Back to 2007 HCC site David Helvarg   Saving the Ocean Throughout human history we have lived well on the abundance of our seas and coastlines from the earliest canoe tribes setting fish-traps along the Jersey shore, to the great Polynesian explorers of the Pacific, and beyond. The Pew Oceans Commission of 2003 and U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy of 2004 reports emphasized that America owes much of its wealth, bounty and heritage to the blue in our red, white and blue. Our living waters are today endangered by a cascading series of environmental threats, from over-fishing for the global seafood market to the nutrient pollution of our near-shore seas, from coastal sprawl that destroys the nurseries and filters of the ocean, to global warming that threatens our reefs, shores, and homes with coral bleaching, acidification of seawater, sea level rise, shifting temperature regimes and increased frequency of the most severe hurricanes. In response we need to develop and expand, not only our scientific understanding of the seas, but also an active and educated political constituency for the protection, exploration and restoration of our living oceans.  So where are the first ripples in a rising tide of citizen action for the recovery of our Blue Frontier and marine heritage? What solutions can work? Does protecting our nation’s watersheds, shorelines, and seas make sense both morally and economically? Indeed there are ways - this is why I’d propose that, after taking a refreshing plunge (or many) into the ocean each of us ought to towel off and consider what role we as individuals can play in this growing seaweed—marine grassroots—rebellion of creativity and solution-oriented efforts taking place across our land, and from sea to shining sea. David Helvarg is President of the Blue Frontier Campaign and the author of three books, Blue Frontier- Dispatches from America's Ocean Wilderness, The War Against the Greens, and 50 Ways to Save the Ocean. He's editor of the Ocean and Coastal Conservation Guide, organizer of several ‘Blue Vision’ conferences for ocean activists, and winner of Coastal Living Magazine’s 2005 Leadership Award. Helvarg worked as a war correspondent in Northern Ireland and Central America, covered a range of issues from military science to the AIDS epidemic, and reported from every continent including Antarctica. An award-winning journalist, he produced more than 40 broadcast documentaries for PBS, The Discovery Channel, and others. His print work has appeared in publications including The New York Times, LA Times, Smithsonian, Popular Science, Sierra, and The Nation. He’s done radio work for Marketplace, AP radio, and Pacifica. He’s led workshops for journalists in Poland, Turkey, Tunisia, Slovakia and Washington DC. He is a licensed Private Investigator, body-surfer and scuba diver.