Tendrils of hope

Tendrils of hope

Dear friend of Blue Marine,

The coming of summer is a time of hope, and Blue Marine Foundation is focusing on the optimism of regeneration as we build-up to World Ocean Day and the “super month” of June, culminating with the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon.

World Ocean Day and Rewilding the Sea

World Ocean Day marks a particularly special celebration for Blue Marine this year. Charles Clover’s new book, Rewilding the Sea: How to Save Our Oceans is coming out on 8 June.  Published by Ebury, the book provides tendrils of hope for the future of the ocean. A follow-up to The End of the Line, which was adapted into an acclaimed documentary and launched the Blue Marine Foundation, Rewilding the Sea explores how to let nature repair itself, through either protection or active restoration.

In Charles’s words, “This book tells the story of how I journeyed from despair to hope about the state of our common ocean.
It’s a tale of beginnings, of extraordinary changes achieved around the world by small bands of dedicated people.”

Isabella Tree, author of Rewilding, said, “This book is desperately needed. Interest in terrestrial rewilding is rocketing and now it is time for the sea. The material Charles Clover will be covering is rich, urgent and fascinating.”

Get involved this World Ocean Day

• Purchase Rewilding the Sea: How to Save Our Oceans here.
• Subscribe to Blue Marine Foundation podcasts to hear a very special upcoming edition featuring UN Patron of the
  Ocean, Lewis Pugh in conversation with Charles about rewilding.
• Follow Blue Marine on social media all through the first week of June to learn more about what the ocean does for us, as well as our individual – and collective – roles in protecting it.
• Schools can register and take part to help protect ‘Our Blue’ here, so please do help us spread the word!

Ocean Awards 2022

To celebrate the “small bands of dedicated people” around the world making extraordinary efforts to save our seas, Blue Marine and BOAT International were bowled over by the quality of entrants of the 2022 Ocean Awards. Read all about the deserving winners here and be inspired by watching exerts of the event itself on our
YouTube channel or click the link below.

New partnership announced with Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance

To champion and support rewilding efforts around the globe, Blue Marine is working with the Dutch Caribbean islands to support coral protection, and train youth marine rangers. Blue Marine has raised funding as part of a longer-term partnership to support the islands and help secure sustainable financing through the Dutch Caribbean Nature
Alliance (DCNA) Trust fund.

Portelet Bay snorkel trail

In celebration of rewilded ocean closer to home, Blue Marine has launched a snorkel trail in Jersey’s first No-Take-Zone of Portelet Bay. The self-guided trail encourages locals, tourists, families and children to discover Portelet’s varied marine life. Supported by the Société Jersiaise, the trail is linked to an education programme and a citizen science portal. Watch the video here.

Unauthorised Fishing by EU Vessels in Indian Ocean

As well as highlighting progress, it’s our job to call out enemies of progress. Two investigative reports commissioned by Blue Marine, one with Kroll and one with Ocean Mind, found evidence of unauthorised fishing by EU purse seiner fleets in Indian Ocean coastal states waters. Read the reports in full here and read the Guardian’s feature coverage here.

Shark fin soup found on UK menus

An exclusive Sunday Mirror probe into the continued trade of shark fin on UK soil found blue shark fin soup on the menu in UK restaurants after Tories appeared to U-turned on ban. Clare Brook, CEO Blue Marine, said: “Most people in the UK regard shark finning as an abhorrent practice. Over 100 million sharks are killed each year and the UK can take a leading position here. The government just needs to get on with banning it.”

Government’s “horrifying” green paper

As the government proposed to overhaul the habitats directive, and with that, Ministers’ legal obligation to protect nature, Blue Marine led an outcry against the proposed replacement “green paper”. Charles Clover said Secretary of State for Defra, George Eustice was “proposing to rename all our current nature protections and, in the process, remove duties on ministers and change them to mere aspirations which cannot be legally enforced,” in coverage by the Financial Times.

London to Monaco is back

After a two year hiatus, the London 2 Monaco bike ride is back! L2M is Blue Marine’s annual flagship fundraising and high-profile networking event.​ Over the last four rides, 380+ riders from 14 countries and international sponsors have helped raise £1.7 million for marine conservation projects around the world.​ Join us this year on the first and last day stages and help us reach our fundraising target of £500,000. To sign up, Click Here.

Webby Winner 🏆

And finally, we are thrilled to announce Blue Marine’s lauded immersive website The Sea We Breathe, narrated by Stephen Fry, was awarded the prestigious Charitable Organisation/Non-Profit Webby Award. Thank you to all who voted!

We wish all friends of Blue Marine a very happy long weekend.