Category: Uncategorized

We’ll start with some interesting tidbits of knowledge . 97 % of the worlds water is already in the oceans . The other 3% consists of ice , snow , lakes and rivers . How much rise in ocean tides can be achieved by the total melt of our ice and snow pack ? Possible 2 meters but that’s stretching it . Rain also has some weight in this matter but what hits land goes to our lakes and rivers as well as under ground . Captured for years and longer when flowing into lakes .

Here’s a good fact we haven’t faced yet but could be a reason for chronic pain , loss of cartilage and an assortment of ailments we address as common . Plastic in our bodies ! Yes you , me and everyone living today ingests approximately 5 grams weekly . Sound like a lot ? Does to me too . By eating fish , shrimp , crab , cow , bird , just about all animal life and drinking from plastic bottles , we ingest that much . I don’t want to get started on the vegetables sprayed with Atrazine but that’s for another post , look it up .

We aren’t given a choice about these poisons added to our diet . If you shop at a market , eat from a large farm produced for profit , most likely you’re filling the hungry belly with food that shortens your life . I’ve been posting for years about the harm of solid plastics we use and don’t need to . The plastic that chokes our ocean life , in return harming us . Whether you see it or not the time has come to open your eyes to what you know is true .

The climate protesters want action on that 3% of melting ice , claim a natural cycle can be stopped if we throw our world into chaos . I ask you all to look around and see what giving more control to those supporters , not the common people but the funding parties wanting to stir up confusion and have us chasing a natural event as their agenda is doing . If I can uncover the facts it can’t be that hidden . Plastic enters our oceans by the ton everyday . So much plastic that if we don’t stop it we’ll die of starvation just like the whales that die on our beaches every year . Just like the birds that can’t give birth and also die with a belly full of plastic , Yummm .

Greed has taken over as we’ve entered into the 21st century . Possibly by those people smelling the end is near , like a vulture circling the dying bodies . I remember hearing a priest say to my father , ” The end may be as close as your children feeling and seeing it “. I thought then what gangs would do if they thought that way , heard this man spout such lies . Now I see those in charge grasping for every penny to give their family a head start above anyone else based on this very same lie .

We are alive . We have choice , show love and like any good parent , roll our sleeves up and clean the messes without blame . A good scolding , maybe a spanking and being taken out of the game is needed for a while but we don’t give up. Without this enduring spirit we’d all be lost . No matter what nationality , color , religious beliefs we have , from start to finish I stand along side the people of this planet . We’ve offered solutions , applications from cleanup efforts to alternative plastic products . It’s not easy standing up to huge business using plastic to sparkle their products , catching our eyes but please realize what damage is caused by single use plastic or just plastic in any form anymore .

Natural events and cycles happen and can’t be stopped . Like the tide or lightening , could we stop them ? Those things man has done can be controlled and by being responsible we can and will control our fate . Just remember every little bit helps , every conscious effort steers or destination toward a beautiful world again . Love All , All Love

Ending the year with a bang .

We’ve been gone for over 6 months and everything out on the reef has changed . Most importantly it’s as healthy as always , growing at a fast pace and colors bright . Fish in abundance , schools of all kinds proliferating all over . Missed some pics the first couple dives and though we can’t get them back , more are on the way I’m sure . We did gather new growth and overviews so far . That’s going to have to do for a couple days as a Typhoon is on the way .

Plastic garbage has dropped to almost nothing . Yay for that progress ! People are learning quickly how important our reefs are , how fish sanctuaries are detrimental to our lives as well as maintaining a healthy coral forest . What washes down the tributaries still poses a major problem and will for years to come , needing attention now . I’ve noticed jetties angled upstream on either side of the river collects a majority of plastic and is easy to reclaim . Here in our Barangay ( township ) , we’ve begun levies along the river and a dam upstream that will stop debris from entering the ocean . Another major move to help the cleanup . Salamat Po to insights of Lobo . Thank you very much .

Looks like we’ll be hunkered down at home until the storm passes but we have plans to visit new reefs and locations within the Philippines this year . My end goal is to produce segments from all over South east Asia to Australia .

