Endangered Earth Activities
We are alarmed at the current rates of species loss, ecosystem fragmentation, ocean acidification and all its impacts, and the many extractive and exploitative activities that are increasingly disturbing Earth’s delicately balanced systems.
This planet is essentially a closed system: we may be able to sequester certain kinds of pollution, and we may try to limit certain kinds of damaging activities, but ultimately everything we put into our air, water, or land will have an impact, for better or worse. We are all downstream and downwind of somewhere, and we are all connected.
All over this magnificent planet that we inhabit, threatened species, water quality, native landscapes and plants, and Earth’s other delicate systems are fraught with harmful activities that put our collective future at risk. But there is reason to hope; we’ve seen some extraordinary success stories during recent years when communities, activists, and experts have teamed up to help endangered species and ecosystems on the path toward recovery.
Through education, policy change, incentives, and creativity, we can and do make a difference. “If it is to be, it is up to me.”
Everyone has a role to play through personal decisions and actions, partnerships, activism, land stewardship, animal care, limiting our individual carbon footprints, accumulating knowledge and then paying it forward by sharing our expertise and perspectives with others.
In addition to our other program areas, which often involve lawsuits and advocacy, OCE has embarked on this new program "Endangered Earth Activities," through which we intend to assess key ecosystems and help to raise awareness about the current plight of the natural world as well as what we can do to help.
OCE and our partners will gather information, create and share content, learn as much as we can about how to make the most positive change in the most critical areas, and forge partnerships with artists and activists who are on the front lines of environmental protection efforts.
If you have an idea or a project proposal related to protecting endangered areas and raising awareness about critical species and ecosystems, please contact us. We want to hear from you!
April 2018:
Possible new species of Manta Ray spotted off Palm Beach; Local wildlife experts excited about potential find
Local wildlife experts believe they may have discovered a new species of manta ray.
Video of the fish was recorded by Our Children's Earth Foundation photographer Ivy Yin off the coast of Palm Beach.
Yin immediately contacted Dr. Andrea Marshall, co-founder of the Marine Megafauna Foundation, about the find.
Marshall studies these animals here in south Florida and believes it could be a new species.
According to Dr. Marshall waters off the south Florida coast may serve as a nursery for this species.
June 2017:
Pregnant sea turtle found injured, rescued in Palm Beach
The turtle weighs nearly 200 pounds and was identified as a female with eggs, according to the Loggerhead MarineLife Center in Jupiter.
Smiley suffered a deep wound to her neck muscle making it difficult for her to lift her neck to breathe while swimming. She said it’s not a typical turtle injury. The wound appears to be at least a few days old since they found maggots in it.
Smiley’s caretakers are optimistic she’ll survive, but can’t say for sure if she will.
“She’s staying in the hospital to make sure she doesn’t drown,” Clark said.
Ivy Yin, a photographer with Our Children’s Earth Foundation was driving on South Ocean Boulevard and documented the turtle rescue.
Earlier this week, a kogia whale beached herself near Reef Road and Yin found it.
It’s sea turtle nesting season and local organizations and residents make sure turtles have a safe beach to nest on by scheduling beach cleanups. Bacteria in the water, storm-water runoff and trash can harm sea life.
“We have such pretty beaches,” Yin said. “But we have serious issues to address.”
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