2008 Official Explorer
Online Journal

Okay, I love sushi! I think sushi is pretty amazing. But, not all of it is sustainable, which can mean big problems for the ocean. For instance, look at the bluefin tuna. This species of tuna is one of the most popular menu items. But they are in trouble. And this is true for countless other species. Soooooo, that’s why the Seafood Watch program created the new pocket sushi guide! Isn’t this great?! Now, whenever you go out for sushi, you can just get out your handy card, and almost instantly figure out what’s sustainable and what’s not.

Seafood Watch is a program of Monterey Bay Aquarium designed to raise awareness about the importance of buying seafood from sustainable sources. The Monterey Bay Aquarium defines sustainable seafood as seafood from sources, either fished or farmed, that can exist over the long-term without compromising species' survival, or the health of the surrounding ecosystem. The Seafood Watch Program recommends which seafood to buy or avoid and provides the information and resources to help others for advocate environmentally-friendly seafood.

Seafood Watch was first started when the Fishing for Solutions, an exhibit that was here at Monterey Bay Aquarium from 1997- 1999, created a list of sustainable seafood choices. This original list expanded over time and the current list is available on the website. In addition, regional lists and pockets guides are available so that you can make good choices when you are out and about shopping or selecting food at restaurants. .

Are you wondering what you can do to help out this awesome program? Well, you can print out a pocket guide for your region and the sushi guide and use them whenever you go out to dinner or to shop for dinner. You can also encourage others to think about what they eat or, serve (if it’s a restaurant), or sell (if it is a market)! One way to do this is to forward information about this site to everyone you know and ask them to use the Seafood Watch Program to protect our precious oceans. There is even an E-card available to help you do this on the Seafood Website. So carry the card and maybe you’ll save a tuna!

PS. Please come and explore the many different Feathered Friends living at Aquarium on November 22 and 23, 2008. We’ll get a chance to see many of the birds and explore how the Aquarium experts train and care for them. Hope to see you there! ~Alexa

At the recent World Ocean Day event, Ayla Besemer (2007 official explorer), Alexa and I (this year's official explorers) had a booth about saving the oceans. At the booth we had wrap-n-mats, which are plastic coated cloths that are a reusable substitute for plastic bags. We also had reusable water bottles, reusable lunch bags, and cloth napkins. These things make up a zero waste lunch.

We showed the public how they could take part in saving the oceans. We passed out Seafood Watch pocket guides and "Think OCEAN" cards. Think OCEAN lists 15 super easy things you can do to conserve the oceans starting today. On the list are simple things like recycling, carpooling, and changing to compact fluorescent light bulbs. While talking with aquarium-goers we referred to the presentation Save Our Seas, which is about ocean conservation. We explained that you could learn three main things from the presentation: what the ocean gives us, why the ocean is in trouble, and most importantly, what you can do to help.

Ayla and I presented Save Our Seas at Trinity and Oak Knoll Schools in Menlo Park, Bear Creek Elementary in Boulder, CO and at World Ocean Day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We quizzed the audience on their knowledge of the ocean by asking them questions about the pacific trash vortex, the age of the ocean, bottom trawling, and a lot more. In the first section we showed the audience why we should conserve the oceans. We explained that the ocean gives us a lot of things like food, a mode of transportation, and a place to have fun. Next, we went over major topics like overfishing, all types of pollution, and global warming. In the final section we talked about recycling, eating sustainable seafood, and other ways to save the ocean. Ayla and I had a blast giving this presentation to more than 150 people in the aquarium's auditorium that day!