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On this show we honour World Oceans Day, which takes place every year on June 8th. Declared in 2009 by the United Nations, World Oceans Day aims to educate about the importance of the oceans, and of the many threats that they – and the animals that live within them – are currently facing.
Photo: Audun Rikardsen (http://www.audunrikardsen.com/)
We start the show by sharing some information about a couple of exciting events that recently took place here in Vancouver: VegExpo, and the Forward Food Summit at UBC. From grocery stores & restaurants, to education institutions, animal-free foods & other products are well on their way to the mainstream! To learn more about how human consumption of animal products is damaging the oceans, click here.
Sue Waters, Sea Shepherd Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territories
Our first guest is Sue Waters, a coordinator for our local chapter of Sea Shepherd – an international non-profit marine conservation organization, that engages in direct action campaigns to protect wildlife in the world’s oceans. A longtime volunteer in the rescue of both domestic and wild animals, Sue strongly believes physical intervention is necessary to stop the most dire threats facing marine life. She joins us to talk about some of Sea Shepherd’s latest work, as well as some of the ways that humans are contributing to the destruction of the oceans.
Sue will be on the speakers panel at the Warrior Women of the Sea Conference, taking place at the UBC Boathouse on Saturday June 3rd. Find out more here.
Dr. Abby Schwarz, Marine Biologist
In 1953, renowned oceanographer Jacques Cousteau published a book called “The Silent World: A Story of Undersea Discovery and Adventure.” Made into a documentary in 1956, it offered many humans a first glimpse into the deep sea world. However, we learned early on that the sea is far from silent! Marine animals rely heavily on the power of sound and hearing for their survival. While the oceans were significantly quieter back in the 1950s, human activity has drastically increased the amount of noise in the sea over the past several decades. This has led to dramatic consequences for the hundreds of thousands of animal species that call the ocean home.
Dr. Abby Schwarz is a retired marine biologist (Ph.D.) with background and training in animal behaviour and ecology. Prior to retirement, Abby was an instructor in the Biology Department at Langara College. She has studied fish behaviour in the field as a scuba diver, and is co-founder of the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology. She has been a vocal advocate & public speaker at events in protest of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline, which would dramatically increase tanker traffic in the waters off the BC coast. Abby joins us in the studio to discuss the importance of sound to animals in the ocean, and how noise from human activities is interfering with the lives of marine animals.