Al Gore Accepts Nobel Peace Price

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Saying it's ''time to make peace with the planet,'' Al Gore accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on Monday with a call for humanity to rise up against a looming climate crisis and stop waging war on the environment. — NYT Online

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Nobel-Prizes.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Take Action!

Petition to establish Marine Reserves

"There is a growing body of scientific evidence that demonstrates that the establishment of large-scale networks of marine reserves, urgently needed to protect marine species and their habitats, could be key to reversing global fisheries decline and restoring our oceans.

Greenpeace's plan to set aside 40 percent of the world's oceans as no-take zones could mean survival for sharks, tuna, whales, and a wide range of threatened and endangered species.." (taken from: http://oceans.greenpeace.org)



SIGN THE PETITION HERE

Breath in Breath Out

Blue Man Group on Global Warming

Sustainable Travel International

MISSION : What they do

" Sustainable Travel International (STI) is a global leader in sustainable tourism development. The 501(c)(3) non-profit organization’s mission is to promote sustainable development and responsible travel by providing programs that enable consumers, businesses and travel-related organizations to contribute to the environmental, socio-cultural and economic values of the places they visit, and the planet at large.

STI is dedicated to providing education and outreach services that will lessen the toll that travel and tourism takes on the environment and local cultures. By providing tangible, solutions-oriented programs, STI is taking a holistic approach to addressing sustainable development within the travel and tourism industry."

WWF Mangroves

The WWF has a great page about Mangrove Importance. I'm especially interested in the part about tourism. "Great potential exists elsewhere for revenue generation [through tours], which values the mangroves intact and as they stand." They want people to recognize the importance of mangroves, and if they do, they'll start visiting them, which could be an important money making venture, but it will also be more dangerous as more people are visiting and potentially impacting the area.

Bonaire National Marine Park

Last week George was talking to my group about his work in the Bonaire National Marine Park. Here's their site: http://www.bmp.org/.

I'm finding their Rules and Regulations really useful for our project. While these aren't laws in all places, they can be formed as suggestions to people to voluntarily change their behavior.

Eyebeam Sustainability Reblog

Eyebeam's reblog is being run right now by their Sustainability Research Group. They're reblogging a bunch of posts on design and sustainability. Lots of it has to do with climate change. They also have some visual examples such as an alphabet poster of endangered species and an interesting "Use Electricity Wisely" ad.

Oceana

http://www.oceana.org/international-home-nao/

Environmental Organization focused on the ocean/marine environment.

2006 Dolphin Slaughter — Warning Content is Graphic

http://takeaction.oceana.org/dia/organizationsORG/oceana/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=5322&utm_source=20060929_DolphinVideo&utm_medium=email


From October to April, Japanese fishermen will kill more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises as part of their annual hunt. Officials claim the slaughter is a form of “pest control” to offset the amount of fish the dolphins eat. But, the reality is, the butchered dolphins are sold off to supermarkets and grocery stores. - Oceana

Save The Dolphins — Oceana

"From October to April, Japanese fishermen will kill more than 20,000 dolphins and porpoises as part of their annual hunt. Officials claim the slaughter is a form of "pest control" to offset the amount of fish the dolphins eat. But, the reality is, the butchered dolphins are sold off to supermarkets and grocery stores.

Japanese fishermen have admitted that they are worried the government will soon shut them down in light of international outrage over the hunt. Contact the Japanese Embassy today and tell Japan to stop the slaughter." — Oceana


Watch the video and send a letter to Japanese Embassy

http://takeaction.oceana.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=17309

(Note this video contains disturbing images of dolphins being killed)

Thursday Panel on Sustainability and Water...

"Future Talk Now: Learning from New Orleans, the Western Balkans, and
Acre, Brazil"

2007-08 Vera List Center Fellow Marjetica Potrc,
in conversation with Carlos Basualdo, Curator of Contemporary Art, the
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Thursday, November 1, 2007 - 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
The New School, The Orozco Room
66 West 12th Street, 7th floor
New York City
Admission: $8, free for all students, as well as New School faculty,
staff and alumni with valid ID
SPACE IS EXTREMELY LIMITED; RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED.

Sustainability has become a buzzword recently. Slovenian artist and
architect Marjetica Potrc has applied and investigated this concept for
many years in artworks, museum exhibitions and on-site interventions
around the world. In this conversation, the renowned curator Carlos
Basualdo will introduce the artistic oeuvre of Potrc, the newly
appointed Vera List Center Fellow with whom he has collaborated on
several projects.

The focus of their conversation will be Potrc*s new research project
on the use of water: during an artist*s residency with the
Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans this fall, the artist was
conducting on-site examinations into sustainable water-use practices
that have developed in New Orleans since Katrina such as the reclamation
of wetlands, and she is now beginning to draw comparisons to New York
City.

