News
Sea Shepherd, Taino Warriors & Michelle Rodriguez team up to help Puerto Rico rebuild (Watch Video)
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has partnered with Taino Warriors and actor/activist Michelle Rodriguez on a campaign to help the hurricane ravaged and economically impacted island of Puerto Rico rebuild in a sustainable manner.
The campaign, titled Operation Taino Spirit Promise, comes 75 days after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, forcing a complete rebuild of its already weakened infrastructure.
In the spirit of Puerto Rico’s indigenous Taino people, Operation Taino Spirit Promise, will deliver supplies to local Puerto Rican NGOs committed to rebuilding Puerto Rico sustainably focusing on the areas of environment, eco-agriculture and children’s mental health and education. The vessel will also retrieve plastics and raw materials off the island, alleviating the pressure from Puerto Rico’s over-flowing landfills. The campaign is set to launch mid-December and continue into 2018.
“Taino Spirit Promise will identify disrupters & change makers in Puerto Rico to empower them by bringing long term aid & assistance,” said Michelle Rodriguez, whose father is Puerto Rican and who spent many summers during her formative years on the island.
“In this era of climate change Sea Shepherd stands ready to assist the good and resilient people of Puerto Rico in their recovery from these destructive events,” said Sea Shepherd founder, President and C.E.O. Captain Paul Watson.
Taino Warriors is a Hollywood-based non-profit led by industry leaders whose mission is to support Puerto Ricans who are empowering underserved communities in the areas of environment, eco-agriculture and children’s education and mental health, with innovative and sustainable tools and solutions.
Operation Taino Spirit Promise follows Sea Shepherd’s recent Hurricane Irma and Maria relief campaign, Operation Good Pirates of the Caribbean, which involved the islands of Curacao, Martinique, Dominica, St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Saint Maarten, the British Virgin Islands, St. Barts and St. Croix.
Rodriguez – best known for her role as Letty Ortiz in the blockbuster franchise The Fast and the Furious – is a long-time Sea Shepherd supporter. In March of this year, she took part in Operation Ice Watch, a female survey team who documented the effects of climate change and the disappearing ice floes in Canada, leading to the extinction of Canadian seals.
You can donate to help Operation Taino Spirit Promise at https://my.seashepherd.org/OperationTSP
News
Euro-Divers to close dive centre at NH Collection Maldives Havodda
Euro-Divers have announced that as of 15 April 2024, they will no longer be operating the dive centre at NH Collection Maldives Havodda (formerly known as Amari Havodda).
The popular dive centre chain released this statement regarding the closure:
Dear valid customers, business partners and friends,
We are leaving NH Collection Maldives Havodda – former Amari Havodda as of 15th of April 2024.
Unfortunately, the information reached us on short notice that we are no longer operating the dive centre at the resort.
It was a great pleasure to work with the Amari Hotel group and continue to work with the NH Hotel group.
We wish our partners great success with all their new changes.
Thanks a lot for cooperating during our time at the resort. We wish everyone with whom we have worked a good and hopefully successful future.
Euro-Divers continue to operate in several other dive resorts throughout the Maldives in addition to other locations.
To finds out more about Euro-Divers, visit www.euro-divers.com.
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs
Creature Feature: Undulate Ray
In this series, the Shark Trust will be sharing amazing facts about different species of sharks and what you can do to help protect them.
This month we’re looking at the Undulate Ray. Easily identified by its beautiful, ornate pattern, the Undulate Ray gets its name from the undulating patterns of lines and spots on its dorsal side.
This skate is usually found on sandy or muddy sea floors, down to about 200 m deep, although it is more commonly found shallower. They can grow up to 90 cm total length. Depending on the size of the individual, their diet can range from shrimps to crabs.
Although sometimes called the Undulate Ray, this is actually a species of skate, meaning that, as all true skates do, they lay eggs. The eggs are contained in keratin eggcases – the same material that our hair and nails are made up of! These eggcases are also commonly called mermaid’s purses and can be found washed up on beaches all around the UK. If you find one, be sure to take a picture and upload your find to the Great Eggcase Hunt – the Shark Trust’s flagship citizen science project.
It is worth noting that on the south coasts, these eggcases can be confused with those of the Spotted Ray, especially as they look very similar and the ranges overlap, so we sometimes informally refer to them as ‘Spundulates’.
Scientific Name: Raja undulata
Family: Rajidae
Maximum Size: 90cm (total length)
Diet: shrimps and crabs
Distribution: found around the eastern Atlantic and in the Mediterranean Sea.
Habitat: shelf waters down to 200m deep.
Conservation Status : As a commercially exploited species, the Undulate Ray is a recovering species in some areas. The good thing is that they have some of the most comprehensive management measures of almost any elasmobranch species, with both minimum and maximum landing sizes as well as a closed season. Additionally, targeting is entirely prohibited in some areas. They are also often caught as bycatch in various fisheries – in some areas they can be landed whilst in others they must be discarded.
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered
For more great shark information and conservation visit the Shark Trust Website
Image Credits: Banner – Sheila Openshaw; Illustration – Marc Dando
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