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This Month’s Contents:
Blue Ocean
Society News |
Upcoming Events
| Help Wanted|
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Blue Ocean Society News
Hello! It has been awhile since we’ve sent out a newsletter, and we
apologize. We have been reorganizing our databases, and will be in
touch more regularly from now on! If you somehow received this
newsletter multiple times or to the wrong e-mail address, or don’t
want to be subscribed, please let us know, and we’ll make the
changes immediately!
Today it almost feels like winter outside as we’re nestled in our
office in Portsmouth. We had a successful whale watch season and the
boats are hauled-out until spring.
Dianna Schulte, our research coordinator, is wrapping up her
photo-identification efforts for the season, which involves using
the photos we took all summer and matching them to our fin and
humpback whale catalogs to determine which individuals were seen. We
do know that we saw ALL of our adopt-a-marine creatures this season,
which was very exciting! Two of our fin whales, Comet and Trigger,
even came to Jeffreys Ledge with new calves! Dianna is currently at
the annual Right Whale Consortium meeting, and hopefully will have
some right whale news to share in the next edition of this
newsletter.
 The
annual New Hampshire Coastal Cleanup, held in conjunction with the
International Coastal Cleanup with major sponsorship by the NH
Coastal Program and Waste Management, was a great success. We are
still tallying the results, but as part of the cleanup, 35 cleanups
were conducted, involving over 1,000 volunteers! As usual, cigarette
butts were the top item collected, and we’ll hopefully be working
with the State of New Hampshire and local partners to try to
alleviate this problem next season.
Good news! You may have participated in our postcard campaign
related to Atlantic herring this summer. Yesterday, regional
fishing regulators at the New England Fishery Management Council
meeting in Newport, R.I., voted to make Atlantic herring one of six
management priorities for 2008. This campaign was coordinated by the
CHOIR
Coalition, and more information on the campaign and yesterday’s
news can be found on their
web site. We look forward to continuing to work with them to
address the issue of the taking of herring by large mid-water
trawlers, in the hopes that this important species (and preferred
food of many whales!) will continue to recover. If you signed a
postcard or sent a letter regarding this campaign, we thank you – it
definitely made a difference!
Even though it’s technically our “slow season”, we have several
events coming up. Read on for more, and we hope to see you soon!
 Thanks
to Leo Gagnon, Strategic Real Estate Advisor with
Keller
Williams Realty, for his generous support as our 2007 Annual
Sponsor!
Our goal is to have at least one animal adopted per day during the
month from August 15-September 15. Proceeds from the adoption go
directly to support our education and research work on the marine
life in the Gulf of Maine. Thank you for any support you can give!
Upcoming Events
Volunteer Night:
Wednesday,
November 28, 6-8 PM.
Approximately each month, we have a Volunteer Night
in our office where you can come in for a couple hours, chat with
like-minded folks, and help us accomplish some much-needed projects.
You don’t really need any skills, just an interest in helping the
marine environment! For more details or to be informed of upcoming
volunteer nights, email
jen@blueoceansociety.org.
 Holiday
Open House & Gift Wrapping:
Stop by our office in downtown Portsmouth for our
holiday open house and check out our awesome gifts! You can also
take a break from your shopping and enjoy light refreshments while
we wrap your gifts for free! We’ll have two open times, Thursday,
November 29th from 5-8 pm and Saturday, December 15th,
1-3 pm. No RSVP needed, just stop by. Please note, there is no
parking available here, but you can park across the street for free.
Don’t live locally? You can purchase
Adopt-a-Marine Creature packets, quality Blue Ocean Society
clothing, and more online at
http://www.blueoceansociety.org/member.htm.
Beach Cleanups:
Saturday,
Nov. 17, 10:30 AM at Jenness Beach in Rye, NH: Cleanup and holiday
Food Drive to benefit the Seacoast Family Food Pantry in
Portsmouth. Please bring at least one item from their
wish list to the
cleanup, and receive a Lindt chocolate bar (One chocolate bar per
person; while supplies last)! Items are desperately needed!
Even if you can’t stay for the cleanup, stop by to drop off an item!
Saturday,
Dec. 15, 10:30 AM at Jenness Beach in Rye, NH:
Holiday cleanup. Wear a Santa hat and win a prize!
For more information and to sign up,
click here. We’ll provide all
supplies, but we encourage volunteers to bring their own work gloves
(to reduce the use of plastic gloves) and a travel mug for coffee!
Coming in 2008:
More beach
cleanups, more kayak trips, and more cruises! Discounts for members!
We have lots in the works!
Help Wanted
If you live anywhere:
Get your kids or students
involved in our
art
contest and help contribute to our new dog waste outreach
campaign!
For locals:
We’re looking for Beach
Ambassadors to help with our
dog
waste outreach project! This project, funded by the NH
Department of Environmental Services, involves encouraging dog
owners to “scoop their poop” responsibly by handing out free dog
biscuits and biodegradable waste bags, and asking them to sign a
poop-pickup pledge! E-mail
patty@blueoceansociety.org for more information.
Quote of the Month
To me the sea is a continual miracle;
The fishes that swim--the rocks--the motion of the
waves--the ships, with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?
-
Walt Whitman excerpt from "Miracles", 1856
Thanks for your interest in marine conservation. If you wish
to support our work, please click here.
Have you become a member yet?
Click here
to buy merchandise such as Adopt-a-Marine Creature
packets, t-shirts and sweatshirts online!
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Adopt
the Bay! We have several gorgeous sites along Great Bay
that are looking for monthly cleanup volunteers. For
more information, e-mail
