Blogs of Interest

If you're reading the Respect Our Seas blog, then chances are you have an interest in the marine environment and conservation. There are many different blogs out there that cover these topics and we thought you may be interested in reading a few of them. Here are our pick of the most interesting blogs around... Enjoy!

EcoSma
"Be the change... Peering through the eyes of a marine biologist."
Samantha Craven is a marine biologist working in Singapore and Malaysia. Her passion for the ocean started at a very early age, and her job has cultivated her interest in conservation in both marine and terrestrial environments. She is a keen photographer and strongly believes in the written word as a medium for sharing information about conservation issues.

It Starts With Me
"It's simple...everything we do (or don't do) has an impact on the world we live in. It starts with me and ripples to you..."
Cigarette butts are the #1 littered item worldwide... Danielle's local beach - Wrightsville Beach, NC - is no exception. With inspiration from her friend Sara who writes The Daily Ocean blog, she's started her own daily ocean. She's heads out to WB at varying beach accesses and picks up litter for 20 minutes. Her focus? Cigarette butts. Her mission? To help create a smoke-free beach and have proper cigarette butt disposal receptacles installed on WB.

The Daily Ocean
"365 non-consecutive days of collecting, weighing and documenting beach trash."
One day, Sara Bayles asked herself this question - "How many pounds of trash could I collect from the beach in one year?" She is now in the process of finding out. This blog documents her 365 day experiment. Sara aims to raise awareness of how much trash is out there on our beaches and getting into the ocean, that the solutions start with us right here on land, and that everyday we can make choices in what we consume and buy that can add up to make a difference.

The Plastic Ocean Project
This blog covers four ocean voyages sampling for plastic and the daily findings of Bonnie Monteleone and Jennifer O'Keefe. In 2009, they sampled the N. Atlantic Gyre. Bonnie went on to sample the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. 2010, they traveled back to Bermuda to resample the Atlantic. And as of late, Bonnie participated in the 1st transect sampling for plastic across the S. Atlantic. They share their findings and comradery with those they meet along the way.

BBC Earth's Life Is
This is the BBC Earth Life Is blog. Within the blog they will be sharing some of Nature's most amazing stories, images and videos. Not all of these are marine or conservation oriented, but it's a fantastic blog and well worth a look. We often feature their marine-related posts in our weekly Marine News Roundups.

Take Nothing But Photos
"Interesting stuff about conservation and the environment."
Not all marine-related but certainly an interesting read. Written by Angela, a marine biologist with several years experience volunteering and working with conservation organisations. Angela is about to embark on a new adventure in the Middle East so I'm sure she'll have lots more to share soon!

The Flotsam Diaries
"A chronicle of human debris. Washed up, blown in, left behind."
Every father reaches that moment, when he knows he has to change the world for his little girl. One day, in March 2010, Harry visited Ocean Park in Maine. He found rope, a glove, a broken plastic spoon, fishing line, a torn beer can, its sharp edges poking up through the soft sand. And lobster traps, ripped from the deeps and dragged for miles, to be half-buried on the beach. The more he looked, the more he saw. Part of a red plastic cup, more nylon rope, bright rubber bands. It was everywhere. The next day, he went back to the beach, trash bag in hand. Two blocks, a leisurely half-hour stroll, and the bag was full. He didn't know what he wanted to do with it. He didn't know if there was anything he could do with it. But he knew he was at the beginning of something, and that this wasn't a bag just to be thrown in the dumpster and forgotten. Because this wasn't just his beach. This was his daughter's. And so he resolved to change the world. Somehow.

Team Marine

Team Marine is a group of Santa Monica students who are determined to help end climate change, slow and stop ocean acidification, and ban single-use plastics. They reach out to others through community events, student-led research, social networking, and social media.