We intend to cover townships , populated Islands and obscure inlets that may contribute to the pollution of our Oceans . I will talk to people about what’s being done in their area to stem the flow of plastics . How to curb the use of plastic bags , straws and some of the worst like styrofoam and diapers . We want to come up with solutions that local and tourist alike will make habit . Places to deposit the waste that can’t be burnt safely and hopefully collected for restructure into usable materials . People are creative of that I’m sure . When shown a disastrous situation we’ve always risen to the challenge , working together for the betterment of us all .

We are human and this is our earth . I don’t believe any one purposely neglects nature or each other . The scourge has been created by consumerism and fueled by convenience . Life demands drive us through our day like a roller coaster . It’s time to step off , not be driven by stressful daily chores and breath . Please let your nature waken and do what you can .

Here we are in 2019 , wow . Think of all the progress , inventions and awareness that’s become recognized in the past 10 years .

We’re on the verge of edible bags , plates and even forks to straws . We’re making many products from recycled plastic that’s economical to use since it lasts forever .

There has been a growing concern among governments of several countries banning plastic bags . This trend is growing as other officials recognize the threat and lobby their leaders to interact . This is everybody’s problem and we all need to recognize that .

Those countries that chose to pollute and destroy reefs are being watched as well as forced to stop the harm their doing . Other countries are changing their view that importing garbage is profitable . Only of it’s separated and recyclable . The new trend looks like filled cargo containers sent to a bogus address in a third world country doesn’t come back , very creative but insults every brain cell they might have . Guess the fine they’d receive was worth the risk .

There’s plenty of room for invention in this cleanup market . still looking like people are dipping their toes in to see how it feels . The latest project involved many boats and barges . I believe it took place in 2018 and they had their hands full from the start . Any effort is a big effort on the high seas and most projects are a thimble in a hurricane . Private funding is tough when there’s little to no profit .

The tonnage of plastic is still being dumped and washed into our water systems daily . Until we change our packaging as well as our negligent behavior we’re non stop polluting our oceans and ourselves . The old saying ” ya can’t eat dirt ” will become ” ya can’t eat plastic .” Giving up is not an option . Time is of the essence as we move forward in life . It’s happening whether you like it or not . It’s happening if you help or don’t . In just 60 years we’ve polluted our world way past what thousands of years delivered . I’d say time to clean could take much longer than 60 years .

If what I’m saying is in fact true then how will your children eat let alone drink clean water ? How expensive will what flowed freely cost in 20 years ? Is this an organized effort to chastise the population while cornering the market on water as well as foods ? Does this all stem from plastic waste ?

Lucky I’m an optimist . Zombies won’t eat our brain but will help clean up the mess . In just a few more years our collection at sea will learn and use the knowledge to quickly clear square miles of Plastic debris . Fish species will propagate in abundance as the non food clears from their sight . Disease should lessen as cleaner streams to lakes and oceans revert back to natural levels . Human kind survives .

These pics aren’t enough to show what Isla Verde has to offer . Our camera died during my last tour unfortunately . The best shots were lost but in explanation some Mesa’s were over 4 meters across . The colors ranged from red , green , blue and purple . Outstanding vibrant hues and competition for space as they covered the area with hiding places for the young fish .

When we approached the thick coral areas there were multiple types of coral as far as we could see . Sight was stupendous ranging from 10 to 20 meters and down 6 to 7 meters still having brilliant color . The schools within the nursery held Trigger , Grouper , Neons and Puffers of all colors . The Clown fish came in a multitude of color as well , ranging from common orange / white to red , brown and purplish .

Again I’d like to point out how the plastics have been diminishing . In schools throughout Luzon and Visayas children are taught not to allow plastics into the ocean . Single use packaging is being looked at as pollutant material and may be banned throughout the Philippines soon . Why this form of shelf life sales has been distributed is a manufacture profit margin and forced into consumption by companies searching for larger profit . Waking up to these facts opens different ideas that may add living food to packaging instead of choking the life of all marine life . Let’s be a part of the solution and enjoy the company of these creatures from Dilis to Whales , from Turtle to Coral . This is ground zero .

