Earle is part of the groupOcean Elders, which is dedicated to protecting the ocean and its wildlife.[3]
Earle gained a large amount of publicity when she was featured inSeaspiracy (2021), a Netflix Original documentary by British filmmaker Ali Tabrizi.[4][5]
Earle eats avegetarian diet.[6] She describes the chemical build-up in carnivorous fish, the 90% depletion of populations of large fish, and references the health of oceans in her dietary decision. Also, she describes the seafood industry as "factory ships vacuuming up fish and everything else in their path. That's like using bulldozers to kill songbirds…".[7]
In a discussion at the Good Food Conference in California, Earle warns of disappearing fish stocks, and that while coastal people's diets have included seafood for centuries, the commercial fishing industry no longer makes sense. She encourages transitions to plant-based diets as a solution.[8]
Sylvia Earle life work has been shaped directly byRachel Carson, whose talent she rhapsodizes about in the Introduction to the 2018 edition of Carson's 1951 best-seller,The Sea Around Us.
"Most remarkable to me is what she did imagine. Her writings are so sensitive to the feelings of fish, birds and other animals that she could put herself in their place, buoyed by the air or by water, gliding over and under the ocean’s surface. She conveyed the sense that she was the living ocean…"[12][13]
TEKTITE-II all-female team, led by Earle, in rebreather training
Earle was a Radcliffe Institute Scholar (1967–1969). Earle was aresearch fellow atHarvard University (1967–1981). After receiving her Ph.D. in 1966, Earle spent a year as a research fellow at Harvard, then returned to Florida as the resident director of the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory.[14]
Earle was a research associate at theUniversity of California, Berkeley (1969–1981). In 1969, she applied to join theTektite Project, an installation fifty feet below the surface of the sea off the coast of theVirgin Islands which allowed scientists to live submersed in their area of study for up to several weeks. Although she had logged more than 1,000 research hours underwater, Earle was rejected from the program. The next year, she was selected to lead the first all-female team ofaquanauts inTektite II.[15]
Earle was the Curator ofPhycology at theCalifornia Academy of Sciences (1979–1986). In 1979, she made an open-oceanJIM suit dive, untethered, to the sea ocean floor nearOahu. She set the women's depth record of 381 metres (1,250 ft) which still holds to date.[1][16][17] In 1979 she also began her tenure as the Curator of Phycology at theCalifornia Academy of Sciences, where she served until 1986.[14]
From 1980 to 1984, she served on the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere.
Earle displays samples to an aquanaut inside theTektite habitat, 1970
In 1982 she and her later husband,Graham Hawkes, an engineer and submersible designer, founded Deep Ocean Engineering to design, operate, support and consult on piloted and robotic subsea systems.[18] In 1985, the Deep Ocean Engineering team designed and built theDeep Rover research submarine, which operates down to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft).[19][20] By 1986,Deep Rover had been tested and Earle joined the team conducting training off Lee Stocking Island inthe Bahamas.[19]
Earle left the company in 1990 to accept an appointment as Chief Scientist at theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where she stayed until 1992. She was the first woman to hold that position. During this post, given her expertise on the impact of oil spills, Earle was called upon to lead several research trips during the Persian Gulf War in 1991 to determine the environmental damage caused by Iraq's destruction of Kuwaiti oil wells.[9]
In 1992, Earle founded Deep Ocean Exploration and Research (DOER Marine) to further advance marine engineering. The company, now run by Earle's daughter Elizabeth, designs, builds, and operates equipment for deep-ocean environments.[21][22]
In 1998, Earle received the titleNational Geographic Explorer in Residence and now holds the title 'Explorer at Large'. She is sometimes called "Her Deepness"[1][23] or "The Sturgeon General".[2]
From 1998 to 2002, she led the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, a five-year program sponsored by theNational Geographic Society and funded by the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund to study theUnited States National Marine Sanctuary. During this time, Earle was a leader of the Sustainable Seas Expeditions, council chair for the Harte Research Institute for the Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and chair of the Advisory Council for the Ocean inGoogle Earth. She also provided theDeepWorker 2000 submersible used to quantify the species of fish as well as the space resources utilized within theStellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.[24]
Earle foundedMission Blue (also known as the Sylvia Earle Alliance, Deep Search Foundation, and Deep Search) in 2009.
In 2009, she also received the 100k TED prize which allowed her to continue her ocean advocacy work.[17]
Given her past experience with theExxon Valdez andMega Borg oil spills, Earle was called to consult during theDeepwater Horizon Disaster in theGulf of Mexico in 2010. During this year she also gave a 14-minute speech in front of 3,500 delegates and United Nations ambassadors at The Hague International Model United Nations Conference.
President Barack Obama talks with Dr. Sylvia Earle, during a visit to Midway Atoll, Sept. 1, 2016. Dr. Earle shows the President a photo of a newly discovered species of blue fish native to Midway waters.
