Oceanminded Thought Du Jour


Avatar? or Giant Plastic Bag From Another Planet?


If you haven’t seen this hugely viral, ROV taken video from the deep yet you should!
 

 
Many theories on the matter some think long lost jellyfish from another era or even a whale placenta. Or perhaps Cameron playing with CGI for his next Avatar movie. One thing is sure there has to be something we do not know down in the abyss or the crazy race to the deep in between Cameron,Branson and Triton would not be happening!
I have to admit it was a magical moment to watch this thing move and change shape and light…
 
You may resume to your daily occupation!

OM~

Clean Up T Shirt?


I found out about United By Blue while roaming the net looking for Oceanminded sites. I am a big believer that things get done the right way when businesses tackle directly an environmental issue rather than just giving part of their profits to a non profit. I borrow this idea from Richard Branson and his great book “Screw Business As Usual”. The folks at UBB, not only sell you an awesome T shirt with a relevant message to protect our Oceans, but follow a simple and efficient philosophy “For every 1 product sold, UBB removes 1 pound of trash from our world’s oceans and waterways”. How great is this? It makes sense. If only a goliath like Wall Mart or Target could play this game the great pacific garbage patch would be history in a matter of months!
This sustainable way of running a business also makes us (the consumer) connect on a deeper level with the product.

Here is more info about this uniquely cool Oceanminded company:
United By Blue® (UBBTM) is an ocean-friendly apparel brand that, for every one product sold, removes one pound of trash from oceans and waterways around the world through company organized cleanups.
The company designs, manufacturers, and distributes sustainable apparel and accessories under the United By Blue® brand. UBB products can be found in stores throughout the United States, Japan and the Bahamas.
United By Blue’s business model of associating a concrete environmental action with every business transaction allows the company to accomplish tangible environmental good while creating a brand that resonates with the growing number of people who are concerned about the environment. And with on- trend products made from organic fabrics, the brand’s market is not limited to the eco-consumer niche but also includes 18 to 35 year old men and women, specifically in the surf and outdoor lifestyle markets.
UBB is able to accomplish its mission through company-organized cleanups, many of which are co-
UBB uses the power of business, education, and environmental action to save our oceans and waterways from pollution.
Our company is built on 3 pillars:
1. Environmental consciousness
2. Community focus
3. Education
hosted with retail partners that carry the company product. UBB believes in the power of locally driven, community- focused environmental action, and encourages community participation, whether through retail partners or other channels.
Since May 2010, UBB has hosted over 60 cleanups across 15 states in 2 countries and removed 82,527 pounds of trash from beaches and waterways.Though the amount of trash dumped into oceans and waterways every year far surpasses UBB’s scope, one benefit of UBB’s cleanups is the awareness that they draw to the problem of ocean pollution. UBB is dedicated not only to educating cleanup volunteers but also to creating and distributing educational content that addresses issues afflicting our world’s waters. Through videos on YouTube and the company web site, articles in mainstream and eco-niche publications, and conferences for students and professionals, UBB uses the power of its brand to educate.
More information about the company can be found on unitedbyblue.com.

You may now buy your new T’s and help the Ocean while you are at it!
wwww.unitedbyblue.com

Sharks Gone Going, Gone?


Shark Extinction The Shocking Truth

Created by Surfmeisters.com Surf Blog | Surf Videos | Havaianas

When You Fill Up It Smells Like The Sea


While we abuse every square inch of our beautiful Oceans they in turn keep giving. Reading more and more about algae based biofuel I realize that this might really well be a good alternative to our retarded ways (read polluting, overpaying and going to war for crude oil). I am very well aware that we will need,not just one, but a combination of sustainable alternative energies to replace our addiction to crude oil. The ocean can help us create a ton of energy in many different,sustainable, creative and cool ways. Check out the Oceanminded energy video feed on Oceanminds.com to learn more about it .
On a more organic matter side of things,a lot of researchers are working on Algae Biofuel, a more realistic biofuel solution since we do not end up tapping into our food ressources and land to make fuel. I feel that algae based biofuel has not been publicized much and a lot of us do not know about this alternative.
Here are a few online resources I have found useful to better understand how this process works. I encourage every single one of you to understand and learn as much as you can about alternative energies, their advantages and inconvenients in order to take part in the rather crucial energy debate ahead.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae_fuel
http://algaefuel.org/
Algae Fuel The Wave Of The Future

You may now return to your daily occupation

OM~

How Deep Is Your Love?


Now that Nasa has shut down the shuttle program, it seems we finally get a chance to refocus on our beloved blue planet, and most importantly on the remainder 3/4th of it. The big blue. The Mariana trench is the holly grail with its 11,034 meters depth. Other than being an adventurous aquanaut you need two things to conquer such a depth, technology and the money to finance. Previously only the Navy had the deep pockets (read your tax dollar at work) to finance such a project. The only manned mission to this day occurred on Jan. 23rd 1960 aboard the famous “Trieste” where Jacques Piccard  (jean-luc great great grandson?**) and USN Lt. Don Walsh accomplished the 5 hour voyage down for a 20 min dive spent at 10,916meters.

2012, enter Avatarian-movie superstar-director-blockbuster-manufacturer-deep-ocean-lover James Cameron and super-duper-entrepreneur/adventurer-Virginitall-space-flight-to-necker Sir Richard Branson for the ultimate race to the deep.  Both use two different aquaships, Cameron went for the more traditional sphere design with Triton Sub Inc. and Branson went for the underwater starfighter plane look from Hawkes Ocean Tech. Now to get everything into perspective, here is a brillant graphic sumitallup version of this incredible journey thanks to Richard Johnson of the National Post. Read his  excellent article.

