Dear Fellow Kossaks,
I'm writing this, my first diary, to let you know about a ground breaking new project on marine oil pollution. It seemed to be a good follow on to the SF diary highlighting the TS Golden Bear.
As you may or may not know, deliberate dumping of oil from ships accounts for nearly half of all the oil dumped into the oceans by humans, and it is one of the last places where industry is regularly polluting on a daily basis into the oceans. Follow me past the frolicking Sciuridae to find out more.
Marine Defenders is a multi-platform digital project focused on educating sailors (and students and activists) about the dangers of marine oil pollution. It fills a major gap in the materials now available concerning the laws regarding oil pollution, how to report spills, and the impact of oil on marine mammals and coastal ecology.
At the core of the project is a 23 minute documentary called "Oil in Our Waters", which offers a close look at intentional oil pollution and its impact on marine life and the response of the US government.
The film can be seen on-line at www.marinedefenders.com/video/
It can also be downloaded via the web site – or your can request free DVDs by contacting me at my Kos mail address.
To support the film, we have also developed a content rich interactive website at www.marinedefenders.com. This site contains lesson plans for high school and college biology and ecology classes, in-depth reports about the laws relating to oil pollution, the biological effects of oil on marine life, as well as a break down of the federal reward program for whistleblowers, and special sections for teachers, recreational boaters and commercial mariners. As an aside whistleblowers can and have received up to half the fine levied against a polluter.
What makes this project particularly groundbreaking is the creation of a free mobile reporting device (app) that allows boaters, fishermen, and concerned citizen-scientists to report oil spills and marine debris. The oil spill reports are being sent along to the National Response Center and the Coast Guard. The reports and database can be customized by a user for organizational and classroom use. It is also helpful in identifying “clusters” of either oil or debris, which can lead to the identification of “non-point” sources such as a marina or shore based discharge.
The Marine Defenders app for iPhone and iPad can be downloaded for free from the iTunes store.
The app integrates the phone's GPS function, so reports will include accurate incident location information (unlike the majority of the reports currently received by the Coast Guard.)
The Marine Defenders Project was funded by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. It should also be noted that fines levied against polluters was the initial source of the funding. The project is initially targeted at the NY-NJ region including the Delaware Bay. I will be going back for additional funding to target all of the coastal states. The Marine Defenders app and concept will also be presented internationally at the International Maritime Organization for use by other flag states.
The project was the result of a great deal of work by a dedicated and talented team, which I had the honor of managing. I urge any of you with an interest in a cleaner environment as well as making polluters pay to please take 23 minutes and watch the film.
Thank You in advance for checking this out. It is an experiment in crowd-sourcing pollution reporting. If this app was available during the Deepwater Horizon spill geographic and photographic evidence would be overwhelming and less subject to speculation and censorship.