what can we do to help?

Very true. We try to remind him of that. He is a worrier,so we try to keep things upbeat. He's convinced that someday the whales and squid will find ways to take back the oceans for themselves.
He has great faith in their abilities!
 
Well, I tried, but I must be doing something wrong...I've never used google docs before...I opened an account so I could look at the paper, but I can't seem to pull the paper up. Roy's dad isn't as tech. challenged as I am,so he said he would try to pull it up on his work computer.
 
squidboymom;175822 said:
Actually think our conservation efforts may be leaning towards protecting open-ocean and deep water species. I found two really interesting orgs. this morning...'Global Bioderversity Initiative', and 'High Seas Conservation.org'. Anyone heard of them before?

That's excellent to hear. We need to protect a diversity of marine habitats- including and especially deep sea areas, and in the tropics especially these often get overlooked- but are nonetheless essential to marine connectivity and the future of our oceans. High Seas Conservation doesn't list new projects or successes, so may not be active anymore. I'm not especially familiar with the Global Biodiversity Initiative, but imagine it might be like the Coral Triangle Initiative- a guiding principal and intellectual framework around which funding agencies and governments can prioritize the work the fund/sponsor/take on. It might take some searching to find out who is doing work under this priority. One thing to consider with this is that it likely funds a lot of taxonomy, evolutionary, and population genetics work- absolutely necessary for our understanding of the oceans, but not always (though sometimes) directly applicable to conservation action/management on the ground in the near-term, depending on the area/taxonomic group being studied. For example an understanding of reproductive barriers and gene flow (i.e. population genetics) is essential to protecting some lineages, such as salmon or marine mammals. But not all projects might have this level of applicability. You'd want to decide yourself about the particular project.

For protecting deep-sea/open ocean habitats---The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PRAGMATIC218: Situs Slot Online Terpercaya Daftar Dewa Slot88 Gacor 2023) takes this to heart in ways that few MPAs worldwide can match. One of the largest protected areas in the world, PIPA covers coral reefs, seamounts, and deep-sea pelagic ecosystems in a combination of 'subsistence use' and 'no-take' zones. The New England Aquarium (http://www.neaq.org/conservation_and_research/index.php) is a strong and dedicated conservation partner in the Phoenix Islands, and they are very forward thinking when it comes to protecting deep-sea areas, especially seamounts. Both NEAq and PIPA websites offer up lots of information about active projects with direct management/conservation science outcomes, and other general information about ocean ecosystems.

Also- as someone who sees a fair share of threats to marine ecosystems, it can be easy to get discouraged. But your son should know he's part of a large and growing community of people who care tremendously for the oceans, work very hard to protect them, and are making lots of progress. For example- I just got back from an island that used to be a favorite overnight spot for turtle poachers. It is now strongly protected by community members who patrol the beaches nightly, measuring every female they can- last month alone they recorded 120 turtle nests laid on the island! All 100% protected now.
 

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I would like to remind everyone the scope of this project is to help an 8 year old boy help save the planet. Draw pics, display artwork, join/start school support groups/clubs. Lets not get to deep here. His drawings are great keep up the good work. Save the squids or the whales, I support both! The key here would be to find other kids his own age with the same interest "ocean life". Lots of movies and videos he can see of other thing that he can be more involved in or maybe take him whale watching, that changed my life.


Mother humpback guarding calf while it eats from a bubblenet.
 

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Mike Bauer;175902 said:
Draw pics, display artwork, join/start school support groups/clubs. Lets not get to deep here.

He is probably a very bright child and seems fairly motivated, so why stop in the shallows? If he has this level of enthusiasm, we may as well help direct him to websites that have good solid information about what interests him. By reading up on the situation that's out there- the biology of the animals, real threats he can do something about (smart seafood choices, not littering, etc), what's being done, etc. he can give people something tangible through his drawings, and feel a sense of community. It's great to show people something beautiful about the world but why not also share with simple, informed, and free ways to protect that beauty?
 
We are wlcoming all suggestions to help with this project. As a mom, my job is to filter out the stuff he can't handle or understand yet. Everyone here ha something different to offer...conservation efforts are multi-faceted..simple and complex. Keep the ideas and information coming...from pictures to websites...it is all good!
 
BTW... Roy love the pictures you guys sent this morning..and the descriptions that went with them. I think I might call the New England Aquarium today. They really are doing some good work.
I spoke to the Marine Biology Conservation Institute earlier this week, and they are going to be one of our organizations for sure. There are some good things going on there.
 
Sound like a winner to me! Good luck and make sure to keep it fun and interesting. Please let us know of his progress. When he reaches 12 see if he wants to take beginner scuba classes then his world and you will change for sure. :snorkel:

Have a few more pics:
 

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We're putting it on our family calendar. Might be a day trip for us though. Gotta lot here to take care of. Roy will have to bring some pictures.
 
Wanted to give an update on our project. I got a call back from the director of a marine mammal rescue in our area...the MEER institute. We are sending her some of Roy's pictures today, and are going to make plans to visit there soon. She and I talked about Roy maybe drawing some coloring pages for her to give to schoolchildren and maybe a coloring book. I'm also looking into making a calendar to use for fundraising using his pictures. He is really excited! We are also planning to attend a volunteer training next month, so we can volunteer with them. Hoping to learn about our local ceph populations and how they are faring as well...whales gotta eat.:smile:
 

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