My dad, Dr. Jon H. Kaas, is always giving me odd and fascinating books. He is a neuroscientist and expert on the evolution of the human brain so his shares are pretty mind-expanding. He gave me the fun read Your Inner Fish, also a PBS Series. Turns out that we have a lot in common with fish, and that you can trace the origins of the human body back through millions of years into the ocean and find modern anatomical connections with our finny friends.
Since I am about to attend the premier Ocean Policy Summit in the nation: Blue Vision Summit in our nation's capitol, I got to thinking that maybe we should all be thinking like a fish. Our planet is mostly blue, the ocean provides most of the oxygen we breathe, and fish are not only a major source of food, but sustain an ocean ecosystem that keeps us alive...We NEED our fishy relatives. They collapse and so do we.
We are doing a good job of killing off our fish friends and destroying their habitat. The data is startling.
These facts are the reason scientists, lawyers, educators and legislators are gathering May 11-14 in Washington, DC to talk science and policy to reverse these trends. But you don't need to be an expert already to attend. Here is a video invitation for YOU.
Of course, the dying seas are an economic issue as well as a survival issue, and the corporate leaders of Legal Sea Foods and Taylor Shellfish of Washington will be speaking at the summit about preserving our fish stocks.
Other keynote speakers and participants will include NOAA Administrator Dr. Kathy Sullivan, ocean explorers Fabien Cousteau and Sylvia Earle, as well as California Representative Sam Farr and citizen activist Ralph Nader.
Blue Vision Summit offers attendees the opportunity to meet with Elected Ocean Champions including Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii for 'Healthy Ocean Capitol Hill Day' on May 13 and to visit our legislators to discuss policy to protect our oceans. Just to make sure our leaders know what we are here to discuss, a 90-foot life-size blue whale will be inflated outside the Capitol Building.
On May 14th, Blue Vision attendees will celebrate this year's Peter Benchley Ocean Award winners. Among those accepting awards will be Secretary of State John F. Kerry, HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, and the Economist and Marine Scientist Dr. Daniel Pauly.
So If you want to join me and find your inner fish at Blue Vision Summit, register here. We're all in this together, human folk and fish.