SeaWeb In Action: June 2011

Ocean Dance

The day presentations were concluded with a beautiful performance by Capacitor.org, choreographed by Jodi Lomask, depicting the movement of the ocean (the video below is just the beginning)

After J and Sarah thanked everyone, we moved on to another ocean relaxation session inside the Planetarium... then onward to checking out some of the Academy exhibits during NightLife...

Ocean words and ocean sensuality

Author Julia Whitty (Deep Blue Home) delighted us with a few excerpts from her book that were written on Rongiroa Atoll...

While Anne Rowley gave us some clues as to why we fall in love with the ocean (the same dopamine culprit that motivates Jeff Clark to ride enormous waves actually) and why generally, we align the ocean with the feminine (except for a lone reference to macho Poseidon) and with sensuality

break

Even the coffee break cookies at BlueMind have an ocean theme! and were delicious... the few breaks in the day were a great opportunity to network and fuel additional ideas from our brains on ocean

Ocean Meditation

Jaimal Yogis, author of Saltwater Buddha, and an avid surfer, led a short meditation session with the audience... then Dr. Philippe Goldin from Stanford University told us what our brain was going through during the exercise...

Taste and the Ocean

Chef Loretta Keller of Coco 500 and and the Moss Room, along with nutritionist Dr. Andrea Garber of UCSF told us all about how real food -from fresh, sustainable, organic ingredients, cooked with love - vs. factory food affect our brain chemistry and our moods. Two brain images showed how food and addictive substances, like certain street drugs, stimulate and light up the same areas of the brain - how we seek the same reward... and how the reward is blunted in obesity. Dr. Garber also reminded us how the food industry is well aware of research showing that environmental cues stimulate overeating (and therefore over-spending)... large portions are one example... even if we have stale popcorn in front of us, if we're sitting in front of a large bowl, we'll tend to eat more of it!

Chef Keller told us of fishing tales and restaurant decor that inspires consumers. The Moss Room, her restaurant at the California Academy of Sciences, among other things boasts a large pond with river fish - NOT the kind you can order for lunch, she emphasized! Chef Keller showed us images of delicious, sustainable seafood dishes from her kitchen as well as from a trip to Mexico... including some mouth-watering squash blossom tacos... we were ready for lunch!

Sound, color, and real estate

During the first morning sessions we learned about how our brain responds to natural underwater sounds -from a variety of marine mammals- in contrast to man-made underwater sound or noise, and how both affect our moods and health.

Then a great team presentation from Neil Osborne from the International League of Conservation photographers and Dr. Amir Vokshoor, from the Institute of Neurosurgical Innovation (top right pic) enlightened us about how the blue color of the water relaxes us, and how powerful ocean imagery motivates us to act on behalf of ocean conservation. When asked by a young member of the audience for tips on underwater photography, Neil responded that what matters is not so much technique and equipment, but what one does with his/her photography once acquired - how many GB of powerful and inspiring imagery sit on storage drives of commercial photographers without having a chance to inspire?

Just before the break, Eric Johnson from Sotheby's (top left) told us just how much more his clients are willing to pay for an ocean view given two otherwise identical units... if your guess was around 40%, you were in the right ballpark...!

BlueMind Summit a success

Yesterday was a very full day of ocean stories, neuroscience, emotions, meditation, and even dance. The Summit was a definite success.

The day presentations opened with a beautiful prelude by Cellist Jennifer Kloetzel, and closed with a powerful ocean dance performance by a Capacitor.org production. In between we heard about compassion for ocean disasters like the Deepwater horizon oil spill, addiction to junk foods and craving for sustainable seafood, big-wave surfing, effective ocean communication, ocean acoustics and why the ocean is sexy, among many other themes. Let me try to recap the highlights for you

Visual notes from BLUMiND

Here are some visual teasers from the BLUEMiND Summit. The caliber of speakers was really impressive and overall the Summit was a great success. More to come!