Just 10 days ago, Sylvia Earle’s new book, The World is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean’s Are One, was published. Much like her talk at TED, this book is an articulate and urgent call to the world to recognize that oceanic change threaten the very existence of life on Earth.

More from her publisher:

In recent decades we’ve learned more about the ocean than in all previous human history combined. But, even as our knowledge has exploded, so too has our power to upset the delicate balance of this complex organism. Modern overexploitation has driven many species to the verge of extinction, from tiny but indispensable biota to magnificent creatures like tuna, swordfish, and great whales. Since the mid-20th century about half our coral reefs have died or suffered sharp decline; hundreds of oxygen-deprived “dead zones” blight our coastal waters; and toxic pollutants afflict every level of the food chain.

Fortunately, there is reason for hope, but what we do—or fail to do—in the next ten years may well resonate for the next ten thousand. The ultimate goal, Earle argues passionately and persuasively, is to find responsible, renewable strategies that safeguard the natural systems that sustain us. The first step is to understand and act upon the wise message of this accessible, insightful, and compelling book.

If you enjoyed her talk and support her wish, educate yourself by picking up her book.

Credit: GOOD/Open

We just received an advanced copy of GOOD magazine’s summer 2009 issue – The Water Issue – in our office. It is a great compilation of articles and graphics on all the many topics related to water, from the lack of access to clean water to business of dams to overfishing to war.

TED Prize winner Sylvia Earle has an article entitled “Hope Floats” detailing the urgent need for humans to protect our ocean ecosystems by establishing more marine protected areas (MPAs) or as Sylvia calls them, “hope spots“.  As she states in her article, and her TED Prize talk, only 1% of the ocean is currently protected. That is certainly not enough.

There is time, but not a lot, to secure overarching policies nd a major network of protected places in the water of various nations as well aas in the high seas…One way or another, all of the ocean needs to be cared for as if our lives depend on it, because, well, they do.

Pick up a copy today. And for more on Sylvia’s wish to help ignite support for more hope spots click here.

Credit: GOOD/Open

Today, June 8, is World Oceans Day.  Although it has been celebrated unofficially since 1993, this year marks the first official celebration as declared by the United Nations. Sylvia Earle, in her 2009 TED Prize talk, eloquently expressed why all people need to take notice of the importance of the oceans and how their destruction affects all of us:

Fifty years ago, when I began exploring the ocean, no one … imagined that we could do anything to harm the ocean by what we put into it or by what we took out of it. It seemed, at that time, to be a sea of Eden, but now we know, and now we are facing paradise lost.

I want to … consider why it matters that in 50 years we’ve lost – actually, we’ve taken, we’ve eaten – more than 90 percent of the big fish in the sea, why you should care that nearly half of the coral reefs have disappeared, why a mysterious depletion of oxygen in large areas of the Pacific should concern not only the creatures that are dying but it really should concern you. It does concern you, as well.

[...] The poet Auden said, “Thousands have lived without love. None without water.” Ninety-seven percent of Earth’s water is ocean. No blue, no green. If you think the ocean isn’t important, imagine Earth without it. Mars comes to mind. No ocean. No life support system.

[...] Tim Worth says the economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the environment. With every drop of water you drink, every breath you take, you’re connected to the sea. No matter where on Earth you live. Most of the oxygen in the atmosphere is generated by the sea. Over time, most of the planet’s organic carbon has been absorbed and stored there, mostly by microbes. The ocean drives climate and weather, stabilizes temperature, shapes Earth’s chemistry. Water from the sea forms clouds that return to the land and the seas as rain, sleet and snow, and provides home for about 97 percent of life in the world, maybe in the universe. No water, no life. No blue, no green.

There are many ways to mark this occasion.  Here are just a few:

1. Share Sylvia Earle’s TEDTalk and TED Prize with someone who has not seen it yet. And if you want to help fulfill Sylvia’s wish, send in an offer of support.

2. Fill out this survey to support Sylvia’s wish.

3. Participate in one of the many events happening globally to mark World Oceans Day.

4. If you are in NYC, stop and look at the Empire State Building this evening when it is bathed in blue.

5. Learn more about Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) through the recently redeveloped World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA).

6. Follow tweets from around the world chronicling the celebration of #WorldOceansDay.

Go to The Oceans Project website for more celebration ideas.

In order to best fulfill Sylvia Earle’s wish, our incredible partners at Razorfish have created a survey on people’s knowledge of the many dangers facing our oceans. The generous support of Keynote Solutions, a test and measurement company, will allow us to organize the information we gather which will provide us valuable insight into the public’s understanding of the threats marine life face today.

Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey and help us move one step closer to making Sylvia Earle’s wish come true!

Share the link with friends.  The more, the merrier!

Credit: GOOD and Timko & Klick

Earlier this spring at the Women in Conservation luncheon, the National Audubon Society honored Sylvia Earle with a Rachel Carson Award. As GOOD Magazine recounted, in her speech, “she spoke about one thing we can all do to help protect our ravaged oceans: Stop. Eating. Fish.”

Now GOOD has posted a beautiful transparency on the impact fish consumption has had on our oceans in the past 50 years. The statistics are staggering.

For those who do not want to give up fish altogether, here is a great resource for making sustainable seafood choices.

You can find GOOD’s transparencies archive available on Flickr. (via)

A brief note from Sylvia Earle via Chris Anderson’s blog…

TED Prize winner Sylvia Earle just emailed that the World Ocean Conference in Manado, Indonesia, which has government delegations from 50 countries, is including the following statement in its closing declaration:

“We resolve to further establish and effectively manage marine protected areas, including representative resilient networks, in accordance with international law … recognizing the importance of their contribution to ecosystem goods and services…”

Razorfish has come on board for Sylvia Earle’s wish in a big way, helping to design a website and campaign around TED@Sea and saving the oceans.  A member of their team has started a blog about the project which I highly recommend.  There you will find articles about the ocean as well as the Razorfish perspective on Sylvia’s TED Prize wish.

Sylvia Earle’s powerful talk at TED 2009 inspired everyone to do their part in protecting and restoring the oceans, the blue heart of the planet. As the TED community comes together around the central plan for her wish, some TEDsters have also pursued side projects to support Sylvia’s wish.

Hamid Shojaee of Axosoft met the Ask a Ninja at TED2009 and they decided to make an iPhone game based on the brand. The game, “I am Ninja”, allows users to become ninjas and fight off enemies such as pirates, zombies and evil ninjas with a variety of weapons.  Even better, 10 percent of the proceeds from the game will go to Sylvia Earle’s Deep Search Foundation. (via)

You can find the game here.  A fun way to help the oceans – what more could you ask for.

A different kind of wish from Sylvia Earle. (via)

I imagine gliding along on with swift ocean currents, feeling the flow of warm and cool water against the soft areas around my flippers, glimpsing other ocean giants in their own realm, listening to humpback whales, with their melodious sounds, echoing from deep ocean cliffs and canyons. With luck, I might encounter the fastest fish in the ocean – sleek blue fin tuna, flashing silver as they power their way across entire ocean basins. I could find myself face to face with the biggest fish in the sea – a whale shark, as long as a bus with a mouth broader than a leatherback turtle is long, but with an appetite aimed only at tiny planktonic creatures. I might see mako and oceanic whitetip and even great white sharks, toothy animals that sometimes have young turtles for lunch, but as a grown-up sea turtle, I wouldn’t worry as most big, healthy turtles are not on their menu.