We’re home again , with excitement about seeing the reef and knowledge the Chinese dredging ship has gone with no sand . The new energy source that lies beneath the ocean is the new clean fuel of the future . We can hold it in our hands and burn a bright blue flame . It’s solid and satellite pics show an amazing abundance around the Philippine Islands . Wonder why the Chinese want to dredge throughout ? This is the new gold , the new oil .

If mining is now under the sea , who has the rights to this substance ? Within the archipelago of the Philippines it’s clearly the Philippines’ property , Period . Making a mess to steal is like walking into your home after it being ransacked . The feeling is somewhat like rape . The damage is long lasting , just like the mining done in Mindanao . They left a mess that will take decades to repair .

Let’s calm a bit and reflect on the Lobo reef . It is thriving . Many turtles are seen in abundance , fish schools have doubled since sanctuaries protecting the reefs were instated . I’m impressed by the many colors we see growing like a garden , no a forest would explain it best . I swim the kilometer from two to seven meters deep and just don’t want to surface . Yesterday I caught a glimpse of two nurse sharks hunting . Moments later a few turtles lazily grazing didn’t mind me swimming by . If this sounds like paradise , it is .

There is some silt kicked up from the resorts , this week being Holy Week , but visibility is over six meters . The water temps are steady at 84f , 29c at surface levels , just below that a couple meters under . Calm in morning and evening with a breeze in the afternoon . Yes it is like air conditioning from Mother Earth . Across the channel Mindoro is shrouded in clouds until afternoon when it rises to show an outline of the mountains there . Isla Verde always present and calling .

Tomorrow we sail for Isla Verde . I’m so excited I may not sleep . It’s been two years since we explored there and I’ve been itching to get back ever since . Of all the reefs we’ve surveyed Isla Verde stands out alone . Hectares of coral . Fish species in abundance , from grouper of many kinds to rock fish , coral fish , eels and so many I can’t count . There’s an atmosphere of electricity throughout the boat when we get close . We’ll post our journey after editing the Isla Verde voyage .

Just a few years ago I could walk the beach and it was beautiful , clean and inviting. I would enjoy having my children feel that same connection with nature . How much stress can humans endure? What memories will they have for their children ? Will their children have enough to eat?

Channeling our attention away from the problem has been a control method used since the beginning. Breaking focus not only stalls progress but can then change course and action . So many distractions and false information eventually break down a movement toward health and prosperity to utter collapse and despair. Who wins ?

My heart aches for the two whales found dead in SF bay today . They reported the first autopsy as from malnutrition . The news couldn’t report straight fact that they were full of plastic . These animals died in vain . Wait , look over there ! A post about the squash from Wadgama , how colorful and nutritious. Is it packaged in plastic?

The policy of switch and bait is so blatant we’ll laugh when it’s our turn , believing the lie . Who is doing all the cover up ? Why ? Until people stand and unite against this it will rule the day .

Doing whatever we can is all we can do . The best from day to day is a slide scale , so just do your best at every given moment . Doing something shows you respect others , nature . Doing something shows you want to live .

These hero’s are inspirational to us all . People travel to the beach to relax and enjoy the waves . When we encounter trash it’s a negative experience and we leave with higher blood pressure than when we arrived . This plastic eventually enters the water system again and some is eaten by sea life . . It’s endless right now . Coming from mountain streams , blown into piles by wind throughout the land . Don’t be discouraged. If we work arm in arm eventually the mounting mass will dwindle to nothing .

Thank you all ! Thank those that take the time to gather debris, keeping it from harming innocent life . Thanks to those that develop new biodegradable packaging . Thank those that speak out and educate others . Thank all on the front line in this war against pollution.

Ok , so being a janitor isn’t glamorous and doesn’t bring mounds of cash brought by beautiful women in bikinis , but Sea Sheriff is like being a waste manager only implies we sail the horizon in search of pollutants . Now that could be a Sifi movie for Sundance !

On our rounds we travel to far away reefs with only a knife and bag . Using maybe a stick to help gather evidence for forensic tests . We fill the bags and move on . Ever on the prowl for plastics and petroleum products clogging our arteries and flow patterns . It’s a lonely life as we watch the party goers dancing on the beach but they’ve got a collection bag to leave a clean camp so we move along the tide . Hey wait , their waving us over . Gona close for now and have a break with the locals . Ya , so walking the beach and swimming the reefs has it’s percs. Then ya find out these people are here to help clean it up as well . Now it’s a party .

