Two reasons to watch the documentary “Mission Blue”

By Jana M. del Favero and Catarina Marcolin

Translated by Lídia Paes Leme

Edited by Katyanne M. Shoemaker

In our first post in the Women's session “Old challenges for current women” we received a suggestion by Prof. Otto Muller P. Oliveira to post about the documentary “Mission Blue.” Indeed this documentary deserves a special mention in our blog because, aside from the excellent production, its content is simply inspiring.

The documentary “Mission Blue” was released in 2014 and tells the story of the incredible biologist Sylvia Alice Earle, explorer, author, mother, grandmother (amongst a thousand other possible titles) and her campaign to create a global coalition of marine protected areas, called “Hope Spots.”

When watching the movie, it is impossible not to fall in love with and be inspired by two “characters.” The first is the organization itself, also called Mission Blue (www.mission-blue.org), which was created in response to the prize Sylvia Earle earned in 2009 at “TED PRIZE WISH” (watch the talk here). In that talk, Dr. Earle encourages the use of all possible media (movies, expeditions, internet, new submarines) in a campaign to inspire public awareness and support for a worldwide network of marine protected areas. If these “Hope Spots” are wide enough, it could be possible to save and restore the planet's blue heart! Today, Mission Blue is a coalition of over 100 groups, from multinational corporations to groups of scientists, concerned with matters of ocean conservation. Mission Blue's website brings an interesting but scary statistic: only 2% of the World’s ocean is protected, hence the importance of this kind of effort.

Font: https://www.ted.com/participate/ted-prize/prize-winning-wishes/mission-blue

The second reason to fall in love with this film is the main character, Sylvia Earle, a woman that turned 80 in August 2015, who actively keeps studying, exploring, diving, and defending the ocean (learn more https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Earle). Sylvia completed high school at the age of 16, undergrad at 19 and her masters at 20. During her Doctorate, this rhythm slowed down, due to marriage and kids, but soon Sylvia returned to her frantic pace. In 1964, when her kids where only 2 and 4 she traveled for 6 weeks on an expedition in the Indian Ocean. According to Sylvia, she didn't know she'd be the only woman on board, for she was invited as the only botanist, not only woman. A reporter approached her in Mombassa, Kenya, from where the ship would depart, and Sylvia remembered being interested in talking about her work, but the reporter only wanted to know about what being on the ocean with so many men would be like. After all, the article was called “Sylvia sails away with 70 men, but she expects no problems.”

Despite everything appearing well, Sylvia implies in some interviews that her scientific expeditions may have lead to the end of her first marriage. This is a recurring difficulty faced in the scientific world; it is common to have campaigns where the scientists are away for weeks, sometimes months, without any communication with family. In 1966 Sylvia finished her Doctorate, and in 1968 she traveled 30m deep in the waters of the Bahamas in a submersible, 4 months pregnant with her 3rd child and in her second marriage.

In 1969 she signed up to participate in the project Tektite, where scientists lived weeks in a laboratory placed under the sea, at 15m depth. Despite her 1000+ hours of diving experience and her excellent written proposal, she was not allowed to live together with men underwater in Tektike I. The following year however, she was invited to lead the Tektite II project, with a women-only team. The success of this team was an important milestone for women in research, and it set a precedent for future aquatic and space expeditions to include women in their teams.

Picture: Bates Littlehales.
Font: http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/450/cache/sylvia-earle-habitat-window_45011_600x450.jpg

After her experience as a mermaid, Sylvia became a popular face in the media and her career took off (we'd say, all other qualities aside, she also has a lovely face). In 1979 Sylvia walked on the ocean floor at depths never before touched by any other human. This was done using what is called a JIM SUIT, and was used at a depth of almost 400m. This adventure resulted in the book “Exploring the Deep Frontier.”

Image: Dr. Sylvia Earle in Deep Rover Submarine. Font: http://ww2.kqed.org/quest/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2012/05/Sylvia-Earle-in-a-Deep-Rover_horiz.jpg

In the 80's, together with the engineer Graham Hawkes, she started a company to create submersible vehicles, like Deep Rover. This partnership ultimately led to her third marriage, one where the offspring were the submarines created by them. One of her daughters currently works with her in her company.

When asked if she had problems reconciling family and career, Sylvia says yes, many, and that she tried to rearrange her life, having a laboratory and a library at home. For women that dream about following a scientific career, Sylvia advises “Try, you'll never know how it would be if you don't try.”

