(Save Our Seas is a Federally Trademarked name)

Message from the President

Aloha friends,

The next time you walk on the beach, take a look at the tangled mess of drift net and plastics in the high tide line. Perhaps your local beach is closed because of sewage runoff and contamination. Or, you notice that your favorite reef fish is no longer available in the stores. Like a festering wound that won't go away, the pain of our losses will serve as a constant reminder that the International Year of the Ocean lives on. Our work has just begun.

This issue is dedicated to the individuals whose work continues in response to the alarm bells sounded by the International Year of the Ocean. In Hong Kong, Dr. Gregor Hodgson, founder and organizer of "Reef Check," is running a relentless scientific and political campaign to reverse the trend of coral reef degradation. In Hawaii, SOS member and former Executive Director Carl Stepath is mobilizing scientists and community members in a joint endeavor to establish marine life conservation districts.

All around the world, dedicated individuals have answered the call to action. They are making a difference. If we put our minds to it, we can all make a difference. We can Save Our Seas.

Aloha. Teri Tico,

President Save Our Seas

SAVE OUR SEAS AWARDED GRANT

The entire Limahuli Valley was once a Hawaiian Ahupua'a, or land district, under the management of a konohiki (conservation overseer). The primary responsibility of the konohiki was strict enforcement of conservation measures to insure that upland activities such as logging did not produce adverse impacts on the coastal lands and near shore reefs. The objective was to practice conservation of natural resources from the mountain to the sea.

Over the past years, Wichman has overseen the restoration of Limahuli Valley to its original vegetative state. The participants in the grant project will obtain baseline reef data during the summer of 1999 which will reflect the overall health of the Ke'e and Limahuli reefs and, thus, the effectiveness of conservation measures utilized by Wichman and the Gardens. If the reef proves to be healthy, as expected, then Limahuli Gardens will serve as a model for effective conservation practices that can be employed by other communities concerned about of their neighboring reefs.

OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL GOES STATEWIDE

Over the years, the annual film festival has been one of the most popular draws at the annual SOS International Oceans Conference, so popular in fact that the organizers of the conference decided to take the films state-wide in 1999.

Five award winning films will be screened commencing at 7:00 PM each evening.

The tentative schedule is as follows:

June 10 Kauai

June 11 Honolulu

June 12 Big Island

June 13 Maui

Dr. Gregor Hodgson teaching a group about Reef Check at Kapalua Bay, Maui in 1998

GREGOR HODGSON: MAN ON A MISSION

Just two months ago I tuned into CNN one night for World News and there was Gregor's face in full view. He was rattling off the statistics of Reef Check. "Lobsters are missing from 85% of reefs surveyed. There are no grouper at 63% of reefs, a 16% increase over 1997. Giant clams are completely missing at 53% of reefs, a 30% increase over last year." And, he went on and on.

Gregor is a veritable Man On A Mission. As a professor and scientist at the Hong Kong University's Institute for Environment & Sustainable Development, Gregor had little free time to develop and then coordinate the global project Reef Check. But, he was on a mission. He made the time.

As Gregor explains, "Prior to 1997, there were many media reports about coral reef decline, however, it was not possible to answer the question: What is the health of the world's coral reefs? The normal scientific process failed to provide answers because there are too few scientists who spend too little time on reefs."

So, Gregor organized the first global survey (and follow up survey in 1998) of coral reefs using recreational divers, community volunteers, and anyone who was willing to learn the survey methods.

Almost 40 countries and territories have participated. Hundreds of divers and over 100 marine biologists have volunteered their time and effort to carry out the surveys. For the first time, leaders in government, business, and education have a snapshot of the overall health of coral reefs around the world.

Using the internet and global media, Gregor carries out his mission to raise awareness about the health of corals and marine resources on our planet. He is an ardent advocate for more and larger marine parks, bans on the export and import of juvenile fish and shellfish, bans on poison and blast fishing, and reduction of carbon emissions to reverse global warming which is killing off corals.

Gregor likes to quote the Sierra Club's admonition: "The Human race is engaged in the largest experiment in history - an experiment to see what will happen to our health and the health of the planet when we make drastic changes in our climate. This is not a controlled scientific inquiry. It is a massive change in the Earth's environment, and we are gambling our children's future on the results."

