America’s Cup

Film and Lecture Series:  We established an America’s Cup Healthy Ocean Project Film and Lecture series and to date have held the following events at the Aquarium of the Bay Theater and at America’s Cup facilities:

• Surfing Film Event with Grant Washburn, nationally known big wave surfer.
• Ridding the Ocean of Plastics, Jean-Michel Cousteau and other speakers.
• Saving the Ocean – Focus on Marine Protected Areas – Sylvia Earle
• SHARKS:  Why we fear them and why we need them: The case for global conservation, John McCosker nationally known shark expert and other speakers.
• More sessions are being planned for 2013.

Monthly Beach Clean-ups:  By the end of the year, we will have completed 8 beach clean-ups throughout San Francisco Bay with the advisory board organizations and America’s Cup team members.  We have engaged over 450 volunteers from the Bay area and continue to grow our team with every clean up.  We will continue to do monthly beach clean ups around the Bay area through September 2013.

• June 10, 2012  at Aquatic Park
• August 19, 2012 at Fort Baker/Cavallo Point
• September 15, 2012 at Golden Gate Park for California Coastal Clean Up Day
• October 5, 2012 at Fort Mason Restoration Project
• October 13, 2012 at India Basin
• November 7, 2012 at Limantour Beach with Oracle Racing
• November 10, 2012 at Islais Creek
• December 8, 2012 10-12 PM at Yosemite Slough

ACWS: Educational Harbor Porpoise Cruise (San Francisco):  Utilizing the media footprint of the America’s Cup World Series race in August, the America’s Cup Healthy Ocean Project partners took a group of scientists, conservationists, and school children to the Golden Gate Bridge by hybrid ferry to see Harbor Porpoises.  HOP helped to demonstrate the biological importance of this area and build support to expand the National Marine Sanctuary waters there.

ACWS: Rain Garden Construction (Newport):  During the America’s Cup World Series race in Newport, Rhode Island, America’s Cup Healthy Ocean Project Partners, teams, and volunteers worked with Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to construct a rain garden at Fort Adams State Park in a parking lot.  The project was designed to mitigate storm water runoff from paved areas at Fort Adams State Park, enhance water quality in Brenton Cove, control invasive plant species, and enhance the park’s landscaping with native Rhode Island vegetation.

ACWS: MPA Exploration in (Naples, Italy): America’s Cup Healthy Ocean Project partner, IUCN, organized an educational visit for America’s Cup staff, teams, and local community to visit MPA Gaiola, a thriving marine protected area located within the city limits of Naples.  The goal of the project was to highlight the importance of preserving marine land, its fragility, and to educate and inspire a new generation of citizens to protect the marine environment. AC staff and teams helped students collect water samples to view through a microscope and learn about the living organisms they discovered.

ACWS: Restoration of Marine Habitat (Venice, Italy):  America’s Cup staff, teams, and volunteers worked with IUCN and the local WWF chapter in Venice to restore the coastal habitat for the fratino species of coastal birds. 

America’s Cup Healthy Ocean Project Exhibit:  We established an exhibit to use at the America’s Cup World Series races that address Marine Protected Areas, Sustainable Seafood, and Trash/Plastics in the ocean.  The exhibit is interactive and promotes our three areas of focus through video, exhibit, and interactive tablets.  The exhibit debuted at the August World Series race in San Francisco.

Pledge Campaign:  We launched the “I Pledge” campaign this summer in coordination with our events to engage our fans and spectators around the Healthy Ocean Project.  Our goal is to get our audience to pledge to change one behavior – big or small – that benefits the ocean.  Thousands of people took the pledge at the event through online form and photo booth, and will launch the pledge online when new microsite goes live.  The idea is that changing one behavior now, adds up to a lifetime of change.  We had people pledge to buy fuel-efficient cars to saying “no” to plastic straws to promising to use their reusable coffee mugs to pledging to make sustainable choices when buying seafood.

“I Pledge…” Video:  To launch the “I Pledge” campaign, we spent a day asking key sailors from each team, “Why help the ocean?” and  “What is your pledge?” We produced a 3-minute video of America’s Cup sailors and their own pledges.  See the video here:

Pledge Campaign to support California Marine Protected Areas and for the expansion of the National Marine Sanctuary off San Francisco:  In coordination with the Film and Lecture series on Marine Protected Areas, the Healthy Ocean Project worked with Dr. Sylvia Earle (National Geographic Explorer in Residence and Global Healthy Ocean Project Ambassador) to establish a pledge to build support for the expansion of the National Marine Sanctuary and in support of the full implementation of the California Marine Life Protection Act, passed in 2007.

Beach cleaning at Fort Baker, 19 Aug 2012

Beach cleaning at Fort Baker, 19 Aug 2012

Beach Cleaning at ACWS Cascais (POR), 7 Aug 2011