Andreas B. Heide has been shortlisted for a Shackleton award for his work in the far north, getting up close to nature to connect people emotionally with a fragile ecosystem
To say the images of Andreas B. Heide during his working day are dramatic is an understatement: a freediver deep underwater in a black wetsuit, his lean silhouette enhanced by powerful bladed fins, looking up towards a group of orcas; or standing on an ice sheet next to a small sailboat in the Arctic, amid a sea full of dangerous looking ice floes in poor visibility.
But for the marine biologist and adventurer, plunging into freezing waters with orcas or embarking on a 4,500-mile sailing expedition from the Arctic north to the UK and back, documenting whale behaviour and their dramatic encounters with polar bears, whales and walruses, is all part and parcel of storytelling that he hopes can ultimately change human behaviour. He works with scientists and conservationists, photographers and drone pilots, to underline the importance of conservation in the extreme north, under challenging conditions.
The crew land at the Sjuøyane, Svalbard 2023, wearing a rifle for polar bear protection. From left: Zimbabwean sailor Tawanda Chikasha; Andreas B. Heide; Spanish marine biotechnologist Almu Alvarez; and Norwegian photographer Tord Karlsen. Photograph: Tord Karlsen/Barba
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/09/2024 - 06:00
05/09/2024 - 05:00
If passed, the groundbreaking measure could be a model for other states to hold fossil fuel companies liable
Vermont is poised to pass a groundbreaking measure forcing major polluting companies to help pay for damages caused by the climate crisis, in a move being closely watched by other states including New York and California.
Modeled after the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program, which forces companies to pay for toxic waste cleanup, the climate superfund bill would charge major fossil fuel companies doing business within the state billions of dollars for their past emissions.
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05/09/2024 - 03:40
The plan announced on Thursday offers the gas industry – and Western Australia in particular – everything it could want
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The bottom line of the “future gas strategy” isn’t what it might mean for the government’s political fortunes, despite what Labor pollsters and political commentators might argue.
It’s this: the gas industry, one of Australia’s biggest greenhouse gas polluters, is getting what it wants. What it wants, in simple terms, is government approval to make multibillion-dollar investments in new gas reservoirs that will lead to billions of tonnes of emissions.
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05/09/2024 - 03:00
Researchers say reducing emissions and biodiversity loss and preventing invasive species could control disease
Biodiversity loss is the biggest environmental driver of infectious disease outbreaks, making them more dangerous and widespread, a study has found.
New infectious diseases are on the rise and they often originate in wildlife. In meta-analysis published in the journal Nature, researchers found that of all the “global change drivers” that are destroying ecosystems, loss of species was the greatest in increasing the risk of outbreaks. Biodiversity loss was followed by climate change and introduction of non-native species.
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05/09/2024 - 02:07
‘Orangutan diplomacy’ strategy aims to ease concern over environmental impact of palm oil production, says minister
Malaysia plans to give orangutans as gifts to countries that buy its palm oil as part of an “orangutan diplomacy” strategy to ease concerns over the environmental impact of the commodity.
The south-east Asian country is the world’s second biggest producer of palm oil, which is found in more than half of supermarket packaged goods – from pizza and biscuits, to lipstick and shampoos. Global demand for palm oil has been blamed for driving deforestation in Malaysia and neighbouring Indonesia.
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05/09/2024 - 02:00
The discovery of these underwater hot springs in 1977 solved the mystery of how life first began on Earth, but it was locating the world’s most famous shipwreck that made me a celebrity
The mid-ocean ridge is where the Earth creates its outer skin. It’s called the boundary of creation. We knew there was life on the bottom of the ocean but not entire ecosystems supporting large animals until our expedition went down there in 1977.
First, we sent down an unmanned vehicle called Angus, which was essentially a camera system and strobe lights within a two-tonne steel cage. It was going down in the eternal darkness, slaloming back and forth like a skier down a mountain.
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05/09/2024 - 02:00
The island nation is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world, as changing weather patterns bring more dry spells and unpredictable rainy seasons. Sean Smith travelled to the south to meet those affected and to report on the ways they are trying to prepare for an altered future
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05/08/2024 - 23:00
Government’s failure to match EU measures to improve condition of rivers, lakes and oceans called ‘deeply concerning’
England’s rivers are likely to remain in a poor state for years to come because the government is failing to put in place EU clean water laws post-Brexit, the watchdog has found.
