The Gulf of Mexico: What’s at Stake
May 28, 2010 by Ocean Doctor · 4 Comments
This video highlights the vast diversity of marine life throughout the Gulf at risk from the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. The video provides an underwater tour of the Gulf by sub and scuba, encompassing the U.S., Cuba and Mexico. Produced for the opening of the first State of the Gulf of Mexico Summit in 2006, it was also shown before Congress on 5/19/2010 as part of the testimony of Dr. Sylvia A. Earle.
Waiting for the Oil…
May 17, 2010 by Ocean Doctor · 2 Comments
Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys
On July 18, 1975, the tanker Garbis spilled 1,500 to 3,000 barrels of crude oil into the warm, turquoise, coral-rich waters roughly 26 miles south-southwest of the Marquesas Keys, Florida. The oil was blown ashore along a 30-mile stretch of the Florida Keys, east of Key West. I was 16 and enjoying my second summer at Seacamp, a marine science camp on Big Pine Key. Rumors of the spill raced throughout the campus until finally, instructor James Smithson decided to find out for himself what menace might be approaching. He took a small away team aboard his 21-foot Mako, “Isurus,” and made haste south toward the reef tract. We waited impatiently for word back as the sun fell to the horizon and scattered its tranquil orange glow across the water. What I saw next filled me with dread. The Isurus entered the harbor, its white hull stained with enormous swaths of dark brown oil. In that moment the menace was no longer abstract, and to my young mind, everything we treasured — the corals, the mangroves, the fish, the turtles –was on the brink of extermination. Read more
A Message to Eastern Airlines, 35 Years Late
June 24, 2009 by Ocean Doctor · 8 Comments
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Remember Eastern Airlines? I do. And I’m forever grateful to the long-gone carrier for transporting me to a new world exactly 35 years ago, a world that I’ve never left. On June 24, 1974, I boarded Eastern Airlines flight 35 in Philadelphia, sat myself in seat 12A, a window of course. Scheduled departure was 900am. The Boeing 727 rumbled down the runway, and two and half magical hours later, a 15-year-old teenager from Philly found himself in Miami, Florida, eager with anticipation of catching his first glimpse of the Florida Keys, wherever they were. I didn’t know. Someone had to draw a map for me on a napkin.
Science Leadership Academy (Philadelphia, PA)
May 5, 2009 by Ocean Doctor · Leave a Comment
| June 10, 2009 | ||
| 12:00 pm | to | 1:00 pm |
Science Leadership Academy (Philadelphia, PA)
Orlando Public Library (Orlando, FL)
May 5, 2009 by Ocean Doctor · Leave a Comment
| May 9, 2009 | ||
| 10:30 am | to | 11:30 am |
Orlando Public Library – Orange County Library System (Orlando, FL)
Genesee High School (Genesee, MI)
May 5, 2009 by Ocean Doctor · Leave a Comment
| May 28, 2009 | ||
| 12:30 pm | to | 2:30 pm |
Genesee High School (Genesee, MI)
Jackson Liberty High School (Jackson, NJ)
May 5, 2009 by Ocean Doctor · 4 Comments
| May 22, 2009 | ||
| 9:00 am | to | 11:30 am |
Jackson Liberty High School (Jackson, NJ)
Seagate Elementary (Naples, FL)
May 5, 2009 by Ocean Doctor · Leave a Comment
| May 13, 2009 | ||
| 1:00 pm | to | 2:30 pm |
Seagate Elementary (Naples, FL)
Golden Gate Elementary (Naples, FL)
May 5, 2009 by Ocean Doctor · Leave a Comment
| May 13, 2009 | ||
| 9:00 am | to | 10:00 am |
Golden Gate Elementary (Naples, FL)
50 States – Leg 4, Stop 2: St. Louis, Missouri – Snow Day with a Difference
March 1, 2009 by Ocean Doctor · 6 Comments
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I hadn’t seen it snowing sideways with such intensity since I rode out the "Storm of the Century" in Cape May, New Jersey. Of course, I was looking out the window of a Boeing 737 in motion, very definitely a moving frame of reference, so perhaps the "sideways" part was somewhat exaggerated, but the intensity part wasn’t. On our final approach, I was mesmerized by the sight of a buried St. Louis, Missouri slowly coming into view through a milky night sky, blanketed by the blizzard that was on top of it. The Interstate was a broad white ribbon snaking through the tranquil-looking city, with just a handful of headlights and tailights of vehicles making what must have been an incredibly perilous journey. I would soon be among them.
