Hawaii scientists and surfers unite for new ocean protection campaign
Surfers and scientists back World Surf League’s campaign for ocean protections By Jim Mendoza | February 10, 2021 at 5:31 PM HST - Updated February 10 at 5:32 PM
HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - The World Surf League just launched an online petition drive under the banner “We Are One Ocean.”
“We’re calling for 30% marine protected areas by 2030,” said Reece Pacheco, WSL’s senior vice president of Ocean Responsibility.
The campaign addresses what Pacheco calls the earth’s bio-diversity crisis.
“What we are saying is lets have a couple places that are fully and highly protected. No commercial extraction, Then lets strengthen the protection for the global ocean everywhere,” he said.
Cliff Kapono Is At The Top Of The Green List
Lab coats and board shorts. elsewhere // Jan 28, 2021
Words by Jack Mutschler
As you may recall from The Pick-Up, Cliff Kapono is not just a surfer. With a doctorate in Ocean Chemistry, he devotes his time to preserving Hawaii’s coral reefs. Sure enough, his passion and expertise have earned him the top spot on Conde Nast Traveller’s Green List. The list celebrates those who take action and look after the planet.
According to CN Traveller:
When not experimenting with sustainably made boards – the subject of his 2016 documentary Surf Wasted – or studying the health of Honoli’i’s coral reefs, he’s hitting the swell armed with swab tests for his Surfer Biome Project, a bacteria assessment of ocean users that casts a forensic eye on how we interact with marine ecosystems.
Jingle bells, send us swells, make COVID go away
… It’s safe to say that 2020 turned out to be a lump of metaphorical coal. Between contest cancellations, Pipe Masters dreams and Olympic false-starts, beach closures, surf mag shutterings, severed contracts, surfing bans, overcrowded breaks, travel prohibitions, and mid-contest shark attacks, 2021 promises to be nothing short of a diamond in comparison.
With the countdown to the New Year on, things are already starting to “slowly” look up. Red Bull has led the way with innovative swell-based contests. Our screens have been commandeered by creative YouTubers following in the footsteps of Jamie O’Brien’s incomparable antics and subsequent media blitz. Travel closures and contest cancellations means that, like us, the pros are able to spend more surf time with friends and family – and we might be wave sharing with our heroes at our home break. And, as we patiently await herd immunity, we can distract ourselves with the