In July 2012, Earle led an expedition toNOAA'sAquariusunderwater laboratory, located offKey Largo, Florida. The expedition, entitled "Celebrating 50 Years of Living Beneath The Sea", commemorated the fiftieth anniversary ofJacques Cousteau'sConshelf I project and investigatedcoral reefs and ocean health. Mark Patterson co-led the expedition with Earle. Their aquanaut team also included underwater filmmaker D.J. Roller and oceanographer M. Dale Stokes.[26][27]
In January 2018, theSeattle Aquarium granted its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award to Earle and renamed the Seattle Aquarium Medal in her honor.[30] The Aquarium's first Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to Earle.[31]
Alongside her work at Mission Blue, she also serves on several boards, including the Marine Conservation Institute.[32]
With TED's support, she launched Mission Blue, which aims to establishmarine protected areas (dubbed "Hope Spots") around the globe.[33] Mission Blue's vision is to achieve 30% protection of the ocean by 2030, and more than two hundred organisations have supported them in this mission to date (2019).[34] These supporters range from large, global companies to small, bespoke research teams.
With Mission Blue and its partners, Earle leads expeditions toHope Spots around the globe.[35] The organization has continued to grow with Earle's work and the help of her team. As of 2020, Mission Blue has created 122 Hope Spots around the world.[36] Past expeditions includeCuba in 2009,[37]Belize in January 2010,[38] theGalápagos Islands in April 2010,[39]Costa Rica and the Central American Dome in early 2014[40] and the South African Coast in late 2014.[41] A series of geographic information StoryMaps are available through ESRI's ArcGIS which illustrate examples of Mission Blue hope spots around the world in great detail including: 1 Tribugá Gulf Hope Spot, 2 Little Cayman Hope Spot, and 3 Galápagos National Park Expedition.[42] In August 2014, aNetflix exclusive documentary titled 'Mission Blue' was released.[43] It focuses on Earle's life and career as her Mission Blue campaign to create a global network ofmarine protected areas.[44]
In the 2019 article "California Seamounts Are Sylvia Earle's Newest 'Hope Spots'" featured in Hakai Magazine, Hope Spots are described as "areas critical to the health of the ocean for any number of reasons: an abundance or diversity of species, a unique habitat or ecosystem, or significant cultural or economic value to a community". Seamounts are also described as destinations for mining companies in search of undersea precious metals.[46]
In January 2020,Aurora Expeditions announced their second ship would be namedThe Sylvia Earle after the marine biologist.[47]
Earle is one of the supporters of the 30X30 movement which aims to protect 30% of seawaters by 2030 and which would be a significant increase from only 6% (as of 2021).[48]
She supports the introduction of the crime ofecocide to theInternational Criminal Court, stating, "There is a real case to be made for recognising ecocide in the International Criminal Court right along with genocide. Our existence is on the line".[49]
In June 2024, Earle was also announced as a member of the Advisory Board ofClimate Cardinals, one of the world's largest youth-led climate organizations.[52]
2001:Robin W. Winks Award For Enhancing Public Understanding of National Parks[67]
2004: InternationalBanksia Award,[68] the Richard Hopper Day Memorial Medal from the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, and the Barnard College medal[69]
2013: Honorary doctorate from theNelson Mandela Metropolitan University[76] and the Hubbard Medal, the National Geographic Society's highest honor, "for distinction in exploration, discovery and research"[77]
2014: Walter Cronkite Award,[78] UN Lifetime Achievement Award (Champions of the Earth),[79] Glamour Woman of the Year,[80] and the first woman to be celebrated at an Explorers Club Tribute Ceremony[81]
Earle, Sylvia & Linda K. Glover (2008).Ocean: An Illustrated Atlas (National Geographic Atlas). National Geographic.ISBN978-1-4262-0319-0.
Earle, Sylvia (2009).The World Is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean's Are One. National Geographic Books.ISBN978-1-4262-0541-5.
Co-author (2011).The Protection and Management of the Sargasso Sea: The golden floating rainforest of the Atlantic Ocean. Summary Science and Supporting Evidence Case.Sargasso Sea Alliance.
Earle, Sylvia (2012).The Sweet Spot in Time. Why the Ocean Matters to Everyone, Everywhere. Virginia Quarterly Review, Fall.
^Collette, BB (1996)."Results of the Tektite Program: Ecology of coral-reef fishes".In: MA Lang, CC Baldwin (Eds.) the Diving for Science ... 1996, "Methods and Techniques of Underwater Research" Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences Sixteenth Annual Scientific Diving Symposium, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. RetrievedApril 14, 2013.
^abEnglish, JG (1987)."DEEP ROVER submersible operations for science".In: Lang, MA (Ed). Coldwater Diving for Science ... 1987. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences Annual Scientific Diving Symposium 31 October – 1 November 1987 Seattle, Washington, USA. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. RetrievedApril 14, 2013.
^Griffin, James J; Sharkey, Phillip I (1987)."Design of the next generation of research vessels".In: Lang, MA (Ed). Coldwater Diving for Science ... 1987. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences Annual Scientific Diving Symposium 31 October – 1 November 1987 Seattle, Washington, USA. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. RetrievedApril 14, 2013.
_(cropped).jpg)
