Margaret Cooney, U.S. Marine Campaign Lead for the International Fund for Animal Welfare spoke with Rob about the harm of too much noise in the ocean. This recording was made sitting outside of the National Geographic Society building in Washington DC where Margaret and Rob were attending the Blue Vision Summit. Internet talk radio is the best medium to demonstrate the frustration of whales whose primary means of communication is by sound, not sight. We attempt to dialogue while an ambulance passes with extreme decibels. Margaret explains three sources of too much sound: shipping, the Navy and the oil and gas industries use of seismic testing as a dipstick to measure oil/gas remaining in the ground beneath their drills.
Capitol Hill Ocean Lobby Day was the day before this interview. Margaret and Rob attending sixteen meetings with New England House and Senate members. They were two of the ten ocean advocates meeting with legislators. Mary Trainor (Maryland), International Fund for Animal Welfare and Ryan Czekanski-Moir, Ocean River Institute. Jennifer Felt and Allison Lorenc of Conservation Law Foundation spoke about the need to protect the National Ocean Policy from riders added to bills intent on gutting the president’s participatory with diverse groups planning activities. Jim Elder of Campaign for Environmental Literacy spoke about the House’s bill for Climate Change Education. Christopher Brozyna, graduate student studying fisheries at University of Rhode Island spoke to ecological and economic benefits to better funding fisheries research. Sailors Teresa and Ben Carney took photographs. Nan Hauser, Director of the Center for Cetacean Research and Conservation and Natalie Barefoot of the Cook Islands spoke to improving ocean conditions for whales and all marine life, including you and me.
Many thanks to the Legislative Aids and Chiefs of Staff who let ocean advocates flood their office and more than a few hall meetings: John Moreschi, Rep Katherine Clark (MA); Patrick O’Connor, Rep Richard Neal (MA); Juliet Albin, Rep Mike Capuano (MA); Mike Cusher, Rep Jim McGovern (MA); Eric Kanter, Rep Seth Moulton (MA), Ian Wilhite, Rep Joe Kennedy (MA); Becky Cairns, Rep Nikki Tsongas (MA), Derek Torrey, Rep Annie Kuster (NH); Kerry O’Brien, Rep Bill Keating (MA); Bruno Frietas, Senator Elizabeth Warren (MA); Ana Unruh Cohen, Ph.D., Senator Ed Markey (MA); Julia B. Wyman, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI); Erica Anhalt, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (NH); Adrienne Wojciechowski, Senator Patrick Leahy (VT); Cameron O’Brien, Senator Susan Collins (ME); Jake Springer, Senator Angus King (ME); and Adria Wilson, Senator Bernie Sanders (VT).
Special thanks to Congressional Representative Annie Kuster and Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy for fitting into their schedules a quick chat with us.
On Capitol Hill Ocean Day ocean advocates flooded Congressional Offices. In the ebbing wrack line was left more than seaweed, as savvy legislators take positive steps for healthier oceans with ecological and economic, including recreational, benefits for all.
