{"id":25901,"date":"2017-05-08T17:36:29","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T17:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=25901"},"modified":"2018-04-22T11:53:27","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T15:53:27","slug":"podcast-saving-the-blue-heart-of-the-planet-with-sylvia-earle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2017\/05\/podcast-saving-the-blue-heart-of-the-planet-with-sylvia-earle\/","title":{"rendered":"PODCAST: Saving \u2018the blue heart of the planet\u2019 with Sylvia Earle"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a little girl, Sylvia Earle, today perhaps the world\u2019s best known woman marine scientist, literally fell head over heels in love with the ocean.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got knocked over by a wave on the New Jersey Shore when I was three-years-old and the ocean got my attention,\u201d says the veteran oceanographer, who after decades at the forefront of ocean exploration, has also earned the sobriquet \u2018Her Deepness.\u2019<\/p>\n

She will be one of the special guests attending The Ocean Conference<\/a> in early June, but ahead of that major event to help repair and sustain what she refers to as the Earth\u2019s \u201cblue heart,\u201d she stopped by UN Headquarters in New York to talk with UN News<\/em> for our podcast series, The Lid Is On.<\/p>\n

She knows the ocean better than most, having, for starters, walked on the ocean floor; led more than 100 deep-sea expeditions, and logged more than 7,000 hours underwater.<\/p>\n

The former chief scientist of the United States National Oceanic Service, NOAA, the founder of \u201cDeep Ocean Exploration and Research,\u201d she also has her own alliance to protect the ocean, \u201cMission Blue.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is passionate about reversing the damage done in recent decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s how it\u2019s going to be if we keep doing what we\u2019re doing: 90 per cent of the big fish \u2013 gone. How long before they\u2019ll all be gone? How long before the last tuna will bring a high price?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long before we see the disappearance of all the coral reefs, knowing that we\u2019ve lost half, in less than half a century?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Earle describes the Ocean Conference, which with run from 5 to 9 June at UN Headquarters, as a \u201cremarkable\u201d and unprecedented event.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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