Mission Blue Page #6

"Lady, I can tell you all the

reasons why we can't do it."

And in the end, I knocked those

reasons down in my mind,

and I kind of thought

maybe we could.

So Sylvia inspired me.

That was the way that worked.

One thing led to another,

and a system called the

Deep Rover was born.

And it's a beautiful system

that I've had the joy of

taking to full 1,000 meters,

its full rated depth...

and a little bit more.

And until James Cameron

came along with his system

that went all the way booming down

to seven miles, 11 kilometers,

we had the deepest solo dives

that anyone had achieved.

You and Graham didn't have

any children, did you?

We had submarines.

Ten years later, parted ways...

but our interest in

actually accessing the sea

and developing new

technologies...

I mean, it burned

brightly in both of us.

Sylvia started designing

her own submarines.

A company she founded

designed the manipulator arm that

was on the Deepsea Challenger,

the sub that James Cameron used

for his record-setting dive.

Are you a little disappointed that

Jim didn't take you with him?

Of course I wanted to go...

but, alas, it's a

one-person system.

The arm is right here.

Here's your arm.

I love the fact that we

have better lights than...

Sylvia was ready to volunteer.

She said, "Fine, put me

through pilot training."

And the thing is, she's... you know...

she's not but this high.

So she's actually a better... a

better deep aquanaut than I am.

You know, she's more physically adapted,

and she pointed that out frequently.

"You know, I would be better

in that sub than you."

Tonight, I'd like to

introduce you to someone

who is way up at the top

of my most admired list.

She is Dr. Sylvia Earle.

In 1990, Sylvia Earle received

a presidential appointment

that, for her, was the

culmination of a life's work.

She became the chief

scientist for NOAA,

National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration.

NOAA oversees the nation's

coastal waters and fisheries.

I loved the opportunity to be

at NOAA as the chief scientist.

I learned things there

that I... that I couldn't know...

from being a private citizen.

I had a chance to see things

that have changed my perception...

of what's actually going on.

I was right in the thick of the

big Persian Gulf oil spill.

I went over to the Persian Gulf

on nine different occasions

to try to make recommendations.

Sylvia Earle is just

back from assessing

the environmental damage

from the Gulf War.

The environment really was shattered,

air, land and sea. Of course, the...

You know, it's very rare

that you would have someone

who is a great scientist

who would also be...

a successful administrator

of an organization like that

because you need to be able to kick

political ass, have influence,

and control the unruly

bureaucracy of people

who come from God only knows

how many administrations,

who think they know the truth,

and they're gonna outlast you.

And so they're just

gonna stonewall.

I went to one meeting of

the fisheries council

and... and I was never

allowed to go again.

A document came across my

desk saying that in 20 years

bluefin tuna populations

in the North Atlantic

had declined by 90%.

I found that shocking.

And so, when I went to

this fisheries meeting

as Chief Scientist,

I raised the issue. What

are we doing to the tuna?

Because if we're trying

to exterminate them,

we're doing a great job.

We have to stop killing them.

Well, that wasn't

a popular view.

That's when they started calling

me The Sturgeon General.

I wasn't really permitted to speak about

the things that I knew the most about.

I feel that I must resign,

and as a private citizen,

do what I can do with more

flexibility, more freedom.

Well... Much as I value the experience...

it was stifling.

I never deliberately said anything as

Chief Scientist that I didn't believe,

but I was asked not to speak on occasions

because they knew what I would say.

On the outside, you're

free to go to places

that I couldn't go... as

a government official.

I can be free to speak my mind.

Not long after I left NOAA, I

was in the Tokyo fish market.

There's no place on the planet

where more fish are brought

from more places in the world

than in Tokyo.

Tons and tons of ocean wildlife

extracted and consumed

just... year after year

after year after year.

It's hard to imagine that

the ocean can continue.

And then I saw rows and

rows and rows... of tuna.

There must be a thousand

fish here or more.

- Giant bluefin.

- Yeah.

Oh...

Many of the tuna I saw back

then were just babies.

They hadn't even reached a point

where they could start to reproduce.

And that was in the 1990s.

It's gotten so much worse.

If you go to Tsukiji today...

the bluefin tuna being bought for

restaurants all over the world

are even smaller and younger.

We're fishing them to the

very edge of extinction.

But I don't have to

stop eating fish, do I?

Well, I have.

- You've stopped eating fish?

- I have, because...

'Cause you've been down

there under the ocean

and you've seen them do the

dirty business, and you...

- I know too much.

- That probably turns your stomach on it.

But... I...

We eat a lot of fish. Fish is

supposed to be the healthy food.

- That's the...

- I mean, how else am I supposed to

get my mercury?

If we... if we went off of the major

fish that we eat in the oceans,

what... what should we eat? I

mean, should we be eating...

We can't eat the cows, right?

We can't eat the pigs 'cause those

industrial farms hurt us, too.

What's left? Invertebrates?

You know?

We're gonna have to give them a new name

just to make us eat them, you know?

The way we called Patagonian toothfish

Chilean sea bass to get us to eat that.

Orange roughy, the... what

scientists call them, "slimeheads."

- Slimeheads?

- Mmm-hmm.

So we changed the name

to "orange roughy"

- and then we started eating them?

- That's right.

Why don't we start calling...

why don't we start calling

earthworms Appalachian yard trout?

- And then we'll just...

- I like it. I like it a lot.

...we'll start eating those

and it'll be all fine.

Fishing is one of the more important

occupations along the coast.

Strangely enough... the

most important catch

is not primarily a food fish...

but the fabulous menhaden.

An important marine

industry has been developed

based on the valuable oil

extracted from the menhaden.

Most people have never

heard of menhaden.

Menhaden used to be

unbelievably abundant

to the point that you

just couldn't see through

the schools of billions of fish.

And now these guys come in

and they suck up with their vacuum

cleaner vast amounts of menhaden.

For what? For chicken feed.

So that we can eat chicken

that tastes like fish.

We're so good at

killing menhaden,

so good at turning them

into fishmeal and fish oil.

My doctor tells me,

"Take Omega-3 pills.

They're very good for you."

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