Font: http://mission-blue.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/IMG_1065.jpg

Other than the documentary itself, we recommend this short video: http://voices.nationalgeographic.org/2013/06/14/in-her-words-sylvia-earle-on-women-in-science/?source=newsbundlearticles

A foreigner researching in Brazil

By Sabine Schultes

While writing this post, I'm at my work desk in the Munich Biology Faculty. From the window, I see green fields; the only salt water in a 600km (~370 mi) radius is a mere 20L (~5 gal) of artificial seawater in the laboratory, in a bucket containing copepods of the species Acartia tonsa. That's what is connecting me with my great passion, the study of biological oceanography.

Copepods are minuscule crustaceans, around 1 millimeter (~0.04 in) in length. With the naked eye, they look like jumping little dust particles in water. They live in all water ecosystems including lakes, rivers, underground water, and oceans. Their numbers seemingly rival the stars in the universe, and as they are so numerous, they have an important role in ocean ecology. They consume the biomass created by microalgae through sun energy – in a process called primary production – and transfer it to fish, as fish like to eat copepods. (Learn more about it here)

Copepods

I have worked with copepods from the temperate waters of the North Atlantic, from the cold Antarctic ocean, and in 2007 I went to work as a post-doctoral researcher in the Oceanographic Institute of USP (University of São Paulo) to get to know the tropical copepods. What a joy! …and, at the same time, what an adventure to live in São Paulo, in a country 12000 km away from Germany. I jumped in without thinking twice and, when in a taxi at “Marginal Tietê,” between Guarulhos and the University City, I suddenly realized that I was far away from home. It is in these transitional moments, moving from one world to another, that all details are fixed in our memories. I was warmly welcomed by the “Paulistanos” (those who live in São Paulo) and, although Brazil is known for its beaches, samba and caipirinha, I had the opportunity to work with high-end technology in my research field.

I was in charge of two sophisticated instruments for my copepod analysis. My job was to establish measurements and calibration protocols. There was no bias or concern that “a woman does not understand technology.” Every day my learning experience was huge: living in a big city in a tropical country, Portuguese, image analysis techniques, electronic data exchange. Also huge was the help I received from science colleagues from Brazil, Canada and France. In only a short while, it was possible to christen the equipment in the Oceanography base at Ubatuba. For a marine science researcher, that was a dream coming true.

The famous LOPC is a particle profiler, that can detect, count and measure plankton with high spatial resolution. By Catarina Marcolin.

Another dream was coming true with the expedition of the project PROABROLHOS: to study with said equipment the zooplanktonic (copepods and other tiny animals) distribution on the Abrolhos Bank. There's a bunch of fish there, and remember that fish like to eat copepods! In this project, researchers from various universities of Brazil and the world joined forces in order to enhance the understanding on how this ecosystem operates, in order to protect the great biodiversity of Abrolhos and it's value to society (http://laps.io.usp.br/index.php/90-portugues/laps/projetos/155-proabrolhos).

To spend one month on board of the old oceanographic ship Prof. Besnard was quite the adventure (it has finally been retired – now the oceanographic institute has a new ship), but all worked out. Our results were published in the following years (2009 to 2013), but I decided to go back to Europe before that. How come?! Wasn't that a dream come true??

Yeah, well, looking back, I can sense I lacked some faith. But also, maybe I needed to be around my own people, culture, and family to get the faith to keep on studying the oceans of the world. Unfortunately, life in science is filled with uncertainties and short work contracts (1 year). At the same time, scientific realizations take years. To write a project, get funding, execute it, analyze the results, and communicate that new knowledge all happens in 5-10 years’ time.

Back from Brazil, it took me another 4 years of coming and going between France, Brazil (I fell in love), and Germany for me to finally get a position as a teacher in the Faculty of Biology of Munich in 2012, when I was 40. I live near my parents' house, and I am teaching zoology, ecology, and scientific initiation to undergrad and grad students. For the first time, I know where I will work, live, and study the ocean, until at least 2020, when the future may take me down another path.

I had few preconceived ideas before coming to Brazil. I like living in other countries. I usually try, at first, to observe and go with the flow. I discovered the “Brazilian way” of doing things, the São Paulo coldness, and I learned how to dance forró. I thought – still do – that all of the people around me were very dedicated to work, friends and family. The most important thing I learned in Brazil? That sometimes things may take a while, but all works out in the end!

In Rio Grande, RS, Brazil

About Sabine:

Sabine Schultes likes to see herself as biologist and oceanographer. She studied biology and hydrobiology in the Hamburg faculty, defended her masters in oceanography at the Université du Québec Rimouski, Canada and her doctorate at Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Bremerhaven. After some post-doctoral contracts in France and Brazil, she is now a teacher at the Munich Faculty (LMU), teaching zoology and ecology. She says that her parents taught her how to look for new paths and to socialize with people and cultures around the world. She is convinced that today, more than ever, we need to take care of our oceans.  

Sabine has also published:
http://chatwithneptune.blogspot.com.br/2016/09/sun-protection-cosmetics-good-for-you.html