaver deflected questions from Fox & Friends about her starring role in Avatar, in favor of talking about her narration of the documentary Acid Test. It's a concise and compelling look at ocean acidification, available for online viewing.

We'll bring the story to life in March, when we open our special exhibition, Hot Pink Flamingos: Stories of Hope in a Changing Sea. Stay tuned.

Julie Packard - 2009 Coastal Hero

The Aquarium's Executive Director was recently honored to be selected by the California Coastal Commission to receive an Ocean Heroes Award.

The ceremony, which took place last night, was the first such occasion, and recognized nine individuals who have worked tirelessly for our coast, it's wildlife and for all of us who live here and know that this is one of the most remarkable places on our planet.

Although it is the Monterey Bay Aquarium's 25th Anniversary in October, this is actually Julie's 30th year with the institution. During those 30 years, she has seen the Aquarium established as a world leader in the aquarium field, but also increasingly recognized as a national conservation organization; this year also being the 10th Anniversary of our Seafood Watch program. Increasingly the Aquarium is seen as a force in policy and advocacy, championing the West Coast Governors' Agreement on Ocean Health, and supporting the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative, to create a network of marine protected areas along the entire California Coast.

To work for Julie and the aquarium is to be inspired on a daily basis. The aquarium's mission is to inspire conservation of the oceans. Visitors, staff and volunteers alike are living this mission. You will find three such stories in Julie's blog today on Huffington Post.

We hope you will continue to inspired by the Monterey Bay Aquarium and join us in taking action for healthy oceans.

 

To Love the Land

Jim Covel is senior manager of Guest Experience Training and Interpretation at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This entry also appeared in the National Association for Interpretation's blog.

As I sit here writing, I’m enjoying a dried apricot.  Not just any apricot, but one that was grown in David Packard’s orchard that surrounds the Packard home in Los Altos Hills on the San Francisco Peninsula.  Most folks know David Packard as the co-founder of Hewlett Packard, makers of computers and other electronic devices.  What you may not know is that Mr. Packard was a devoted outdoorsman who loved to hunt and fish, raised prize cattle, spent long hours in his own blacksmith shop, and yes—loved his apricot orchard.  Each year at this time Mr. Packard would bring a bushel basket of dried apricots to the Monterey Bay Aquarium to share with the volunteers and staff.  These were beautiful Blenheim apricots that were grown, harvested and dried by the Packard family.  Somehow sharing these apricots with us was a way of sharing a little bit of themselves with the rest of us.

 

David Packard grew up in Pueblo, Colorado, in an era when hiking, hunting, fishing, and horseback riding were a common part of a boy’s life.  As a boy, David Packard lived close to the land.  David Packard the man kept that enduring connection to the land throughout his life.  As the Hewlett Packard company became increasingly successful, Mr. Packard had the means to support open space and habitat preservation efforts.  The Packard Foundation has played a significant role in preserving critical habitats, particularly in California where rapid urbanization is overtaking so much open space. 

 

As more and more of us grow up in urban settings, fostering that abiding connection to the land becomes increasingly difficult.  I worry about where the next John Muir, Aldo Leopold or David Packard will come from.  I do know that next generation of stewards is more than likely in a park, a nature center, a zoo or aquarium right now, where interpreters are helping to nurture the values that are common to conservation leaders in any era.  You see that connection to the land is so often inspired through a close connection to other people that love the land.  Those people may be parents or relatives, a camp counselor, teacher, a naturalist or interpreter or others.  It’s a responsibility we all share if we care about the future and nurturing the next generation of stewards.

 

Of the many contributions he made in so many areas, David Packard felt that resource conservation—taking care of the land—would far outlast his other activities.  Seeing how he inspired that conservation ethic in his children and grandchildren, and how they carry on his love of nature, I think he may be right.  That apricot orchard not only produced a delicious crop of fruit every year, but the love that David and Lucile Packard invested in those trees taught their family to love the land, and that lesson will bear fruit for many generations to come.

 

-Jim Covel

Julie Packard, Ocean Hero

Monterey Bay Aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard has been named one of nine 2009 California Coastal Heroes by Sunset magazine and the California Coastal Commission. She and her fellow honorees are profiled in the September issue of Sunsetand will be honored at the California Coastal Commission's 25th anniversary celebration in San Francisco on September 17.

Here’s what Sunset editor Katie Tamony had to say about her:

“From the day it opened in 1984, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has been the standard by which all other aquariums are measured. Much of its success is due to its extraordinary executive director, Julie Packard, who has steered the organization since its opening.”

Under her leadership, the aquarium has pioneered innovative exhibits and education initiatives, and has evolved into one of the nation’s leading ocean conservation organizations through its Seafood Watch program, its activities on behalf of ocean policy reform, and field research that is throwing new light on the challenges facing sea otters, white sharks and bluefin tuna in the wild.

A graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz with bachelors and masters degrees in biology, she brings a lifelong passion for the natural world to her service with many organizations dedicated to conservation activities. She is a trustee of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and chairs the board of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, a leader in development of new technologies for understanding the deep sea and global ocean. She has also served on the boards of the California Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund.

A member of the Pew Oceans Commission, she serves on the Joint Oceans Commission Initiative that works to implement comprehensive reform of U.S. ocean policy.

Packard was the 1998 recipient of the Audubon Medal for Conservation and the 2004 Ted Danson Ocean Hero Award from Oceana.  Earlier this year, she was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences –- one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies.

She will be honored as a California Coastal Hero along with John Hanke of Google Earth, Linda Sheehan of the California Coastkeeper Alliance, State Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), Serge Dedina of Wildcoast, actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, marine scientist Dr. Gary Griggs, and Pierce and Keely Brosnan.

A great honor for Julie, and a nice way for the aquarium to celebrate its 25th anniversary year!

A Jolly Good Fellow

What do Nelson Mandela, Bono, Marilyn Horne, James Earl Jones and Monterey Bay Aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard have in common?

They were all named 2009 Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences -- the most prestigious honor society and center for independent policy research in the United States. Her selection is good news for everyone who cares about the future of the oceans.

Packard served on the Pew Oceans Commission (along with NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco and CIA Director Leon Panetta, who are both past board members of the Monterey Bay Aquarium). She is a past recipient of honors including the Audubon Medal for Conservation and Ted Danson Ocean Hero Award.

At the Academy, she joins an illustrious roster of Fellows who have been recognized by the Academy since its founding in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock and other scholar-patriots of the American Revolution.

Because the Academy relies on its Fellows to help address complex and emerging problems facing human society, her selection bodes well for having ocean issues front and center on the Academy's agenda.

Congratulations, Julie!