The Ocean Foundation & earthDECKS.org
earthDECKS.org is proud to be an affiliate of The Ocean Foundation (TOF), which acts as the 501 (c)3 fiscal sponsor for earthDECKS.org and our flagship project, PLASTIC. We focus on Expanding Ocean Literacy, one of the four priorities of The Ocean Foundation, building portals to information and existing outstanding media, such as the film Plastic Ocean, made by plasticoceans.org.
Mark J. Spalding, President of The Ocean Foundation has reviewed Plastic Ocean, a feature length documentary that was shown at the Salisbury Forum, attended by three Ocean Foundation Board Members.
He wrote that “A Plastic Ocean is a beautifully filmed, emotionally devastating overview of the ubiquitous distribution of plastic waste throughout our global ocean (plasticoceans.org) and the harm it is causing to ocean life and to human communities as well. . .whales suffocating from inhaling plastic sheeting, birds’ stomachs too full of pieces of plastic to process food, and children living by a toxic salty soup.”
Plastics in most packaging, and chemicals associated with plastic packaging, can trigger hormonal-imbalances, in addition to having a severe impact on our ecosystems.
The Ocean Foundation marine conservation partner projects have grown 26% annually. In its first thirteen years, The Ocean Foundation has spent more than $44 million on marine conservation through grants and services in the following four areas:
- Protecting Marine Habitats, $8.1 million,
- Protecting Species of Concern, $14.3 million,
- Building Capacity in the Marine Community, $11.5 million,
- Expanding Ocean Literacy, $10.6 million.
The Ocean Foundation focuses on achieving maximum impact by growing its community through building a network of organizations addressing the challenge of saving our oceans.
There are clear synergies among existing Ocean Foundation sponsored projects and the earthDECKS.org project PLASTIC.
The Ocean Foundation provides users of their site with a selected a group of passions and threats to engage its audience in the Currents that most interest each visitor. One of their focal threats is ocean trash as The Ocean Foundation shows dramatically in this photo of a plastic fork perched on a live sea urchin.
Ocean Foundation – Engagement Projects
Pro Esteros was founded by a group of scientists from Mexico and US protect Baja California coastal wetlands. Today, they are an Asociación Civil in Mexico. As part of their mission, Pro Esteros studies coastal wetlands, for educational, scientific and conservational purposes. With 16 years of continuous work, Pro Esteros is the oldest established environmental organizations in Baja California. They have been working very closely with communities, government agencies, and stakeholders to reach their goals, and implement their environmental education programs, scientific research projects, conservation of natural resources and community capacity building programs. More>
Tortugueros Las Playitas mission is to protect, conserve and replenish the fragile marine eco-systems of Baja California Sur, Mexico. In addition to their sea turtle population recovery program, they place special interest on habitat protection, environmental education and community outreach in Todos Santos, Las Playitas and Agua Blanca. One of their goals is to help restore the critically endangered pacific leatherback population which is on the verge of extinction. Their incubation greenhouse stabilizes sand temperatures, creating an ideal nest habitat, where hatch rates are maximized and gender ratios are balanced.
Blue Mind Fund is jump starting a global conversation about the intersection between wild waters and the human brain – the message of a national bestseller Blue Mind and its author, Dr. Wallace J. Nichols. His unique and timely message is that ‘your brain on water’ opens the door to the cognitive, emotional, psychological, social and spiritual benefits of healthy waterways and oceans. More>
Hello Ocean engages citizen scientists in ocean conservation and research initiatives through citizen science and multi-media elements.
Adopt an Ocean focuses on coastal coordination, protecting sensitive waters from risky offshore drilling and its routine toxic discharges and accompanying potential for disastrous major oil spills.
Conservación ConCiencia in Puerto Rico is dedicated to environmental research and conservation to promote sustainable development by working collaboratively with communities, governments, academia and the private sector.
earthDECKS is setting up an office in Mexico, where The Ocean Foundation has two significant partner projects (the first two listed above). Mexico is the world’s eighth largest plastic producer and, despite significant conservation initiatives, has no way to recycle its large production and use of plastic.