Green Options

The Australian Marine Conservation Society is holding an Ebay auction to name a newly discovered species of deepwater shrimp.

Proceeds from the auction will go towards their marine conservation efforts. The auction will be open until March 31st.

Tucked in forest, perched alongside coastal sand dunes and a brief stroll from the California surf in Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula rests the Asilomar Conference Grounds.  It’s owned by the people of California as a California State Park, but the conference facilities and lodging is managed by Delaware North Companies Parks and Resorts, the same company that manages other accommodations in some spectacular environs including the Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks.

You don’t need to be a conference-goer to experience the grounds or even bed down in the rustic, immaculately clean, and camp-like accommodations.  Besides being a conference hot spot, ecotravelers can stay as leisure guests.  Many also come to Asilomar to celebrate their wedding, share a family reunion or host a corporate retreat — especially if they’re trying to do it more green.

Upon arriving with my family, two Black-tailed deer greeted us just before we passed between Asilomar’s welcoming stone columns at the entrance.  The hub of Asilomar Conference Grounds — which includes 313 secluded guest rooms housed in a unique collection of historic cabins and lodges, many with fireplaces, balconies or private decks — is their Social Hall, with outdoor seating, wireless access, board games and ping pong.  During our stay, a complimentary Jazz ensemble in the Social Hall provided a relaxing way to wind down the day.  The spacious guest rooms are designed for the tranquil enjoyment of nature, so TVs, radios and telephones are refreshingly absent.

Rightly deserving its “refuge by the sea” namesake, the 107-acre Asilomar Conference Grounds both inspires our appreciation of nature and is inspired by it. The grounds got its start in 1928 as a Young Women’s Christian Association (YMCA) camp, created, built and funded by women.  California’s first registered female architect, Julia Morgan, designed the buildings on the grounds in the Arts and Craft style which embraced harmony, community and natural beauty.  Every building has a face to the ocean.  I found every door opened to the outdoors (try that at your typical convention center).

Scuba divers with the Ocean Protection Alliance have removed nearly all of an enormous “ghost net” off the coast of Southern California. The net had been killing sea lions, dolphins, sharks, and fish since a trawler sunk in 2006, as evidenced by the bones and carcasses on the ocean floor.

“Once you start cutting, visibility drops from 30 feet to zero because the water clouds up with particles and tiny creatures that get shaken loose,” said Cinde MacGugan, who led a team of divers to remove 200-sq-ft of netting. “At one point, I was frantically cutting off pieces of netting when one or more was tugged upward by an air bag.”

The developers of Medina Palms, an eco-friendly residential development, have determined to set eco-standards in Africa and are donating a percentage of its income to the international wildlife charity, Born Free Foundation, to help preserve marine life.

Medina Palms also supports a billfish tagging initiative to monitor fish populations in the Indian Ocean by The Billfish Foundation, a non profit dedicated to conserving and enhancing billfish populations around the world.

The Foundation claims that over 90% of marlin mortality is the result of bycatch in commercial fisheries outside the US yet tremendous pressure continues to be placed on oceans from fishing fleets trying to meet the demands of a hungry world.

In Mombasa, Kenya, there is a popular saying that if you have not sampled shark meat, you probably have never been to the East African coast. But it could well be a belief because I have seen people go to great lengths to afford a dish; it is a very expensive delicacy. But that is a story for another day. Let us focus on the whale shark, which is making all the news in that part of the world.

An ongoing satellite tagging expedition to the ecosystem of the world’s biggest fish is a mix of both adventure and science. I rue missing this whale shark census expedition, running from February 18 to March 2, conducted in a safari setting!

Dr. Brent Stewart, a marine biologist at the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute in San Diego, California, is conducting the expedition with local collaboration from the East African Whale Shark Trust (EAWST) to study the ecology of whale sharks along the Kenyan coast. Local experts, Volker Bassen and Nimu Njonjo, have ensured public participation in the annual project at a small fee; this adds to the adventure in research and education and a huge exciting step for Kenya’s marine ecology conservation efforts.