As Shark Week has come to a close, we are happy to release the complete Swimming with Whale Sharks video.

Whale sharks are the largest shark—and fish—in the world. They feed on plankton, microscopic organisms in the generally pelagic water. However, like many marine organisms, they face pressure from overfishing, plastic pollution, and global warming. As mentioned in our previous post, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species (CITES) both list the whale shark as a threatened species.

For this cleanup, we took to the shores of the Mississippi River in New Orleans, Louisiana! We were able to find plenty of trash, ranging from the usual plastic water bottle to other more uncommon articles such as nets.

Previously, we had visited New Orleans and noticed the issue, but this was the first time we decided to do something about it.

 

This past Friday, we went out approximately 50 kilometers off the coast of Cancún (México ) to swim with whale sharks. Whale sharks are the largest fish in the world and can grow up to nearly 13 meters (40 feet ) long. As such, we kept a respectful distance during the dive.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN ) and Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species (CITES ), whale sharks are a threatened species. While much information on the whale shark is uncertain, such as breeding areas and total population, they remain an important and beautiful part of their ecosystem.

I made an entry into the 2019 Breakthrough Junior Challenge, where students from 13 to 18 years old make a 3 minute-or-less long video about a sciences, math, or physics concept. For more information, feel free to check out their website here!

For my entry, I decided to do a summary of how ocean acidification affects our coral reefs. This is a very important issue and one that I hope to continue talking about in future posts and videos.

 Turning the Tide: turningthetideproject

As one of the updates to Turning the Tide, we are now on Instagram! Follow us for posts on ocean conservation efforts, coastal cleanups, artistic projects, marine education, and more.

As we celebrate World Oceans Day this 2019, I would like to make some announcements!

World Oceans Day is about raising awareness about how important the ocean is in our lives. Most of all, it is about protecting the ocean, because if we do not take care of the ocean, it will not take care of us.

Turning the Tide has several updates coming up, and I am very excited to work on each and every one of them. Several of these projects have been in the works for a few weeks and are coming together. We will go over them in the upcoming days in various posts. Stay tuned!

Here’s the video compilation of our latest cleanup. We were able to pick up dozens of articles of trash while also connecting with people along the way.

This past New Year, we cleaned up Rome, Italy! Using what bags we could find, we stopped by the Tiber River, Colosseum, and more. Here’s our video compilation of the event.

2018 had a lot of great highlights for Turning the Tide. As we head into 2019, here’s a look back at some of the best parts of 2018.

• Biking a Marathon (January) – One the first days of 2018, I biked over 26 miles to complete a marathon to raise awareness for ocean conservation. This started the new year on a strong note.
• Animal Agriculture Environmental Effects (January) – I published an essay looking into the effects of animal agriculture on the environment, particularly on the ocean.
• Turning the Tide Wordle (February) – Robert P. created a Turning the Tide Wordle.
• Overfishing Comparison (March) – I looked into the numbers behind overfishing.

• April Drawing Challenge (April) – I made one ocean conservation drawing every day in April, resulting in 30 ocean conservation drawings.
• Bottle Bottom Abstract Art (May) – Robert P. made abstract art with paint and bottle caps.

• Numbers (May) – We release the short film, Numbers.
• After Shark Week (August) – I do a short series after shark week.
• Red Tide (August) – We release Red Tide | Short Film.
• Join Hands Along the Water (August) – We release Join Hands Along the Water | Short Film.
• Red Water (November) – We release Red Water | Short Film.
• Whale Shark and Dolphin Art (November) – The whale shark and dolphin art made were added to an artwork that would go on to win the art festival.