Brian Skerry and His Underwater Camera

Brian Skerry, an underwater photographer for National Geographic, takes some pretty incredible photographs:

 Photograph By Brian Skerry

 Photograph By Brian Skerry

Photograph By Brian Skerry

Not only does Skerry take spectacular photos of ocean creatures, but he also uses those images to spread awareness about issues that plague our oceans.

What a great guy. Check out his TED Talk* at the bottom of this post!

Skerry's talk is a masterful combination of powerful photographs and carefully chosen words. He very effectively uses the images that he has created to emphasize the need for change in the way that we interact with our oceans. There is not much more for me to add, as my words cannot begin to compete with the images that Skerry has to pair with such words. So please, just watch the video. The one last, notable thing that I have to add is about Skerry's mention of marine protected areas (MPAs). Just like Sylvia Earle and her TED Talk, Skerry spends the last few minutes of his talk discussing MPAs. He tells of his experience photographing at a MPA (specifically, a marine preserve) near New Zealand, and how only 20 years of protection have transformed it from an urchin barren, back into a bountiful kelp forrest. Skerry's anecdote provides further support for Earle's position that a much larger percentage of our oceans ought to be protected.

"So I think the message is clear. The ocean is, indeed, resilient and tolerant to a point, but we must be good custodians." - Brian Skerry

http://www.ted.com/talks/brian_skerry_reveals_ocean_s_glory_and_horror.html

For more of Brian Skerry's photography, visit his website!



*Yes, I know this is my second post in a row that I spend trying to get you all to watch a TED Talk, but these really are awesome videos. I can guarantee you that this will not be my last TED Talk post. :)

Sylvia Earle on the "Blue Heart of the Planet"

"I wish you would use all means at your disposal -- films! expeditions! the web! more! -- to ignite public support for a global network of marine protected areas, hope spots large enough to save and restore the ocean, the blue heart of the planet." - Sylvia Earle

For those of you who do not know Sylvia Earle (do not feel bad, I did not know anything about her unti I was instructed by my Oceanography professor to watch her TED Talk), she is an aquanaut and ocean advocate. I would tell you more, but I would rather you just watch her TED Talk!

Okay, all I will tell you is that she is amazing, and she has numerous important things to say. Like how the ocean is our "life-support system," "the blue heart of our planet," and how we need to act now to protect it, before it is too late. Sylvia is a huge advocate and supporter of increasing the percentage of the ocean that is protected by marine protected areas (MPAs), and I cannot think of anything much better for someone to advocate for. Pollution, development, climate change, and non-sustainable fishing practices are all major threats to our oceans, but the installation of a properly-enforced MPA would theoretically protect a chunk of ocean from three out of the four of those dangers. How can you argue against that?

Watch the video, so you can hear from Sylvia not only what is wrong with our oceans today, but how we can make it right.
 

http://www.ted.com/talks/sylvia_earle_s_ted_prize_wish_to_protect_our_oceans.html