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Over Beagle- Auteur
- Datum
- op 18-03-2009 11:12
- Reacties
- 13
English
Beagle: On the Future of Species
The Beagle project reconstructed Darwin's 5-year long voyage on the HMS Beagle in the course of one year, and made an
attempt to assess where the world stands today in light of Darwin's evolution theory. As Charles Darwin pondered on the origin of species, our focus now was on the future: Do we
have reason to worry? Read more...
> Click here for a selection of English posts on this website.
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Contact us
E-mail: beaglemail@vpro.nl
Tel: +31 356712188
Postal mail: Postbus 11, 1200 JC Hilversum
Address: Mediapark, Sumatralaan 49, 1217 GP Hilversum, The Netherlands
Reacties (13)
Dear Crew,
About thirty years ago I started to sail on my little boat, the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. It was an eye-opener for me. Environmentally. I have been back many times on my boat to teach the schoolchildren in New York about the environment and how they can clean up a river. I have even set up the program in my native The Netherlands once.
So fourty years ago, on May 17th, 1969, we launched our little boat in an effort to clean up the Hudson River and now in 2009 YOU are sailing around the world with the "replica" of the HMS Beagle in an effort to show the people what happened to our oceans in the last 200 years. Darwin and FitzRoy might be surprised themselves at what you may find this time.
I hope that your Beagle Voyage will make us all more environmentally aware. The Hudson River is much cleaner now than it was fourty years ago, and if we all will become more aware of what we are doing to this planet, the same can happen to the oceans. It is my wish and a wish for you. Smooth sailing to you all.
Fair Winds. Or as they say in Dutch: Behouden Vaart.
I will be watching you on t.v. and only wonder about one more thing: Will there be any kind of follow up?
Gerty Bataille, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and a sailor of the HRS Clearwater.
Thanks for your reaction. Respect for everything you've been doing in an effort to make people aware of earth's situation (ok, the Hudson river to start with). You ask: will there be any kind of follow up? I say: let's first make this adventure a succes. In six months or so we will start thinking about follow ups.
gr
Lex Runderkamp
This is a brilliant idea, very exciting. I look forward to following the voyage and perhaps posting on your progress.
And a great web site as well!
Dear Lex,
I fully agree. Let's first make this adventure a success and then think about possible follow ups. And what an adventure yours is!
I am certain it will be a success! For you and everybody who can follow it in the media. So enjoy it! It is just that I am excited about environmental education and teaching people that, as we say on Clearwater: "We are all in the same boat." So, yes, ok, the Hudson River to start with, but then the rest of our earth and waters.
I therefore think that what you are doing now is so great that it should not be left at just one trip because there is more to learn for people and children of tomorrow in a continuation.
Your website looks great. I just mailed my Clearwater friends in New York about it. So now they can also tap in. The more so as you have an English section and I can also translate for them. And, yes, I will follow your adventure with a keen interest. Especially as for what the science will bring and what this can mean for the future. Another question: Can people drop questions on your site for the scientists to answer? Such could become an interesting discussion that would get people even more involved. And with the English section of your site this can even involve people from all over the world. I think that such would be wonderful, with even more experiences and knowledge to share, and possible new friends to be made as a result of Beagle 2009.
See: You have not yet left Plymouth and the first questions are already dropping in.
Fair winds,
Gerty Bataille, a Clearwater sailor from Amsterdam.
@Gerty: Questions for scientists: We have had the same idea and will definitely support that. But this website will be predominantly in Dutch because we are a Dutch public broadcasting company. Check our Facebook-page for the English Beagle-conversation!
Now that we have an online conversation lets continue. You can always drop any question on this site. We understand english :-) But if you want to avidly discuss issues in English please visit our Facebook page.
Dear Eef,
Thank you for your kind information. I understand you are a Dutch production and that consequently a lot of the information on your website will also be in Dutch. However, luckally for those who do not speak Dutch there is also more and more information available in English on your Dutch site now. Besides, I think that what you are doing is also so important that you should get as many people involved in your project as possible. In The Netherlands and worldwide! A major reason for that: You hope to inform people about the state of the world. In the hope that this will be an eye-opener for them and that they will also do something with that information to improve the state of the world. Environmentally, socially and in any other way.
