** Interview episode 125 **
Dr Enric Sala grew up in Spain along Costa Brava where at a young age he found passion for the undersea world by watching Jacques Cousteau's Undersea World television series (like so many of us did). Pursuing a life of research and conservation to help protect all of the oceans Dr Sala came to the US and spent years as a tenured professor and researcher with Scripps Institute. We hear the story of his epiphany that his research felt more like writing an obituary of the sea rather than inspiring protection.
This took Dr Sala to creating the Pristine Seas Project with National Geographic that for the past 12 years has taken him around the world documenting over 30 remote and untouched areas of marine life with the goal to inspire decision makers in all countries to take strong action to protect their waters. He shares stories of still unspoiled areas of the ocean and stories of areas like the Galapagos struggling to heal themselves from human impacts such as overfishing. Through them all, Dr Sala has used his stories to write an amazing new book, The Nature of Nature, that helps all of us understand the importance of biodiversity and how the health of our planet is fundamental to human health, wellbeing, economic prosperity, and so much more. I really love the final chapter tying COVID pandemic to our general disconnect from the natural world.
So definitely go check out the Pristine Seas Project and Dr Sala’s book, The Nature of Nature, for a dose of inspiration that we together can help our oceans truly return to the clean, healthy, and vibrant places that we all dream about.
If you like what you hear on the podcast today, I appreciate you following This Ocean Life on your podcast app and/or sharing with a friend. Hope everyone is well and safe. You can find more fun stuff on the ThisOceanLife.TV website, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Host: Josh Pederson, @surfpaddletailgate
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Sailing Wildside -- kiteboard adventure trips, Caribbean, Greece, life afloat
Francesca Trotman -- protecting waters and wildlife of Mozambique, alternatives to shark finning
Erin Carey -- family sailing in the Caribbean, trans-Atlantic crossing, S/V ROAM
Sam Hart -- ocean paddling, Coolangatta Gold and M2O competitor
Stoked Grom Stories: Cooper Sisters -- sailing South Pacific, surfing, diving, life afloat
Greg Norman Jr -- kiting, surfing, spearfishing, world travel
Shannon Quirk -- big wave world tour, empowering women in the water
Chris Fuentes -- a better insect repellant, spread of insect-borne diseases
K.C. Scott -- fishing, diving, spearfishing, art
Guy Harvey -- blending art and science of the ocean, spokesman of marine life
SV Delos -- 10 years of sailing adventures, 45 countries
Noah Oppenheim -- fisheries management, the human element of commercial fishing
Surf Expo Stories: Part 2 -- More from North America's largest watersports and beach culture retail show
Surf Expo Stories: Part 1 -- North America's largest watersports and beach culture retail show
Nik Strong-Cvetich -- Save The Waves Coalition, protecting surf ecosystems
Lin Pardey - 200k miles of sailing, dual circumnavigations, book author
Heavy Water Stories -- storms, injuries, big waves, general gnarliness
Adam Paskowitz -- legacy of nomadic family life, reality of plastics in the ocean
Maria Fernanda -- big wave surf photography, fins and a camera
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