Sent 10 November 2017. Part of Little Blue Letter.


"Never before have we had such an awareness of what we are doing to the planet
and never before have we had the power to do something."
~ David Attenborough
The newsletter this week is short (but hopefully still sweet). Firstly, it's been a slow news week, especially if you are looking for positive ocean stories (e.g. talks on fisheries subsidies at the WTO yet again took a backward step). Secondly, we've had excellent contributions from our first set of curators for the past three weeks, with young ocean leaders looking at the Polar Code, a huge new protected area in Mexico, and wind energy. 

It was my turn this week, but I was swimming in ocean policy at the fourth Potsdam Ocean Governance Workshop. How can we link oceans to other sustainable development goals? How can we ensure that wave of voluntary commitments made this year are achieved in practice? How can States and stakeholders cooperate to manage ecosystems when the governance framework is so messy? It's a complex picture, and most questions yield only more questions! 

Stay tuned for a bumper edition next week, with a run down of some of the best moments in what has been an incredible year for the ocean.
Flotsam and jetsam
The US announced funding for research on offshore wind. Tonga got a new island. Underwater drones are getting really smart. Blue Planet II is over and now I don't know what to do with my Sunday evenings. Some amazing clips here. The story behind some truly incredible underwater photographs.
Juvenile diamondback squid (Thysanoteuthis rhombus)
 
Ocean action
A coalition of ocean organisations in the UK is calling for a 'Blue Belt'. This would be a series of large protected areas around British Overseas Territories like Ascension Island, the British Antarctic Territory, and the Pitcairn Islands (where some of the mutineers on the Bounty settled after that were finished with their mutineering). Jeremy Corbyn is committed (he also pledged to support fossil fuel divestment this week). If you are in the UK, you can join the call to action here.
Gifs of the week

You really have to watch this bioluminescent squid in action to believe that it is real.

 

Nothing to see here, just a massive underwater volcano in the deepest reaches of our ocean.

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