Our Living OCeans

2021: A Remarkable Year for the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation

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Despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, 2021 was a truly remarkable year for the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation.

After spending ten years in the field circumnavigating the globe, we concluded the Global Reef Expedition (GRE)—the largest coral reef survey and mapping research mission in history. Prince Khaled made the formal announcement at the IUCN World Conservation Congress, where we also presented our data and findings from this groundbreaking research mission.

Now that the Global Reef Expedition is complete, we are taking our coral reef research to the next level. This past year we signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to help them map the world’s coral reefs. We have shared over 65,000 square kilometers of our coral reef maps with NASA so they can use them as a guide for how to map coral reefs from space. We are also using our GRE data and expertise in a new partnership with the Pacific Blue Foundation that will use machine learning to automate image analysis of benthic photo transects. Meanwhile, we continue to work with our partners at the University of Miami on new coral reef health and resiliency models. This includes a new project funded by the National Science Foundation to assess the long-term health of coral reefs.

In addition to our scientific accomplishments, the Foundation had several notable achievements in outreach and education. In 2021 we launched a new TV show, Our Living Oceans, which is now playing on EarthxTV. This 6-part documentary series takes viewers on a journey of discovery, educating viewers on the health of our living oceans, the threats they face, and what is being done to save them through conversations with scientists, conservationists, and local leaders from around the world. We also expanded the offerings on our Education Portal, which continued to be a valuable resource for students and teachers, especially for those learning remotely during the pandemic.  

We are very proud of what we have been able to achieve this past year and look forward to what we will be able to accomplish in the years to come.

To learn more about our recent accomplishments, check out our 2021 Annual Report:

This Earth Day, Celebrate our Planet’s Blue Heart

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This Earth Day, we invite you to celebrate the blue heart of our planet: our oceans. The oceans produce half the oxygen we breathe, regulate our climate, sequester vast amounts of carbon, and even control the weather. The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation focuses on ocean conservation because we want to protect, preserve, and restore the health of our planet’s blue heart— our living oceans.

In 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, USA caught fire. Not a boat on the river, or something in the water — the water itself had so much flammable waste dumped into it that it quite literally caught fire, garnering the attention of the entire nation. That same year….

Watch the season finale of Our Living Oceans!

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Tune into EarthxTV tonight to watch the season finale of Our Living Oceans!

Our Living Oceans is a documentary series that explores the health of our living oceans, the threats they face, and what is being done to save them through conversations with scientists, conservationists, and local leaders from around the world. The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation is proud to partner with EarthX to produce this remarkable series.

This week’s episode focuses on Ocean Optimism. In it, we share success stories of ocean conservation and the hope we have for preserving our oceans for the use and enjoyment of current and future generations. This episode features the renowned marine biologist and coral conservationist Dr. Nancy Knowlton, one of the founders of the #OceanOptimism movement. She talks about what gives her hope for our ocean’s future. This episode also features Her Deepness, Dr. Sylvia Earle, talking about how a TED prize made it possible for her to launch Mission Blue and create a global network of Hope Spots to help protect our living oceans. The season finale also includes our Education Director, Amy Heemsoth, who discusses the education and outreach work we did on the Global Reef Expedition and how the Living Oceans Foundation continues to inspire the next generation of ocean advocates.

Our Living Oceans: Threats to Our Oceans, now playing on EarthxTV!

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Throughout the Global Reef Expedition, the Living Oceans Foundation observed signs of declining ocean health and its impact on coral reefs and coastal marine ecosystems. What are the biggest threats to our ocean, and what can be done to protect it?

Find out in the 4th episode of Our Living Oceans, now playing on EarthxTV!

Tune in to hear from experts from the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation and our fellow scientists and conservation leaders working around the world to protect and restore ocean health.

This episode features many scientists and partners who joined us on the Global Reef Expedition, as well as renowned marine scientists Dr. Daniel Pauly, Dr. Ben Halpern, and Dr. Nancy Knowlton. In this episode, you will also hear from celebrated deep-sea explorer, Her Deepness Dr. Sylvia Earle, about her hopes for the future of our ocean.

Watch Our Living Oceans online or on the EarthxTV app today, and discover the hidden life within our living oceans.

Watch “Our Living Oceans” on EarthXTV

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EarthxTV presents a new original series, airing on September 6th that reveals the hidden life within our oceans. In partnership with the Khaled bin Sultan Oceans Foundation (KSLOF), Our Living Oceans engages scientists, conservationists, and local leaders from around the world who are working to preserve, protect and restore ocean health. Episodes feature HRH Princess Hala bint Khaled bin Sultan, National Geographic explorer-in-residence Dr. Sylvia Earle, Dr. Ved Chirayath of the NASA Ames Research Center and many more at the front line of ocean research, education and outreach.