The New Orleans project is characteristic of the artist*s approach:
Potrc took up residency in a site of political turmoil and social
transformation and, after extensive scientific and cultural research,
will insert into the contested situation her work, possibly an
architectural installation or simply a conversation, in order to provide
clarity and new solutions. The outcome of this project will be featured
in the exhibition *Something from Nothing,* curated by Dan Cameron
and opening at the New Orleans Contemporary Art Center in early 2008.

* * *
TICKETS for this Event:
In person purchases can be made at The New School Box Office at 66 West
12th Street, main floor, Monday to Friday 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. Ticket
inquiries can be sent to boxoffice@newschool.edu or 212.229.5488.
RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED.

EVENT INFORMATION: 212.229.5353, specialprograms@newschool.edu, or
www.newschool.edu/publicprograms.

Entertainment on waves vs tragedy of Tsunami

One of the aquatic sports, Surfing( if you are fan of surfing, take a look at these links):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjuyCRwxsow
I found this following link very interesting; it's called "Typhoon Surfing in Japan" (' O ')//:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfyicUMswwo
surfing on GIANT WAVE, just looking at the clip will make you scared and wow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlPqL7IUT6M

While some people were enjoying the surfing on the gentle ocean, on the other side of globe, there were terror of death. Do you remember the horrifying tragedy, Tsunami. These linked movs are really emotional clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQoj1s7z48o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhuqKhXZkkY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1hqBwT1azk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5NpnMsUW94
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNpi9nCnMPo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yxXl5xNdjU

I also found the clips that contains the visuals of environmental issues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXhyQfFs9K4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FVZSUsT-Ws
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov6GPTB4Tio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr5O1HsTVgA

These are the clips illustrating the tragedies of aquatic creatures, resulted by the pollution of the ocean-
Death of a Tuna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t12Tby8oTE0

Some people take actions against people's indifference in global warming that causing crisis of aquatic creatures. Hundreds strip naked on glacier in global warming protest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RVp8Q6H9e0
Green peace's documentation of whale hunting:
http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=/watch%3Fv%3Dv2BKDhuZ

Fijian Island Art

Bowl, 19th century
Fiji
Wood; W. 22 1/4 in. (56.5 cm)
The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection,
Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.1579)

Read more about related island art.

Making Masi

Masi is the Fijian word for tapa or bark cloth.

It is also the Fijian name for the paper mulberry tree, (scientific name Broussonetia papyrifera), bought to the Pacific on voyages of migration and used in China as early as 600 BC.

Different cultures across the Pacific, Tonga, Fiji and Eastern Papua for example, have developed diverse methods and distinctive styles of decorating and using the cloth.


For more on MAKING MASI..

Image by Nancy Atkin

youtube links with aquatic features

I was looking for , first of all, serious documentary short clips about the crisis of aquatic environment of todays , but I found the advertising short video clips with great scenes of islands and oceans. The links are:

Take a journey to Turtle Island, Fiji islands!!!!!!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gaK3znvghc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aif7Pely7c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81qB6ZxU9k0
Ocean and great aquatic environment provide us lots of exercise to enjoy.
Scuba diving, surfing, and lot more.... these are the links for cool stuff:

Have you heard of "Okinawa," Hawaii of Japan!
Scuba Diving in Okinawa:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnQuiFhYtgc
Scuba Diving in Hawaii:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfnWata5FqA

Fiji Art

Check out some of the candids on this site:
fijiartscouncil.org

OverFishing

VISIT COUSTEAU

" Every person has the right to inherit an uncontaminated planet on which all forms of life may flourish. "






Bill of Rights for Future Generations inititated by Cousteau in 1990 states that:

" Future generations have a right to an uncontaminated and undamaged Earth and to its enjoyment as the ground of human history, of culture, and of the social bonds that make each generation and individual a member of one human family. "

This and other interesting news, articles, games, photos, videos and more at:Jacques Cousteau Organization

General questions about our course...

Why Boston? Why Fiji? Why not NYC?

It seems that we are going so far out of our way for this class. I mean, our school is on an island. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what would happen if we focused our efforts here? I think the whole class would produce more tangible movie clips.