So I have been e-mailing some friends of mine abroad today, drawing their attention to your program and I hope they will tap in. The more so as the things you have been putting on your site in the past couple of days are very interesting and put you to think. Already. So great.
One question: You can go on Facebook, Twitter and some others to get involved in your program. Will those sites all have the same information, do they give people the same possibilities, are they all free, and will the same scientists be on those sites? For example, I have seen that Sarah Darwin will be on Twitter, but will she also be on Facebook and so on?
Many people who are very computer literate may know which site to choose, but some may have a harder time to do just that. So I think that it would be great, if you could give them some more information. It may make their choice easier. Especially if they want to sign up from abroad. I have not signed up yet, but, yes, I may. So your suggestion is welcome.
Dear Lex,
Thank you. I will put my questions in English or Dutch on your web pages or Facebook, if I will have them.
Wonderful writing by Christopher Lloyd in the articles on your Dutch site. Yesterday I happened to come across these words from a Native American, Chief Seattle, no scientist, a spiritual man, but still: "The earth does not belong to man, but man belongs to the earth. This is what we know. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life. He is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."
So humility! And energy!
Thanks for the nice video and pictures and a great adventure.
Hey Gerty,
The french sailing schooner Tara just embarked on a 3 year expedition through all our oceans to undertake the biggest sampling since Darwin´s Beagle Voyage. As you, and maybe others here seem to be very interested in this issue you might want to check out their website:
www.taraexpeditions.org
Cheers, Jan
Dear Jan and other Beagles on board and on shore,
You must have been reading my writings on the Beagle site pretty well because, yes, I think that plankton is pretty magic as it keeps the oceans and us all alive. It is something that I learned on board the educational sailing vessel Clearwater many years ago and it has been an eye-opener for me. So many thanks for your information. In the mean time I have been on the Tara site. I found some life pictures of plankton there and sent some first information to the Clearwater folks as I also found out that Tara wants to do some educational work during their voyage. As a result of everything that I read it seems to me that they are going to do a wonderful thing. In a way the same thing as Beagle, but then focusing on the state of the oceans in relation to biodiversity and plankton.
Having established an environmental education program on board a sailing vessel in The Netherlands before, I am, however, missing one thing in everything that I also find majorly important: At the moment there are the most beautiful initiatives to discover more about the state of the oceans and the world, which also inform people about everything, but none of them is permanent.
Clearwater has already been sailing for 40 years and they are busier than ever, developing new programs at the same time, to serve the people and the environment as well as we can. The Hudson River has become a cleaner river and people have gotten more confidence as a result of our way of education. So how about making such a program more permanent on a Dutch sailing vessel!?
Of course, it should all be made affordable and funds have to be raised, but it would indeed give many opportunities. After the program I established did not go so good, I have been trying to set it up again and kept myself informed about what you can do with such a program on both an inland and ocean-going boat. I know that I will keep working on it, but it should be for more people.
So I am putting this idea in now, as now is as good a time as ever, and people may be interested in it.
In short it would keep people sailing and involved in the environment, with possibilities to do the necessary research and educate the public better at the same time, while the internet is also still there to put everything in an even broader prospective. It could get schools and people involved in everything in more than one way. It could even give new opportunities to exchange information with other organizations that are also running their own educational boats and do their share of research. I have discovered that running such an educational program can also give useful information about the state of the environment in a certain area. One of Clearwater's sister programs is doing it quite effectively on the Great Lakes.
And last, but not least: They say that the Stad Amsterdam is a ship for all the people of The Netherlands. I recognize that very well as Clearwater is also from the people who are, as I am, a member of the organization and for the people who are sailing on her. So how about continuing a program with/on the ship that can do exactly that and bring the Stad Amsterdam closer to the people!? I am willing to work for it and see what is possible.
'Nuff written for now ... Fair Winds,
Gerty Bataillle, a sailor of Clearwater from Amsterdam
Dear Beagles and other folks who care for the environment,
Just some news that I read earlier today, in the Poughkeepsie Journal, New York, U.S.A. Nobember 10th, 2009, and that I would like to share with you.