Cameron is taking a 3D camera to get some footage to use on the sequel to Avatar (that takes place in Pandora’s ocean). As for Branson other than putting another adventure under his belt,there is a business model to be developed: Underwater sub tourism. To my understanding there is also an educational and scientific side  to his Virgin Oceanic odyssey. At the time being the teams are concentrating on the testing and improvement of their sub. Who will succeed first in this oceanminded race?  It is for you to decide.

 

 

You may now return to your normal life!

 

nico~

**I am a closet Trekky

Por Favor


After a year online a great steady grow,Oceanminds although still a small fish is now swimming in the big blue ocean. I never wanted to bug peeps with annoying flashing ads, I find them very annoying when I surf the interweb and figured I did not want to expose your poor brain to yet more ads while getting your Ocean News. OM is one year old this month and although I have been spending a tremendous amount of time on curating the news every day and improving both layout and design, oceanminds has been costing me both time and money. One could argue it is a labor of love but love somewhat does not pay the server bills. So what I ask of you is to take a sec and browse our newly opened T’s shop on spreadshirt and spend some green on the blue!

Thanks millions for all your support and nice emails,

Keep on rockin’ the blue world!

merci merci merci!

nico

Incuba…What!?


It is called an Incubator, a place where you grow and nurture things. The live kind of things. In the Oceanminded world it is a place where we nurture and grow new ideas to efficiently protect the blue that we love so much. The Incubator idea came from reading Sir Richard Branson’s brilliant new book “Screw Business as Usual”. So far the new Oceanminds platform as been passive, a newsstand full of relevant news for the Ocean Tribe. I thought now was the time to take it to the next level with your help. Although the previous Oceanminds platform failed (read more here), the incubator is its legacy.

The concept is simple, you read the news you react in the Incubator oceanminds.com/incubator by proposing relevant ideas to solve environmental Ocean issues. Other people including Oceanminds.com (with its network of peeps working in the blue world) and all of you Oceanminded will brainstorm to help grow your ideas to  maturity !   Think along the line of small/local ideas with big impacts! The only way the incubator will work is if you get into it and join the tribe!

Now if you already have close to maturity idea but miss the funding,  and the peeps to get to the next level just drop a few lines describing your oceanminded idea  in the incubator and let’s bring it to the next level.

To bring a tad more interactive sign in with your facebook, it is easier to connect this way. On the Twitter side of things just type your idea and use #IncubatorOM (hashtags).

Find Oceanminds on:

facebook/oceanminds

pinterest/oceanminds

twitter/oceanminds

google+/oceanminds

Let’s grow !

OM~

Oceanminds+Big Miracle with Drew Barrymore = You Win!


Oceanminded here are 2 easy steps  for you to win The Big Miracle Movie  (In Theaters Feb. 3rd!) Release Prizes!

 

 

Follow us on @oceanminds on Twitter and Like our Page on Facebook/oceanminds in the next days we will randomly ask a question about our beloved worlds oceans with #BigMiracle  (in the question), if you are the first one to answer correctly via twitter on on our Facebook wall you win! In order to win you need to be one of our follower and like our page! Easy yah?

One (1) winner will receive:

  • ·         $25 Fandango Gift Card
  • ·         Whale Plush
  • ·         Big Miracle T-shirt
May the most Oceanminded win!

Do you Blu? I Blu !


I got an invite from the good peeps at TheBlu.com this morning. Buzz has been propagating around the interweb about the 3d animation version of our oceanminded planet. Academy award winner, animator extraordinaire Andy Jones (Avatar) is one of the board member of this amazing new online adventure. As we speak beloved Dr. Sylvia Earle jumped onboard the underwater bandwagon of this alternate reality.Which will probably translate in more education and preservation in a project that is very “classroom” promising.
First Impressions
Software is in beta and can be quite buggy at times which is expected and normal, I use chrome, I haven’t tried the blu on firefox or safari yet. I created a username and a password, the blu prompted me to install webplay a plugin to access the 3D world and plouf! I was underwater.Swimming around this underwater web universe is a great experience, a tad confusing at first but a few onscreen messages help you to understand the layout and the goals. You dispose of 7 camera angles to explore the habitats you are in (coral reef,open ocean etc…) and you can use your mouse to “look” up, down right and left. After swimming around for a tad I was directed to tag (click on ) the fish swimming around. Every habitat has several fish you need to find and tag. each time you learn about the fish itself and the person that created it. For some reason the bio of the person that designed the fish/habitat I swam with never showed up, apparently a lot of social network is part of the experience but I missed out since I never saw bio which include facebook page etc….
Which lead me to the best part of the Blu, it is a coop of graphic designers/animators from around the world working together. Inspired by the open source software development, the blu is growing as we speak (getting all sorts of new habitats and fishes). My best time so far as been hanging out in the bottom checking out the hammer sharks gliding by in sunlight rays coming from the surface. The music theme is pretty cool and was quite relaxing, the blu is a true multimedia world, part entertainment part educational and I have to admit 100% fun! I still have tons of exploring to do and lots to learn so for more info check out www.theblu.com

I will submit further ideas/experiences as I dive more into the Blu in the meantime you may resume your oceanminds.com fresh news reading!

Bluely yours,

OM~

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