Letter from AltaSea’s CEO
Our Future is Blue
2022 will be remembered as a year of transitions. Moving out of Covid lockdowns (mostly); a new Los Angeles Mayor (welcome Mayor Karen Bass!); and a new record of carbon pollution in our atmosphere.
As our population’s health is improving, our planet’s health is declining, and nowhere is that more evident than in our oceans. The ocean absorbs as much as a third of that carbon pollution, making the water warmer, more acidic, and hostile to many aquatic species, large and small. There’s no sign of reducing plastic pollution in the ocean or any evidence that we have learned to harvest seafood without wiping out the many species that we depend on for sustenance.
But against that backdrop, there is real, inspiring hope. And nowhere is that more evident than at AltaSea. Highlights from 2023:
We welcomed over 7,000 students and community members to AltaSea to show them solutions to these existential challenges, including exciting new careers in the Blue Economy and new products and services provided by our oceans.
We welcomed First Nations culture bearers to AltaSea to learn from those who were stewards of this land and water for time immemorial.
Our kelp lab showed how we can sustainably harvest food, fuel, and medicines from the ocean.
Our renewable energy partners demonstrated how we can harvest clean energy from the waves and store it in various ways to use when it is needed most, all without polluting our air, water, or land.
Our partners continued to explore the undersea world near and far (including right under our wharf) finding plants and animals that we never knew existed—and learning what it will mean for our own sustainability on earth if we lose them.
That is the transition that really matters—understanding more about the ocean, the habitat that covers over two-thirds of our planet, and educating, inventing and investing in the opportunities to turn around the impacts of climate change and our wasteful use of resources.
Come join us at AltaSea in 2023 at our Open Houses and other special events, and be a part of those discoveries and new, sustainable ways of living and working. Come see our 180,000 SF of historic warehouses on City Dock #1 undergoing a major transformation thanks to your support. Come to learn and be inspired, even to consider a new career in a bluetech start-up.
In this time of giving, please consider becoming a ResilienSEA member or naming Solar Stars on the AltaSea constellation map.
As the great oceanographer Jacques Cousteau said,
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.” Join us at AltaSea and be prepared to experience that wonder forever, because our future is blue.
Terry Tamminen
President/CEO
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