"CLEARWATER PRAISED FOR ….."
Beacon. An environmental organization launched 40 years ago by a humble folk singer will be recognized Thursday for the role it plays in the local economy. Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Inc., which last week opened the doors of its new headquarters, the Clearwater Center for Environmental Leadership and Justice, has received a 2009 New York Dutchess County Economic Development Corporation Special Achievement Award.
Clearwater was founded in 1969 by Pete Seeger, who believed people would take an interest in cleaning up the polluted Hudson, if given a reason to experience the river, and oversaw the construction of a boat called the Clearwater. A replica of the sloops that were a Dutch re-design and sailed the Hudson in the 18th and 19th centuries, she is the icon of the organization and has taken tens of thousands of children out on the Hudson for educational sails. Clearwater the organization has tackled a wide range of environmental issues over its four decades, including the dredging of toxic PCBs from the Hudson.
"We love this award," Clearwater executive director Jeff Rumpf said, while noting that the Hudson Valley was the birthplace of American democracy, and part of the industrial revolution and the environmental movement. "Now", he said, "We really think the Hudson Valley can be the birthplace of the eco-economy."
"If you're looking at a future that is the new paradigm in the environmental movement, where the 'eco' is in the economy, then Clearwater is known for talking the talk and sailing the sail."
The nominating form for Clearwater noted that "the organization's current commitment to preparing the next generation of environmental leaders for green jobs in a green economy is a transition to an economically sustainable future." The nomination also cited Clearwater's promotion of women to prominent positions within the organization, including the ship's captain.
Clearwater earlier this year announced its Next Generation Legacy Project. The organization described it as "an ambitious educational initiative that will bring together school-aged children and young adults to train and prepare them to create a sustainable world with green jobs."
"For over 40 years, Clearwater has protected the ecology of the Hudson River, has promoted the well-being of people living in the Hudson River watershed through education, advocacy and celebration. At he same time the organization proved to have ability to attract Hudson Valley residents and visitors to the river through a wide range of events. These include annual festivals and this year's Quadricentennial Sail." the nomination reads.
Reading this I think there is still so much hope for the environment and the world with all the people and other creatures living in it I know that this is also the reason why I am so enthousiastic about this program. All the way in The Netherlands.
Fair Winds and keep on sailing,
Gerty Bataille, a sailor of Clearwater from Amsterdam.
just a quick note - I live in Punta Arenas and i noticed that the local time here is one hour ahead of your clock on your website. We went an hour forward in October for the Summertime and Europe went an hour back therefore there is a 3 hour difference in UK and Europe 4 hours. :)
Kijk sinds gisteren voor de 3e keer. Prachtig edoch peperduur concept.
Hoe langer ik kijk hoe statischer ik de toch wel wat upperclass hoofdrolspelers ga vinden.
Dit in tegenstelling tot de helaas veel te bescheiden gefilmde superlenige topsporters: de bemanning/bevrouwing die het toch allemaal maar moet flikken in het wand hangend op ijzingwekkende hoogte en maaltijden kokend tegen de zwaartekracht in.
O' Hanlon zwamt wel een beetje al te upperclassy en is absoluut ongeschikt voor de feministische meetlat als hij het in een (1) zin heeft over God Darwin en Sex.
Sinds wanneer en waar is die God van Darwin waarin O' Hanlon zich zo herkent b.v. goed voor vrouwen geworden? Kennu me dat ff uitleggen? "Geen vrouw in de kombuis want dat wordt de soep maar zuur."..
Graag wel in stijl en in the scheme of things. Of zit ik hier last but not least naar een goeddoorwrocht Engels kostuumdrama uit de 19e eeuw te kijken?
Irene Beuker ( Amsterdam 1946) is beeld- en geluidskunstenaar
doet onderzoek naar schoon w.o.. OV-vervoer kortere afstand
toert aldus door Europa met het door haar ontworpen ZONNEBLIK kleinste mobiele zonnecentrale +
Portugese waterhond Zappa (Portugese waterhonden sinds 2009 werelderfgoed) zie ook Zonneblik VPRO Eeuwvandestad.nl op vimeo