The Ripple - May 2023

Happy May from The Ripple, a monthly newsletter by FutureSwell, designed and updated specifically for ocean people. Every month expect resources, news, and opportunities for the ocean conservationist in everyone. This month is no different! In preparation of World Ocean Day, we have so much to share.

But first, don’t miss an ocean adventure! Follow us on Youtube for video podcasts, short films, and even a few ocean adventures 😳

‘Dr. Deep Sea’ Breaks World Record for Longest Time Living Underwater

“The idea is to populate the world’s oceans, to take care of them by living in them and treating them really well”

University of South Florida professor Dr. Joseph Dituri, also know as ‘Dr. Deep Sea’, just spent 74 consecutive days living underwater at the bottom of a 30 foot lagoon in Key Largo. The lagoon houses Jule’s Undersea Lodge used by university researchers for various scientific studies. The professor’s record will continue as his goal is to last at least 100 days underwater to better understand life undersea and how the human body reacts in extreme environments. He says the thing he misses most living underwater is the sun, which is definitely understandable.

Goodbye TCC, hello FutureSwell 🌊

If you follow us on the rest of our social media you may have realized we recently adopted a new name under FutureSwell. Everything we do is to scale ocean climate solutions and inspire this community to make waves of change for a better future, and we wanted our brand name to reflect those values.

Thank you for growing, creating, and evolving with us over these last three years. We have embarked on so many adventures including cultivating short films creating engaging podcasts, interviewing leading marine scientists, and hosting community events. Our contributions to ocean conservation are just beginning, and the best is yet to come.

Same mission. Same impact. Same community. New name.

Stoked on Solutions

Let’s all avoid burning out on our activism by staying inspired by solutions! We’ve got you covered - we just launched a new segment called Stoked on Solutions, where we highlight incredible ocean solutions around the world that can be replicated over and over again. Our most recent Sustainability & The Sea podcast episode dives into 3 that you need to know!

• How Palau’s educational student campaign saved green sea turtles

• How the Galápagos Islands are leading by example in ecotourism

• How a small fishing village of 800 people in Robinson Crusoe, Chile created a self-enforced Marine Protected Area

New Short Film by Mayara Schürer

We’ve been advising a high school senior all year to support her thesis project to create a short film on ocean conservation. It’s ready to share with the world! Mayara wanted to craft a story about plastic pollution, threats to shark populations, and a connection to the sea. Next year she is planning to attend the University of Hawai’i to study marine science and begin her journey towards an ocean career! 🤿

Blue News

Dubai Unveils MASSIVE Ocean Restoration Project

Dubai is a vibrant urban oasis constantly at the forefront of global sustainable architecture, modern technologies, and outlandish construction projects. Recent plans were unveiled to establish an enormous artificial reef project on the Dubai coastline. The ‘world’s largest ocean restoration project’ is projected to establish more than 1 billion corals, 100 million mangroves, and cover more than 77 square miles of ocean property by 2040. The project will offer residential, retail, and hospitality facilities all developed around a central marine institute. Read more.

O’ahu Summer Coral Restoration Course Launched with Inflation Reduction Act funding!

Our partners at Kuleana Coral Restoration have launched Coral Occupational Applications and Scientific Techniques (Coast) program, a fully funded 8 week course available to O’ahu young professionals looking to build ocean related careers. The program is designed to reduce barriers to access for Pacific Islanders, and includes free SCUBA certifications up to Rescue and countless skill-based lessons.

Wildlife Photographer Pooped on by Whale … For Science? 🐋💩

Poor Enric Sala, a 60 Minutes Photographer working in the Caribbean, was surprised after a curious Sperm Whale engulfed him in a cloud of poop. Sala later explained why he did not mind because of how extremely important poop is to the oceans. Whale poop is particularly high in nutrients, able to fertilize shallow waters and feed many lower trophic level organisms. These organism form the base of the ocean’s food web supporting virtually every other creatures the inhabit or interact with the oceans. Also the poop critically supports phytoplankton which are responsible for producing more than 50% of the breathable oxygen in our atmosphere need for our own survival. Read more

Leading by Example is the BEST Way to Induce Climate-Friendly Behavior

An interesting study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences deduced the most effective method for producing adopted behaviors is by demonstrating ideal actions and implicitly encouraging others to follow. It is important for conservationists to remember you cannot change the world overnight, and it takes many years if not decades to elicit the kind of changes our world requires to heal. However, you as the individual can elicit those kinds of behavioral changes in other people just by leading by example. Implement behaviors like using less single-use plastics, buying from sustainable distributors, eating local, and conserving energy. Read more

Rich Countries Fishing Out Poor Countries

Wealthier nations like China, Spain, and the United States have been participating in fisheries subsidies overseas for almost a century and can now be attributed to disproportionate effects on poorer nations around the world. Distant water fishing adds up to more than $5 billion USD annually, of which more than 40% occur in very poor nations. Fishery subsidies intend to boost economic profits by utilizing the extremely poor economies where distant fishing happens in places like Somalia, Namibia, and Guinea-Bissau.

Studies by the World Trade Organization encourage quotas, restrictions, and stricter enforcement of laws regulating fishing in these nation’s waters. The WTO encourages nations to utilize better negotiation strategies to help enforce sustainable fishery practices and financial stabilities moving forward. Read more

Ocean Careers

Blue Advice: Welcome to our new Ripple section featuring curated advice, strategies, and resources specifically designed for those of you interested in becoming marine biologists. We constantly get asked questions about how to enter this career field and we thought what better way to provide answers than with an entire section devoted to advice directly from marine conservationists! Here are some places to start, and keep asking your questions on our other platforms so we can give you all the answers you need.

Join a Professional Society

Professional societies are organizations that help professionals stay informed on the latest developments in their field. These societies provide working professional opportunities to network, learn, share information, and maintain best practices with others in their field.

Joining a society relative to your intended field will provide direct access to conferences, workshops, publications, email services, and websites invaluable to your career. Many professional societies also offer reduced membership rates for students, scholarship opportunities, and are an excellent idea if you are serious about a particular career.

Our goal is to get as many people as possible involved in marine conservation.

• Surfrider Beach Cleanup Coordinator - California, USA

• Aquaculture Technician - Hawai’i, USA

• Scallop Observer - Massachusetts, USA

• Contribute Science Articles to Greenzine - remote

• Fisheries Ecology Internship - Alabama, USA

• Policy Internship - California, USA