AquaMeridan US
AQUA ... THE WATER OUR LIVES DEPEND ON | MERIDIAN ... THE LAND WE LIVE ON
Youth Action and Education in the US, California
Our Mission:
Enlighten youth awareness for California threatened & endangered marine mammal.
Why AquaMeridian
AquaMeridian Conservation and Education Foundation is founded by celebrity and avid conservationist, Sharon Kwok in 2013, Hong Kong. Hong Kong acts as a hub for a thriving wildlife trade, with numerous endangered wildlife products such as ivory and shark fin being bought and sold openly and legally. We spoken out in California State Assembly for the initiation of bans on the United States’ shark fin and ivory trades. We believe that education is the key to a sustainable future for our planet. AquaMeridian US is founded by a high school student Faye Lin in Bay Area California, aims to educate and engage the youth about conservation and sustainability issues through creative and cross-cultural programs.
AquaMeridian previous conservation works:
Speaking out in California State Assembly for the initiation of bans on the United States’ shark fin and ivory trades;
Working with numerous airlines and local businesses to curb non-sustainable trade in Hong Kong, as well as lobbying for the abolishment of the consumption of shark fin soup at local government functions;
Being a key local player in the successful government legislation that will ban Hong Kong’s Ivory trade;
Presented the more recent motion in May 2018 to increase the protection for Green Sea Turtles within Hong Kong waters, which met with unanimous support through Hong Kong’s Legislative Council.
Why Sea Otters
Sea Otters hang in groups called rafts; they usually hang out by waters near shore or kelp beds and where shellfish are plentiful. They use kelp beds to wrap themselves or tie themselves up in and to find food. Mothers tend to leave their pups in the kelp beds while they are out hunting and searching for food.
Sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) are a keystone species, meaning their role in their environment has a greater effect than other species. As top predators, sea otters are critical to maintaining the balance of nearshore ecosystems, such as kelp forests, embayments and estuaries. Without sea otters, sea urchins can overpopulate the sea floor and devour the kelp forests that provide cover and food for many other marine animals. By maintaining healthy kelp forests, sea otters also indirectly help to reduce levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a prevalent greenhouse gas, as kelp absorbs and sequesters carbon.
By the early 1900s, about 50 California sea otters — the subspecies living along the southern coast of California — remained in the wild. Thanks to the International Fur Seal Treaty of 1911, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act of the 1970s, California sea otters were able to make a partial comeback — about 3,000 live on the California coast today.
"Protect the natural systems as if your life depends on it because it does! Our lives do depend on making peace with nature."
— Dr. Sylvia Earle
Sea otters have long been recognized as a classic example of a keystone species, a dominant predator that maintains the balance of kelp forest ecosystems by controlling populations of sea urchins, which are voracious kelp grazers.
Lollipop fundraiser
Led by our high school student leader advocates.
Student Science Research:
Photo credit to Faye Lin, taken in Monterey, California
Monterey Kelp Forest Restoration Efforts
Keith Rootsaert organized the Giant Giant Kelp Restoration Project in 2018 to protect and restore California’s kelp forests, increase public and policy-maker awareness of the importance of the biodiversity within kelp forest ecosystems, and use science-based methods to monitor their health and improve restoration techniques.
We advance our mission through training citizen-scientist divers in kelp restoration methods, engaging communities through volunteer programs, communicating about the impact of public policy on kelp forest restoration and conservation, and collaborating with the scientific community and governmental agencies.
- Keith Rootsaert
Let’s meet up in real life to share in the beauty of the natural world.
Sign up to be the first to know about our events.
