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Summer 2012
increase in biomass in its no-take reserve, the largest measured
increase in any marine protected area in the world. Scientists
have measured large increases in sharks and other predators
there as well.
The term “hope spot” was chosen in response to the word
“hot spot.” Biodiversity hot spots are areas of high diversity that
face serious threats to their continued existence. Earle wanted an
epithet that would ignite people to action, and “hope spot” seems
to be a great identifier for those areas that still have a chance.
Pushing the Limits
Today nearly 50 percent of the world’s coral reefs are
in trouble, and scientists have seen an increase in the
number of dead zones (areas of low oxygen content in the
sea) around the globe. “Looking back 20 years there were
great concerns about the existence of more than 100 dead
zones, but now there are more than 500, and the pace is
picking up,” Earle said. There are serious changes to wildlife
populations as well. Roughly 90 percent of the sharks are
gone. “We’re very good at catching them — too good,”
she said. They’ve been around for 300 million years, but in
the last half century we’ve managed to eliminate the great
majority of the big sharks and many of the small ones, too.
When you remove predators from the top of the food
chain there are consequences. We are shifting ocean food
chains, tipping the balance of nature. “As we continue
to remove not only sharks but tuna, swordfish, marlin,
groupers, snappers, cod and even the small fish that are
critically important,” Earle said, “we will continue to push
these systems to the point of no return.”
saving What’s Left
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the grim news, but Earle
has a way of looking at things differently. “We still have 10
percent of the sharks left,” she said, “and 50 percent of the
coral reefs are still in relatively good shape.” The challenge,
of course, is to save what we have before it’s too late. That’s
precisely what Mission Blue is all about. In March 2010,
the TED Prize organized an expedition to the Galapagos
Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavor, hosting
100 ocean leaders who work on key initiatives including
education, enforcement and protection for different areas in
the ocean. A worldwide collection of partners dedicated to
ocean conservation, research, exploration, policy, technology
and communication coalesced around Mission Blue, and
another expedition is in the works for 2013.
staying ConneCted
As a busy celebrity who carries two phones and often finds
her mailbox jammed with speaking requests, Earle takes
advantage of opportunities to escape and reconnect with the
places she loves. As a diver she really slows down and takes
her time — in an almost complete about-face from her topside
personality. She tends to find places where she can float along
slowly and observe relatively small areas. “I love the calm that
comes with being one with the water,” she said, “settling down
in a place, watching the fish, observing behaviors, looking for
little things and sometimes missing the big things because I
have my nose pressed against the reef.”
Last year on a Mission Blue expedition in the Swan Islands
(more than 100 miles off Honduras), I made an evening dive
with her where we stayed at 30 feet the entire time. After 90
minutes we headed back to the boat feeling like prunes but
thrilled after exploring an incredible stand of elkhorn coral.
While we were ascending I looked over at her pressure gauge
and was shocked to see she had nearly 2,000 pounds of air
remaining. I love kidding her about being half fish, and I
appreciate having a dive buddy who is likely to have a great
deal of air to share should the need arise.
Curiosity and exPLoration
When I’ve asked her about her favorite sea creatures, she
seems to love every one. “Oh I do love octopuses and squids;
cephalopods rock — every one of them,” Earle said. “And you
know I’m a seaweed person; I love the red and brown and green
and blue-green photosynthesizers and the golden-browns, too
From left: A large lingcod looks for its next meal at the bottom of a kelp
forest (Carmel Pinnacles MPA, California). Two Kino Bay fishermen hold
a hammerhead shark they caught with a gill net. Large sharks are rare
in the Gulf of California due to overfishing (Midriff Islands, Mexico). A
spiny blenny peeks out of its coral home in the Swan Islands, Honduras.
As their catches get smaller, fishermen must spend longer hours and go
farther from home to make a living (Gulf of California, Mexico).