Happy World Oceans Day! Mission 31 and Aquarius, the only undersea research laboratory in the world, was the place to be for this year's celebration. Jean-Michel Cousteau and Dr. Sylvia Earle graced us with their presence, as well as Vampire-actor and conservationist Ian Somerhalder (his foundation) and former aquanaut Greg Stone (his TED talk). We celebrated with visits to the crew in Aquarius (Fabien, Adam, Andy, Otter, Kip and Ryan) and with a special event at Islamorada's History of Diving Museum.
Ian and I talked about Mission 31 research. With the Ian Somerhalder Foundation, he wants to help us save the oceans. We need more celebs like this! A tall order, I know...
|
Awww... I got a hug from the vampire. I hoped we conveyed how extraordinary Mission 31 & ocean research are!
|
Such a pleasure to meet Dr. Earle! She's an inspiration.
|
"Her deepness," Dr. Earle, getting a hug from Ian! He's a big fan of hers and quoted her in his interview today: "No blue, no green." M31 documentary film maker Marc Ostrick is on the right.
|
Flashback to last Spring 2013 meeting Sylvia in Boston, with my friend Hrant.
|
Ian gave the mission control desk a shout-out as soon as he entered the habitat. He knows how to work the camera! M31 film maker and aquanaut Kip, on the left, pointed out the security cam to the movie star.
|
Sylvia and Jean-Michel! Ocean legends.
Ian and Fabien chatted for 45 minutes in Aquarius, the max you can stay without needing decompression. Across the table is former aquanaut Greg Stone. Standing in the back is Otter, the habitat technician who will stay below for the full 31 days! Fun fact: by the end of M31, Otter will have spent over 200 days underwater.
|
Who better to celebrate World Ocean's Day with?! From left to right: Audra Santoro (Aquarius Foundation director), Saul (M31 director), Sally (founder of the Diving Museum!), Spanish Garden's restaurant co-owner, Sylvia, Spanish Garden's restaurant co-owner, Jean-Michel, Billy Snook (M31 camera team), me, and Amy (M31 publicist).
|
In the afternoon I did an interview for hispanic television. I'll post when it's out! This is me with the show host, Nicolas Ibarguen.
|
In the evening I had the pleasure of Skyping with Andy and Adam in Aquarius and helping them answer questions about Aquarius and Mission 31.
|
My World Oceans Day Promise is to engineer technology and help make policy to protect our oceans from climate change, pollution, and overfishing. This photo, just released by Mission 31, is from training. I'm surprised I can recognized everyone in their gear. From left to right, it's Kip, Fabien, Andy, Liz, Adam, and me.
RSS Feed
