Australian expedition operator Aurora Expeditions is offering a unique opportunity to explore Baja California with world-renowned marine conservationist, biologist, oceanographer, and explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle.
Dr. Earle will be a special guest on a nine-day sailing in and around Baja California and the Sea of Cortez, which departs May 4, 2022, aboard the company’s new, small expedition ship, the Sylvia Earle, named in honor of Dr. Earle’s long-standing ocean conservation efforts.
Dr. Earle has a deep personal connection to the Sea of Cortez, nominated as the first ‘Hope Spot’ by Mission Blue – her own conservation alliance – which has created a global network of 136 marine protected areas to date. Expeditioners will hear Dr. Earle’s thoughts on climate change and why the Sea of Cortez is one of her designated Hope Spots and a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site, and also join her on immersive excursions by land and sea in the Gulf of California.
Aurora Expeditions and the new Sylvia Earle ship will support Mission Blue’s efforts with wildlife mapping, location photography, and video – above and below the water – and Citizen Science projects run by the onboard expedition team to support marine research.
“By traveling with Aurora Expeditions on Sylvia Earle, I feel it is an incredible opportunity for people to learn about these extraordinary marine habitats in situ, and as a result, become ambassadors for protecting them,” says Dr. Earle. “Ninety-seven percent of the Earth’s water is ocean, it is our life support system and we need to learn everything we can about it,” she adds. “I see great synergies in working closely with a company that shares my vision for the future and which is, from the top down, passionate about the marine environment.”
Aurora Expeditions is planning voyages to other key Hope Spots, including Costa Rica (Golfo Dulce); Panama (Coiba Island); Raja Ampat (Coral Triangle and Misool Private Marine Reserve; the Northwest Passage; Svalbard (Spitsbergen), and Canada (Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reef).
Dr. Earle was the first female chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; has been a National Geographic explorer-in-residence since 1998, and was named by Time magazine as its first Hero of the Planet the same year.
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