Marshall Islands National Shark Sanctuary

The Marshall Islands declared the world's largest shark sanctuary.

Congratulations and thank you to the people and government of the Marshall Islands.

And do you want to know what they are protecting? Here is a video from the Marshall Islands Conservation Society and HD Under H2O:



Again, congrats, Marshall Islands!!!

And it is time for the United States to do something similar. Shark Defenders started a petition on the Obama White House website that calls for a "ban the sale, trade, and possession of shark and shark products, including shark fin." As of this writing it needs 1,800 more signatures to reach the level that will guarantee a response from the president.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION

ICC: Saipan Grand Hotel

Saturday, September 17, 2011 8:30am
Saipan Grand Hotel to Sugar Dock (roadside)
Sugar Dock to Saipan Grand Hotel (beachside)
Coordinated by: Joe Ada

On September 17, 2011, the staff and management of Saipan Grand Hotel participated in the early morning hours at around 8:30 am by commencing with the clean up from Saipan Grand Hotel towards the traffic light by cleaning on both side of the main highway with a total of 22 participants with additional 5 kids. Once at the traffic section, the cleaning proceeded towards the Sugar Dock and then headed North on the shoreline towards Saipan Grand Hotel.

The clean up took about one hour and 30 minutes with a total of approximately between 150 to 200 lbs of trashes collected. The trashes were piled at the South side of the hotel and CRM staff failed to pick up the trashes after they were informed through the application form. Pictures of the trashes were provided to CRM for their reference and also they were informed that they failed to pick up the trashes. After a week, our Engineering disposed the trashes.

Internatio​nal Golf Academy & Preparator​y School @ LaoLao Donates Trash Gripper Tools to Beautify CNMI!

Thanks to the generous support and donation of International Golf Academy & Preparatory School @ LaoLao, Beautify CNMI! was able to donate 24 aluminum trash pick-up grippers to Kagman Komunidat Association. Daniel Huh, the new president of Kagman Komunidat Association, accepted the donated tools. These trash-gripper tools will aid the Association and student volunteers from Kagman High School in their on-going efforts to keep Kagman and the CNMI! clean and beautiful.

"I have been following Beautify CNMI! on-line for the past couple years before I moved to Saipan a year ago," said Gary Liddle, Director/Headmaster of International Golf Academy & Preparatory School @ LaoLao. "I appreciate going to clean beaches and living in a clean environment," he continued. Liddle shared that he even picks up trash on his way to and from work.

Beautify CNMI! continues to succeed because of the on-going collaborative partnerships between the private-sector, the community volunteers and the government. Thank you, International Golf Academy & Preparatory School @ LaoLao and thank you to all the hardworking volunteers in our community!

Pictured from L-R:  Community volunteers, Kagman Komunidat Association President Daniel Huh,
Beautify CNMI!'s Cinta Kaipat and Laurie Peterka, and
Gary Liddle, Director/Headmaster of International Golf Academy & Preparatory School @ LaoLao.

Commonwealth Anthem

This is my good friend Gus Kaipat singing the Northern Marianas Commonwealth Anthem. The words were written a few years back, the music is from a classic German song. The song is usually sung in two languages, Chamorro and Carolinian. It takes Gus all of four minutes to sing the song. I think it should stay the way it is.

ACTION ALERT: Ban the sale, trade, and possession of shark in the United States

Shark Defenders created a new petition on We the People, a new feature on WhiteHouse.gov, and they are asking for your support. Will you add your name? If this petition gets 5,000 signatures by October 22, 2011, the White House will review it and respond!

Also, will you repost the petition to Facebook and Twitter?

We the People allows anyone to create and sign petitions asking the Obama Administration to take action on a range of issues. If a petition gets enough support, the Obama Administration will issue an official response.

You can view and sign the petition here:

http://wh.gov/gWs

Here's some more information about this petition:

The Obama Administration should ban the sale, trade, and possession of shark and shark products, including shark fin.
One third of all shark species are threatened or near threatened with extinction.To reverse this trend, the USA must be a leader in protecting these important predators.The Administration has championed international agreements and signed the Shark Conservation Act, but this only mandates how a shark is killed, not how many. On average, the USA lands 30,000 tons of shark per year. Palau, Maldives, Honduras, Bahamas, and Tokelau have declared national shark sanctuaries, banning the commercial fishing of sharks in their waters and ending the shark trade. Domestically, laws have been passed banning the sale, trade, and possession of shark in Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, and the territories of Guam and Northern Marianas. The USA should implement a national shark and shark fin ban.

Almost 5K lbs of trash collected

2011 INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEANUP
Almost 5K lbs of trash collected

By Clarissa David
Reporter

A total of 4,940 lbs of trash were collected during this year's International Coastal Cleanup held Friday and Saturday throughout several beaches and coastal locations on island.

Guy Macaranas, Coastal Resources Management's 2011 Coastal Cleanup coordinator, said the trash collection for this year's cleanup is lower compared to last year's, which totaled over 6,000 lbs.

“This is good because it means that more and more people are picking up after themselves when they go to the beach and hold parties,” Macaranas told Saipan Tribune.

Macaranas disclosed that based on the data sheets they collected from the volunteers who participated in the cleanup, cigarette butts comprised the biggest number of trash at 1,601 pieces. Other items collected include plastic and glass bottles, beverage cans, plastic spoons and forks, and Styrofoam plates.

This year's cleanup had 29 volunteer groups: the Saipan Rotary Club, McDonald's, Tan Holdings, CTSI Logistics, Fiesta Resort, Hyatt, Saipan Grand, PDM Promoters, Winzler & Kelly, Lions Club, Pacific Islands Club, Northern Marianas College, Phi Theta Kappa, NMC Upward Bound Program, U.S. Coast Guard, Saipan Mayor's Office, Saipan International School, Marianas Visitors Authority with the NMI Diving Operators Association, Marianas Waterworks Corp., Hard Rock Café, Mt. Carmel High School Red Cross Honor Society Club, Marianas Baptist Academy, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Seventh-Day Adventist, Team Yalaka, POI Aviation, Department of Public Lands, Division of Environmental Quality, and the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.

Macaranas noted that fewer government agencies took part this year. “I believe this is due to austerity Fridays.”

While there are fewer volunteers this year, Macaranas said the event was still a success. “I was happy about the event. It's very successful because people still came out in spite of the rain.”

Macaranas noted that the islands of Tinian and Rota had their own coastal cleanups, in coordination with the CRM's field offices and mayor's offices.

Rota's cleanup was held Monday while Tinian will hold it on Thursday.

According to Macaranas, the annual cleanup, held simultaneously in different coastlines around the globe, also forms part of CRM's ongoing Clean Beaches Campaign, which aims to encourage and educate the community about caring for the islands' beaches and marine resources.

The campaign's slogan is “Love your beaches, keep them clean.”

Macaranas emphasized that more work needs to be done to educate the community and remind them that “they know better” in terms of caring for the environment.

“If we keep doing these cleanups and educational campaigns, we would have a better tomorrow,” he added.

ICC: Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan

Saturday, September 17, 2011 7am

Makaka Beach Garapan, Saipan CNMI
Coordinated by: Elaina Soll

Joining in International Coastal Clean Up Day, 35 volunteers cleaned Makaka beach and a part of Beach Road and collected 35 bags of trash weighing approximately 175 lbs. We also did our usual calisthenics and enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast courtesy of Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan.