Articles by Andrew Sharpless
Andrew Sharpless is the CEO of Oceana, the world's largest international nonprofit dedicated to ocean conservation. Visit www.oceana.org.
All Articles
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Unbalanced mercury report has green groups in an uproar
Conservation groups are fired up about "Seafood Choices: Balancing Benefits and Risks," a new report released on Tuesday, by the Institute of Medicine. The report attempts to undermine government advice by downplaying the risks of mercury in seafood, especially with regard to children and America's number one most heavily consumed fish: tuna. On a completely unrelated note, the panel that wrote the report has multiple ties to the food industry, including the tuna industry ...
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Reopening of conservation area threatens sea turtles
Pacific leatherback sea turtles have survived ice ages, major volcanic events, meteor impacts, and most every predator in the sea. But their nearly 100 million years on this planet could come to an end because of a simpler but deadlier foe: string.
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Underwater concert sets world record
Katie Melua has two impressive credits in her CV. One: she's the biggest-selling female artist in Britain. Two: she performed the world's deepest underwater concert.
On Monday, Melua and her five-piece band played two gigs for workers on a gas rig nearly 1,000 feet below sea level, an event Melua called "surreal." The concert was held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Statoil -- a Norwegian petroleum company -- and was filmed for broadcast on Norwegian TV. In addition to British pop singers, other recent deep-water discoveries include 10 new species of corals and a "treasure trove" of other new marine species.
The concert took place just hours before the re-release of Disney's The Little Mermaid -- a popular film featuring marine life jamming on the ocean floor. Coincidence? I think so.
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White House supports bottom trawling ban
I seem to be developing a habit of writing pro-Bush posts here (see this one and this one), but doggonnit, Bush is developing a habit of making pro-conservation ocean policies.
On Tuesday, the White House issued a statement calling for a halt to destructive bottom trawling on the high seas and promised that the U.S. "would work with other nations and international groups to change fishing practices and create international fishery regulatory groups if needed." See -- who said the White House doesn't play nice with other countries? Oh right, lots of people.
