World Ocean Observatory

World Ocean Journal, Volume 5 OCEAN LITERACY

Volume 5 of the #WorldOceanJournal is dedicated to #OceanLiteracy. The work described in this issue of World Ocean Journal is based on the efforts of a group of ocean experts and educators to outline an Ocean Literacy curriculum intended to instill in educators and their students a full understanding of what the #ocean means for our lives, for all aspects of the wellness and welfare of the world ocean, and for the survival of humankind. We encourage you to share this volume of World Ocean Journal with friends, colleagues, educators and students as a valuable teaching tool and resource that can be returned to again and again. Thank you for reading--and sharing! 

http://www.worldoceanobservatory.org/content/world-ocean-journal

This week on World Ocean Radio:

THE POLAR SILK ROAD IN 2018

Monthly News from the W2O

https://bit.ly/2QDDxru

This month's World Ocean Observatory e-news has arrived. In this issue:

OUR OCEAN SPACE California and Japan students join up for micro plastics research

WORLD OCEAN EXHIBITS Connecting web visitors with maritime museum and aquarium exhibits worldwide

WORLD OCEAN RADIO Four new episodes in October: ocean literacy to climate, maritime conflict to Arctic roads

ISABEL HILTON ChinaDialogue CEO Joins W2O Advisory

WORLD OCEAN FORUM Provocative and imaginative conversations about the future of the ocean

WORLD OCEAN PUBLICATIONS "The Once and Future Ocean" and the "Soul of the Sea"

BORTON OVERSEAS Journey to the white continent

The first Arctic highway was the sea: a moving, shifting, frozen system that allowed its inhabitants to be sustained for generations. Since 1974, two more roads have been carved from the Arctic landscape: the first to connect oil fields in the north to consumers in the south and the second, opened this year, to connect Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk. This second project, more of a local endeavor, links the land's indigenous peoples to economic opportunity and affordable goods and resources. This week on World Ocean Radio we talk about these three roads and their impacts on the Arctic, for better and for worse.

Only one third of Americans ages 18 to 29 say they will cast a ballot next week. Why?

https://newrepublic.com/article/151956/climate-change-illogical-reason-not-vote

As the Antarctic Peninsula heats up, the rules of life there are being ripped apart. Alarmed scientists aren’t sure what all the change means for the future.

This week on World Ocean Radio: CLIMATE CHANGE REFUGEES: REAPING THE WHIRLWIND

About this episode: 2018 was a summer of extremes: hurricanes, wildfires, drought, floods, heat, earthquakes, tsunami. It's increasingly evident that human intervention is largely responsible for these natural disasters and their outcomes. In this episode of #WorldOceanRadio we talk about the distribution of loss, recognizing the poorest among us to be the least resilient in the face of such disasters, and most likely to be affected by them. We discuss the growing likelihood that climate change will cause increased displacement around the planet and will make refugees out of many of us. Where will we go? What will we do when we get there? How will we survive?

GANGA RIVER WARRIOR

World Ocean Forum blog has a fresh new look

Seven Women Protecting Oceans and Sea Life

Determination. Dedication. A wealth of experience. Women around the world are offering hope for oceans and the animals who live there. By exploring our relationship with marine environments and nurturing compassion within their communities, these seven women are tackling ocean issues head on, challenging attitudes and behaviors, and bringing us closer to a more comprehensive understanding of the world ocean. Meet seven women working to protect oceans and marine life.

Meet W2O's newest Ocean Exemplar: Mr. Peter Thomson of Fiji United Nations Special Envoy for the Oceans

worldoceanobservatory.org/content/ocean-exemplars

Mr. Thomson was appointed Special Envoy for the Ocean by UN Secretary General António Guterres with the goal of galvanizing efforts to follow up on the outcomes of the #UN #Ocean Conference in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Mr. Thompson will lead UN advocacy and public outreach efforts in and outside of the UN system with a focus on full implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (#SDG14): to #conserve and #sustainably use the #oceans, #seas and #marineresources for sustainable development. As a civil servant in the government of #Fiji, Thomson has devoted many years of his life to rural development and foreign affairs.

Professor Edward O. Wilson of the E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation writes for the World Ocean Forum this week about the imperative to reverse the extinction crisis. Wilson calls it a "conservation moonshot": a half-earth principle that would enlarge the area of the planet devoted to the natural world enough to save the variety of life within it.

Have an idea for the Forum? Send us a message for more information or contact us through our website: worldoceanobservatory.org.

This week on World Ocean Radio

Ocean Literacy: Diversity of Life and Ecosystems

worldoceanobservatory.org/wor/ocean-literacy-diversity-life-and-ecosystems ABOUT THE EPISODE "The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems"

So states the fifth Ocean Literacy principle, a series of fundamental concepts to help us better understand the ocean's influence on us and our influence on the ocean. World Ocean Radio's Ocean Literacy series continues this week with a discussion about the complex biodiversity contained in the world ocean and the ways that such systems, relationships and processes might be observed and understood for scientific gain. This episode is part six of an eight-part series on Ocean Literacy, an anthology of reflections, examples and illustrations that represent responses to the ocean and the environmental challenges we face.

Narwhal spotted with group of beluga in the St. Lawrence River

An unusual visitor has been hanging out in the St. Lawrence River for the past three years: A narwhal, more than 1,000 kilometres south of its usual range.

The narwhal — thought to be a juvenile male because of its half-metre-long tusk — was filmed in July playing among a pod of young belugas, thought to be mostly or all males.