What else would you expect from a walk along the beautiful ocean ? We all envision a clean environment but that’s become far from true . Help doesn’t seem to be in abundance as our world leaders have other important issues . It’s a great opportunity to touch nature and meet people if you’re into that .

What it is is not going to change by continuing along the same path we are on . The survival instinct kicks in just after we realize it’s to late . When the fear of being gone sets in people direct attention toward the extinction problem , but wait there’s more ! Pain and suffering in great abundance replaces your hunger for food . Water becomes tainted and nothing prospers without clean water .

We’re just going to have to deputize you all . No way even ten thousand people can make a dent in our problem . If we have organized teams with equipment to match and recycling plants , maybe , just maybe we have a chance . Ok . we’ll take what odds we’ve been given and do the best we can .This has been a lighthearted post kinda joking with a serious problem . From our hearts we hope everyone keeps the seriousness of survival fresh in their daily lives . Try to leave a small footprint along your path . Check your throw away from week to week and try beating your previous trash weight .

Be Well

Our findings of the Island of Boracay may not be pretty or inviting yet , but given time we feel it can regain a lost luster and shine again . as we arrived the weather was rain and cold . environmental fees cost more than the short trip across from Caticlan . I still don’t understand charging after the fact or making the tourism trade pay for over building and improper sewage .

The rooms available weren’t the best and cost was high . keep in mind this was Christmas week . We moved to better quarters after two days , closer to the beach and a bit nicer . Many people had the same experience , relocating to available rooms . Many resorts have been slated to be torn down , many are posted with permits stating work should begin or face demolition as well . Quite a number have been demolished already . Just the beginning . The main avenue has been torn up to replace sewer lines , drainage , fresh water lines and it looked like cable lines . strong stench of open sewer could be detected throughout the east beach area . This is a temporary problem but let’s not forget it’s Christmas week .

On the streets the sidewalks are paver brick , unfinished . The sewer and water lines run under the sidewalks and most are open pits . Many places smell of raw sewage , have mosquitos and are unattractive as of yet . These are small problems that are being addressed and soon will be the beautiful city designed to be . Off the golden path it becomes paved or gravel as any other Island throughout the Philippines . Old school neighborhoods have a charm and are grandfathered in from generations ago . This is the work force for the resorts , a very needed group of families that have lived on Boracay since before it became a tourist haven .

What shows along the beach is clean and raked daily . The beaches are clean and posted for fines if you don’t respect the new environmental standards .

The shallow reefs are young.  Growth over dead corals.  There are larger growths deeper,more established but the young ones are healthy, beautiful and strong.  We were lucky enough to catch a turtle sleeping and a couple of eels warily peeking out of their hideaway.

We stopped at Cobrador Island and talked to the school coordinator.  We spoke of the library, built of plastic bottles filled with plastic then plastered over.  Having exposed areas showing the bottles and the construction of the library.  All children in Romblon and accompanying islands are taught the value of keeping plastic out of our oceans.  Praise to the teachers, honor students and thanks for the beautiful beaches.  It’s only a matter of time before all of the Philippines will have an understanding of the value of our reefs, our fish nurseries, along with the protection they provide for all.

We’ve been monitoring this slick for 2 years.  We assume it’s approximately 8 liters of oil that spread over a 6 meter radius.  New growth shows tenacity of coral to survive.  You can notice some atrophied by the sand encrouching on the spill.

Entering summer months in the northern hemisphere brings welcome changes . Water lovers everywhere enjoying beaches and sun gather in resort areas to enjoy the festival . We wish everyone a safe and memorable season .

Have you noticed more accumulation of debris in and along the shore ? Anyone experience dirty diapers or cigarette butts piled , strewn and poking up like mounds of clustered synthetic stench piles ? # Me Too .

Every year we hear of efforts from inspired young people gifted with ideas of cleaning the world . Then we see the fact that twice as much plastic and trash have accumulated since last year .

Every year we’re promised new material , edible and biodegradable is mentioned , but continue seeing plastic with ” green ” stamped on them . The fact is , We the people have to clean it up . We have to stop buying the plastic to prove we don’t want it . The way to be heard is to have a large and loud voice . To be acknowledged we have to prove we want to live .