Carl Stepath preparing to collect data with MOP students and helpers during Reef Check at Kapalua Bay, Maui in 1998

STEPATH TAKES LEAVE

Save Our Seas Executive Director Carl Stepath announced that he will be taking a leave of absence from his position to complete a masters degree in telecommunications and apply for a doctoral program in marine resource management.

As Executive Director from 1994-98, Stepath organized the annual SOS International Oceans Conferences on Kauai and Maui, coordinated Reef Check with Dr. Hodgson in Hawaii, produced several dozen education videos on the marine environment for public access television, and managed the day to day operations of the international nonprofit environmental organization.

Stepath developed the middle school reef monitoring program, "Ocean Pulse," a model for "experiential" education outside of the classroom. Students from several middle schools in the Hawaiian islands learned traditional and modern coral reef ecology from Hawaiian kapuna and marine scientists. They studied various monitoring techniques and learned to use quadrats and transects to collect data about their neighboring reefs. The data was stored on computers where it can be accessed by anyone on the internet. The program was recognized by The Cousteau Society and described in The Dolphin Log, a Cousteau publication.

As a webmaster, Stepath created the award winning Save Our Seas website at http://planet-hawaii.com/sos/ and published the quarterly newsletter. He also spearheaded membership drives and fund-raising activities.

Most recently, Stepath applied for and won, on behalf of SOS, a grant for study of coral reefs at Ke'e and Limahuli on the island of Kauai.

Stepath's personal mission statement is "to help people work together with a principal centered vision for a better tomorrow." Indeed, Stepath has been a catalyst in bridging the gap between scientists and local communities. He has invited top marine experts from the Philippines, Hong Kong, Australia, and other parts of the globe to Hawaii for community workshops and conferences on protecting marine resources and creating marine parks.

Save Our Seas extends a very warm mahalo to Carl for all of the committed work he has done for the marine environment. Thank you, Carl, for your dedication and devotion to the world's oceans. We will miss you.

Having fun Saving Our Seas!

CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON TO SPEAK

Captain Paul Watson, "world famous, legendary, environmental warrior and eco hero" will speak on Friday, January 22, 1999, 7:00 pm, at the McCoy Theater on Maui.

As founder and president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Captain Watson has organized numerous direct action campaigns against illegal drift net boats, whaling ships, and factory trawlers.

Recently, Watson mobilized public opposition to the Gray whale hunt by the Makah tribe of Neah Bay, Washington and succeeded in preventing the slaughter of the endangered whale.

He is the author of Cry Wolf, Sea Shepherd: My Fight for Whales and Seals, Shepherds of the Sea, and Ocean Warrior. Captain Watson is also a highly sought after education public speaker. He is a professor of ecology at UCLA and Pasadena College of Design and a regular columnist for Ocean Real magazine.

For more information: (808) 280-4491.

SELECTED READING & VIEWING

- "*" Bullet items are new to this issue

Books:

Sea Change, A Message of the Oceans, Sylvia A. Earle, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1995.

The Sea Around Us, Rachel Carson, Oxford University Press, 1950.

Ocean Warrior, Captain Paul Watson, Key Porter Books, 1996.

Our Stolen Future, Colburn, Dumanoski & Myers, Penguin Press, 1997.

* Coastal Waters of the World, Don Hinrichsen, Island Press

* Song for the Blue Ocean: Encounters Beneath the Sea and Along the World's Coasts, Carl Safina, Henry Holt & Co. Publishers, 1998

* Secrets of the Ocean Realm, Howard & Michelle Hall, 1997

References:

Atlas of the Oceans, Chancellor Press, 1991.

Year of the Ocean Discussion Papers, U.S. Federal agencies w/ Ocean Related Programs, March, 1998. For a free copy, call (202) 482-3385 or fax (202) 482-5231

State of the World, Worldwatch Institute, W.W. Norton & Company, Ltd., 1998.

The Green Encyclopedia, An A-Z Sourcebook of Environmental Concerns and Solutions, Irene Franck & David Brownstone, Prentice Hall, 1992.

Films:

Shadow in a Desert Sea, by Howard hall

Coral Reefs: Rainforests of the Sea, by Jonathan Bird

Keepers of the Coast, Surfrider Foundation

Ocean Warrior, by Rod Ellis

* Whales * A World With Dolphins (Contact Save Our Seas for information on new films)

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