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!

Dawn Martin, President, SeaWeb

Jeff Clark, Legendary Big Wave Surfer

Luca Penati, Ogalvi

Dr. Amir Vokshoor, Institute of Neurological Innovation (left), with Neil Osborne, Intl League of Conservation Photographers (right) 

SeaWeb in San Francisco: Your Brain on the Ocean

SeaWeb is co-organizing and attending the BLUEMiND summit at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, CA. Join us on June 1st and 2nd at this first-of-its-kind event to explore the intersection of neuroscience and ocean conservation.

As humans, we have a deep emotional connection to the sea that drives many of our decisions: what happens to the brain when we are in proximity to the ocean? Why do we spend hard earned money to vacation, live or dine within the view or sound-shed of the sea? What are the links between the ocean, relaxation, stress and public health?

Bringing together trailblazers in a variety of fields ranging from neuroscience, ocean science and conservation, experts in technology forecasting, photographers, explorers, writers, dancers and ocean advocates, the unprecedented Summit will help answer these questions and define the “brain on ocean”.

A livecast of the June 2 summit will be available at www.justin.tv/calacademy. SeaWeb's own Daria Siciliano will be providing updates from San Francisco during the Summit, at the ensuing "ocean relaxation" session at the state-of-the-art Planetarium, and during the NightLife event of the CalAcademy. So stay tuned to find out about the "brain on ocean"!

For more information about BLUEMiND, visit www.mindandocean.org.