When Britain was a member of the EU, the government was required to follow the water framework directive (WFD), standards for waterways that have been credited with cleaning up Europe’s dirty water.
Under their worst-case assessment, just 21% of surface waters will be in a good ecological state by 2027, representing only a 5% improvement on the current situation. This would break the Environment Act, which aims to improve air and water quality, protect wildlife, increase recycling and reduce plastic waste.
There is insufficient funding to meet the targets, meaning that under the WFD ministers are being compelled by the OEP to write a new, properly funded plan to protect the country’s waters. The Environment Agency has calculated a cost of £51bn to clean up England’s waters, which would provide £64bn in monetisable benefits. However, confirmed funding of only £6.2bn is just 12% of that required.
There is not enough monitoring taking place to find out the state of England’s waterways, making it nigh on impossible to clean them up.
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05/08/2024 - 20:23
The mining company insists the storage hub is safe but many are unconvinced about injecting carbon dioxide into a major Australian water resource
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Swiss mining company Glencore has been on the offensive over its controversial plans to try to inject carbon dioxide into a section of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) – one of the world’s biggest underground water sources and a lifeblood for farmers and regional towns.
Later this month, the Queensland government is expected to decide if it will allow Glencore’s pilot carbon storage project to go ahead.
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World Ocean Explorer Wins Gold Medal Serious Simulation Award from Serious Play Annual International Competition
10/26/2023 - 14:35
For Immediate Release October 19, 2023
Sedgwick, Maine USA World Ocean Explorer, a 3D virtual aquarium and educational simulation, was recently cited for excellence, winning a Gold Medal Award in the 2023 International Serious Play Awards Program.
World Ocean Explorer is an innovative 3D virtual aquarium designed for educational exploration of the world’s oceans. With interactive exhibits and a lobby space, visitors can immerse themselves in realistic marine environments, including a DEEP SEA exhibit funded by Schmidt Ocean Institute, showcasing unprecedented deep-sea discoveries off Australia. Targeted at 3rd graders and beyond, this immersive experience offers a range of perspectives on the ocean environment and can be explored through guided tours or user-controlled interfaces. Visit DEEP SEA at worldoceanexplorer.org/deep-sea-aquarium.html.
Serious Play Conference brings together professionals who are exploring the use of game-based learning, sharing their experience, and working together to shape the future of training and education. For more information on Serious Play Award Program visit seriousplayconf.com/international-serious-play-award-programs.
World Ocean Explorer is a transformative virtual aquarium designed to deepen understanding of the world ocean and amplify connection for young people worldwide. Organized around the principles of Ocean Literacy and the Next Gen Science Standards, World Ocean Explorer brings the wonder and knowledge of ocean species and systems to students in formal and informal classrooms, absolutely free to anyone with a good Internet connection. As an advocate for the ocean through communications, World Ocean Observatory believes there is no better investment in the future of the sustainable ocean than through a new approach to educational engagement that excites, informs, and motivates students to explore the wonders of our marine world and to understand the pervasive connection and implication for our future, inherent in the protection and conservation of all aspects of our ocean world.
World Ocean Explorer presents an astonishing 3-dimensional simulated aquarium visit, organized to reveal the wonders of undersea life, with layers of detailed data and information to augment the emotional connection made to the astonishing beauty and complexity of the dynamic ocean. Within each of the virtual exhibits, students visit exemplary theme-based sites with myriad opportunities to understand the larger perspectives of scientific knowledge as organized and visualized to dramatize the impact and change on ocean life as a result of natural and human-generated events. Through immersion among displays, mixed media and 3D models, the experience of an aquarium visit will be brought into classrooms or home school environments as a free, accessible, always available opportunity for teaching and learning. All of this will be available to a world audience without physical limitation or cost. World Ocean Explorer, a project of the World Ocean Observatory, receives support from the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, Visual Solutions Lab, the Climate Change Institute, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, and The Fram Museum Oslo. To learn more about the current and future exhibits of World Ocean Explorer, visit worldoceanexplorer.org.
media contact
Trisha Badger, Managing Director, World Ocean Observatory | [email protected] +12077011069
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