She's an oceanographer and a blogger wrapped in one.  But more than that the incredible Danielle Luttenberg Meitiv is also an ocean advocate, a marine educator, a conservationist, and an optimist when it comes to the future of the world's oceans.  

Danielle Meitiv received her BS in Biology at the University of Buffalo and her MS in Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island.  She's well-versed in issues of global warming and climate change (where the ocean is concerned) and has done her research, working for organizations like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Environmental Defense Fund.

We caught up with Danielle just before she headed over to India to learn all about Indian climate science and policy and we were thrilled to be able to pick her brain about our favorite topics!

It's no surprise for TRT members to hear that too much algae is bad news for corals. Likewise, you already know all too well those factors that can lead to too much algae in your tank, factors such as not enough grazers and too many nutrients. For decades coral reef scientists had known that too much algae is also not good for coral reefs. Often one finds rampant algae on dying coral reefs, but do the algae kill the corals? Or are they just taking advantage of the real estate offered when corals die from other causes? It was not until the 21st century that the research tools became available to uncover the mysterious connection linking algae to coral death. That link is the microbes. The relationship between corals and microbes during good times and bad is the subject of a newly published book by microbial ecologist Forest Rohwer: Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas.

In this engaging book, Rohwer relates how the coral's microbial partners have made it possible for the corals to not only survive for millennia in nutrient-poor regions of the ocean but to build the epic structures we know as coral reefs. However, since the 1980s the corals have been struggling. Both coral disease and bleaching have become widespread. The reefs in trouble are typically those that have been overfished or fertilized by nutrient-laden runoff from nearby shores or stressed by warmer temperatures. Any of those circumstances can disrupt the fine-tuned balance and lead to more algae. Combine two or more and the results can be disastrous. Photosynthesizing algae release dissolved sugars into the water; more algae release more sugars; more sugars fuel too many microbes—especially too many of the disease-causing sort; more dying corals make room for yet more algae to grow. This vicious cycle leads, in Rohwer's words, to the DDAMnation of coral reefs. 

Lloyd Carter certainly does. In fact, he's made caring about water and water laws part of his life's career.  Lloyd was a UPI and Fresno Bee reporter and has been writing about California water issues for more than 35 years.  That's not all he wrote about, of course, but for him, it was pretty obvious that he should make his new site all about water--because water is so important to everyday life and taking care of it is crucial.

Besides writing about water, Lloyd is also the President of the California Save Our Streams Council and a member of other organizations. He gets to mouth off about water every month on a radio show on KFCF, 88.1 FM in Fresno  

When it comes to water conservation, Lloyd Carter knows what he's talking about.  After all, he's heard about it and written about it for more than two decades!

His personal homepage, Chronicles of The Hydraulic Brotherhood, is dedicated to his thoughts, opinions, and ramblings on everything water and water law..   

Let's see what Lloyd has to say:

Children can make a difference.  We're so proud of Alexa BeMent who is using her Oceans 4Ever blog to speak about protecting the world's oceans.  We're HUGE fans!

Alexa told her readers that she would celebrate World Oceans Day (June 2) by baking chocolate cakes with blue frosting.  But she actually did so much more!

With the help of a new ocean friend named Melissa, who creates custom made bags at Borsa Bell Designs, Alexa cooked up a new project called the Borsa Bella Oceans 4Ever Wristlet Collection, for Gulf Birds!

Last year, Alexa and mom Cindy had Melissa create some custom-made bags just for them after trying to figure out a place to store all their new Christmas electronics.  They were pleased with the process which spawned into Alexa's GREAT IDEA.  Alexa decided to ask Melissa if she would be interested in creating some bags to raise money for the future of the oceans.  Melissa liked the idea.

But life happened and unfortunately, the two didn't stay in touch and the project didn't take off.  That is, until the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill of April 20th. Alexa felt horrible and got back in touch with Melissa, who not so surprisingly, felt as badly as she did.  

It's all for the birds.

That's what International Bird Rescue Research Center director Jay Holcomb believes about the continued rescue efforts to care and conserve for wildlife caught in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  He is leading IBRRC's current bird rescue efforts in the Gulf.  

These efforts must really be something! After all, he's won Oceana's Ocean Hero award for them. 

So how did his bird rescue efforts also turn into ocean conservation? Well, he told the Oceana organization that he lived in San Francisco and went to the ocean a lot. He began helping many animals who lived in and depended on the ocean and was always drawn to it.   So we're guessing it was there all along and needed to be tapped into. 

Jay told Oceana that it's ironic, but poignant that he won the award in the midst of what is looking to be the greatest oil spill disaster of all time and is polluting the ocean and ecosystems.  .

Oceana's annual Ocean Heroes contest began in March and the public was invited to submit nominations.  Finalists were selected by Oceana experts and the public was invited to select the winners.

We received this great video courtesy of Alexa from the Oceans 4Ever blog.  Alexa is also doing some amazing projects and donating their earnings to the IBRRC.  Amazing! More on that in the next post...

The video is about the efforts of the IBRRC and what might happen to these birds.  It features Jay. 

We'd love to share it with you! 

You can view it by clicking on the link here.

As of this writing, at least 22 million gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. In the few minutes it takes you to read this blog post, more than 1,000 gallons more will have gushed into the ocean.

There have been many reports of oiled marine life in the more than 40 days since the spill began, but there are countless creatures affected by the spill that may never be seen. Oil is extremely toxic to all wildlife, and the toxic effects began as soon as the oil hit the water.

Here are just a few examples of marine creatures affected by the oil spill in the Gulf:

I'm annoyed for a lot of reasons that I won't go into now, but mainly for one aspect of this problem: The idea of a mat of solid garbage extending across a portion of the Pacific Ocean that is the size of Europe (or whatever) is startling. It is the kind of thing that attracts attention, brings people to the table to discuss and consider conservation issues, and makes people want to be more aware of the environment, and to do something positive.

But, when people find out that there is no Pacific Garbage Patch, that they've been lied to by conservationists, by Greanpeace, the UN, and various private entrepreneurs, they get annoyed, walk away from the conservation movement, and become right wing Republicans.

That is terribly annoying.

So, what I'd like to do right now is to put an end to this whole Pacific Garbage Patch idea. There is no Pacific Garbage Patch. Yes, yes, there is a bunch of plastic, in tiny tiny itty bitty bits, floating around in various "gyres" in the world's oceans. That may or may not be a problem. It is being studied. We may learn that there are some issues to deal with here. Or we may learn that this is like the one hundredth or the one thousandth most important thing to deal with regarding the environment.

Mom Goes Green blogger Doreen is upset about the overabundance of pollution on our beaches and in our oceans and for good reasons.  Read what she has to say about a travesty called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

The other day I talked about my frustration over seeing an excessive amount of ‘plastic bag trash’ littering one of our favorite Cleveland lakeside parks.

I feel I would be remiss without mentioning the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  I was honestly surprised by how many of my friends had not heard of it before, but it’s something I cannot stop thinking about.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is essentially seven million tons of floating plastic waste, roughly twice the size of Texas (and some say, twice the size of the entire US).  It swirls through the ocean between the continental US and Japan, and contains everything from plastic bags to Legos to footballs.  One fifth is believed to come from trash dumped from ships and oil rigs, and the rest comes from land and all of the plastics we discard on a daily basis.