Links for Environmental Legislation

Here are my links for the "Government Legislation related to the marine environment" part of the Research Section of the site-

United Nations Environment Program, Marine Coastal Environment: http://www.unep.org/themes/marine/default.asp

UN Environment Programme, global Programme of Action for the Protectino of the Marine environment from Land-based Activities: http://www.gpa.unep.org/

Endangered Species in the US: http://www.fws.gov/endangered/wildlife.html#Species

Federal Wildlife and Related Law Handbook: http://ipl.unm.edu/cwl/fedbook/statute_frame.htm

Digest of Federal Resource Laws:
http://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest.htm

Environmental Issues in Fiji

Here are two sites with information about Fiji environmental issues:

WWF Fiji: http://www.wwfpacific.org.fj/where_we_work/fiji/index.cfm
World Wildlife Fund for Fiji

The Mamanuca Environment Society: http://mesfiji.org/
A Nonprofit working on marine environmental protection in Fiji.

Discoveries in Oceanic Biodiversity

I just listened to Talk of the Nation on NPR (you can subscribe to the podcast)-- I guess they have "Science Fridays" when they talk about recent news in science. Looking through their archives or subscribing can be a worthwhile place to collect information and ideas for our projects.

Anyway, on October 12th, they talked with a researcher about deep-sea biodiversity. Click here for the story.

Art as a Medium for Awareness

I found this artist Jason de Caires Taylor.

"His sculptures highlight ecological processes whilst exploring the intricate relationships between modern art and the environment."

For me, this combination of art and commentary of the environment and how we relate to it is very interesting. I believe, it is extremely important to find new ways to create awareness that are not what we have all already seen and therefore are used to.

experimental aquarium video...

hey guys, i modified the video we showed in class... it is an experiment in reflection and abstraction of shape...

The Sea Turtle

Awareness and Importance of Sea Turtles:
For one of the next video projects, Squad B (Drew, Sandy, Paul, and myself) has decided to do a short piece on the sea turtle. We have very interesting photography and video footage of the gigantic sea turtle in the large ocean tank from our field trip at the New England Aquarium. From research thus far, I have learned that all 7 species of marine turtles that exist are either endangered or threatened. In the U.S., our waters contain 6 of these species and also have laws that protect them. Still though, there are many factors that threaten the sea turtles including pollution to the ocean, accidental capturing of protected species (which is called "bycatching"), and also harvesting of seaturtles for their shells, leather, and consumption. I have learned that seaturtles have served as important indicators of the vitality of the marine environment and its ecosystems.
Through study of sea turtles, we are able to determine numerous problems occurring within the marine environment. The extinction of species of sea turtles would result in the loss of our ability to find out this kind of information...which is why it is important to protect and conserve species of sea turtles! That is all for now...check the b squad website soon to view our upcoming projects.

Links where you can find out more about Sea Turtles:
1. NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/
2. Sea Turtle Species of the World: http://www.cccturtle.org/species.htm


Photo: Sea Turtle, taken by Melissa Marcus at the New England Aquarium

A Day @ The Aquarium

*this is a video we put together of some of the footage that we took at our visit to the New England Aquarium. (it has sound!!)

Marine Documentary Links

Here are some documentaries with interesting links that I found online... I basically picked them based on their public prestige:

Discovery Channel | Blue Planet series
PBS | Jean-Michel Cousteau Ocean Adventures series
Sharkwater| Documentary premiering November 2nd
Aliens of the Deep | Documentary of a deep sea dive by James Cameron
Ocean's Deadliest | Steve Irwin's final documentary series on Animal Plannet

turtle

Thank You card !

Thank you to George Buckley from Harvard University
and Steve Bailey from The New England Aquarium
for giving us the wonderful opportunity to shoot our footage!

~posted by Stephanie Mendolia

Aqua Day

Here are some of my shots for the day @ the aquarium. I am soon uploading a slideshow so you can see them all.

Posted by: PAULA WINOGRAD

The beauty of creatures

fantasticCreatures_maral

theTrip_maral

Aquarium shots..

Posted by Melissa Marcus

The audio/visual crew!

Posted by Melissa Marcus

Underwater camera demonstration...

Posted by Melissa Marcus

New England Aquarium Fieldtrip..

First Impressions of the NEAquarium..
Posted by Melissa Marcus

Behind the Scenes — The New England Aquarium

Walking behind the scenes of the Temperate Gallery, Steve Bailey, Curator of Fishes - New England Aquarium, described the marine ecosystems, animal care, and the importance of exhibit designs as Parsons students photographed and vidoegraphed the different animals...not always viewed by the general public.

~ Posted By: Keith Ellenbogen, Faculty Parsons School of Design, Communication Design and Technology Department

Diving inside the Giant Ocean Tank (GOT) — Looking out

These pictures were taken while scuba diving within the Giant Ocean Tank as I looked through the glass at two students from Parsons School of Design. I took the underwater photographs with Nikon D200 and Sea&Sea Underwater housing.

~ Posted by: Keith Ellenbogen, Faculty Parsons School of Design, Communication Design and Technology Department