Save Our Oceans

Island and coastal nations need to protect their waters to keep the oceans healthy. But they often have lots of debt and aren't able to prioritize ocean conservation over other needs. The team at The Nature Conservancy sees a way to solve both problems at once

Legendary ocean researcher Sylvia Earle shares astonishing images of the ocean -- and shocking stats about its rapid decline -- as she makes her TED Prize wish: that we will join her in protecting the vital blue heart of the planet.

The ocean covers about 70 percent of our planet, provides half of the oxygen we breathe, and feeds more than a billion people — it is our planet’s life support system, but it’s also in danger. Together, it’s time to take action to protect our ocean.

Plastic pollution poses a major threat to ocean life. Meet the engineers who are using rubbish-guzzling boats to stem the flow at its source.

Can we solve the problem of ocean plastic pollution and end extreme poverty at the same time? That's the ambitious goal of The Plastic Bank: a worldwide chain of stores where everything from school tuition to cooking fuel and more is available for purchase in exchange for plastic garbage -- which is then sorted, shredded and sold to brands who reuse "social plastic" in their products.

Once a bountiful fish commonly found in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, the Snowy Grouper now suffers from overfishing. Aptly named for the white spots that speckle its scales, the Snowy Grouper begins life as a female, but as it reaches maturity, some become male. Unregulated fishing of juveniles have prevented many Snowy Groupers from changing sex, thus negatively impacting their populations.