It’s been said ” people don’t deserve control of natural resources ” . We shouldn’t have a choice as to water , air , minerals in our atmosphere and so on . It’s for our own good ! If you believe that please stop now and find some information about those that give up their rights and what the outcomes have been through history .

To hide and deny what is happening in our world is when we run out of breath . Literally stop breathing and gasp for that last look before the black out . Is this what has to take place before we turn around and pick up the mess ? Are we living in a throw away society so caught up in denial we don”t recognize the wall just ahead ?

Those places away from oceans , countries held in 3rd world mode so manufacturers can dump toxic and long lasting pollutants there need to  be recognized as well . We the people doesn’t mean standing alone .                     Please help . Please talk and act together . Please become active in how we live among the packaging gifted to us with everything offered . Individual bite size snacks that are gone in 5 seconds  aren’t gone if the wrapper lasts a thousand years .

Areas starved of oxygen in open ocean and by coasts have soared in recent decades, risking dire consequences for marine life and humanity

Ocean dead zones with zero oxygen have quadrupled in size since 1950, scientists have warned, while the number of very low oxygen sites near coasts have multiplied tenfold. Most sea creatures cannot survive in these zones and current trends would lead to mass extinction in the long run, risking dire consequences for the hundreds of millions of people who depend on the sea.read more

Climatologists say Labrador Sea could cool within a decade before end of this century, leading to unprecedented disruption, reports Climate News Network

For thousands of years, parts of northwest Europe have enjoyed a climate about 5C warmer than many other regions on the same latitude. But new scientific analysis suggests that that could change much sooner and much faster than thought possible.

Researchers at Carnegie Institution say corals are being overwhelmed by rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

The world’s coral reefs will begin to disintegrate before the end of the century as rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere make the oceans more acidic, scientists warn.
read more

Biorock giving new life to coral reefs

Johnny Langenheim explains how an innovative method is sustaining corals and why on World Oceans Day we need to pledge for more such projects

Coral reefs are the rainforests of the world’s oceans. Like their terrestrial counterparts, they occur in tropical and sub tropical environments, support a bewildering variety of species and are diminishing at an alarming rate.read more

Your timely editorial about the need to improve our knowledge of the ocean (8 August) rightly stresses the responsibility of political leaders to create the means to find out more about the 70% of the planet covered by the ocean. But it is not only in the physical, biological and chemical sciences that we must improve our knowledge. There are large gaps in our knowledge about the economic and social aspects of human interactions with the sea.read more

As blood flows through our bodies water flows through our earth . As everything is connected our life’s blood needs a transfusion.

We , the people of this planet have duties to protect the environment as we would our children . Harmonizing and balancing along the journey , using technology to enforce life  before profit .

Extinction is forever , gone , never to be again !  Can we afford to gamble with our fate ? Is the ease of drinking water from a plastic bottle then throwing it away become the normal ? Buying new lawn furniture to keep in style , using plastic lighters , polymers , synthetics that last a few months , dull and are discarded is choking us to death .

The plastic fragments broken down and entering everything that eats or breaths is clogging our systems so badly that in only one generation we’ve come to a threshold of life . All Life Is In Jeopardy .

The world has grown very quickly this last century . It’s not so big anymore . Quite small in fact . Old rules don’t apply . War isn’t needed , we communicate across the planet in nano seconds . New forms of energy are available , oil is out dated and crude . Yet wells are constantly placed in our oceans that leak , across our lands that spill and enter our fresh waters .

The CEO of Nestle thinks we people don’t deserve water rights while he is no better than an African tribesman trying to supply his family with enough to survive another day . Money and power gives the right to dictate a life’s outcome ?

People have a voice . Together we give those on top what they want or not . People taking time to live like before oil and plastic ruled them makes them heard in a loud and clear voice .

Please join together in this battle for life . Let’s not give our choices , our vote to a greedy few just because the advertising  says it’s okay . Each and every person , animal , coral reef or green plant has a right to live in a clean environment .

 

All Love Love All

Rich and Theresa

Five Reasons NOT to Dive Lobo Batangas