Edith Widder: How we found the giant squidFascinated by oceanic cephalopods (like octopus and squid), deGruy and his team were the first to film two rarely seen creatures — the nautilus and the vampire squid — in their home oceans. So it’s only fitting that when he met Edith Widder aboard the Mission Blue Voyage in 2010, their talk quickly turned to squids. As Widder details in her new TED Talk, deGruy was the reason she found herself on a Japanese expedition to waters south of Tokyo, where she helped film the giant squid for the first time. She has dedicated this talk to him.

Below, watch Mike deGruy’s TED Talk from Mission Blue, as well as two more TEDx talks from this wonderful storyteller.

Mike deGruy: Hooked by an octopus
In this talk from Mission Blue, deGruy tells the moving story of his love for filming the oceans.

Mike deGruy: Lost in the Crowd: A Simple Biology Problem
In 2010, Mike spoke about his passion for the planet in a great talk from TEDxAmericanRiviera that stemmed from his work in the Gulf after the oil blowout.

Mike deGruy: The Evolution of a Spark
In this six-minute film from TEDxAmericanRiviera, meet 10 passionate young people from Santa Barbara who show us how they live big and go after their dreams. They inspire their peers, and even our adult generation, to take pause, wonder, remain curious and playful, and feel that contagious spark that comes from unbridled youth

Photo: James Cameron / Deepsea Challenge

Update: This Storify tells the story of the descent in tweets from around the world …

If all goes as planned, today James Cameron (watch his TEDTalk) begins an epic dive to the deepest point in the ocean — taking the director almost 7 miles down into the Mariana Trench.

Follow the Deepsea Challenge expedition >>

The Mission Blue ocean news site offers context on the expedition:

Cameron spent the last six years researching submersible technology and coming up with solutions to negotiate the Mariana Trench’s crushing 1,086 bars of pressure (roughly 1,000 times the pressure at sea level). He began building his vessel—dubbed the Deepsea Challenger—in secret in Australia. His effort resulted in a 24-foot-long craft that seats only one person and has no amenities. Now, he is ready to put that vessel to the test in a 6-hour solo dive.

On the ocean’s floor, Cameron plans to film what he sees (the sub is designed not to kick up clouds from the ocean floor) and turn his deep dive into a 3D film to share the wonderment of this almost-unknown part of the ocean.

Mission Blue asked ocean legend and TED Prize winner Sylvia Earle for her thoughts on Cameron’s epic exploration:

Earle thinks Cameron should receive the same level of recognition as the pioneering astronauts who returned with images of the Earth from afar. “The ocean is relevant to every breath we take, every drop we drink, and this provides incentive to solve problems and take the ocean seriously,” she said. “There’s a sense of urgency for exploring and gaining knowledge about the ocean so we can take action,” she added.

One other TED-related side note: Only two other humans have ever made this dive, US Navy lieutenant Don Walsh and oceanographer Jacques Piccard, in the Trieste in 1960. And now Piccard’s son, Bertrand Piccard, is attempting to circumnavigate the globe in a solar-powered plane — a plan he shared at TEDGlobal 2009. Watch Bertrand Piccard’s TEDTalk >>

By the end of Mission Blue Voyage, most of the attendees and speakers were sporting cool glass necklaces, a gift from Dianna Cohen, second from left, and the Plastic Pollution Coalition (PPC). (From left, above, you can see filmmaker Mike deGruy, Dianna Cohen, speaker John Delaney, and the legendary Sylvia Earle, all wearing their glass necklaces.)

The Plastic Pollution Coalition fights to reduce one of the most pervasive threats to ocean wildlife — the plastic we throw in the oceans every day. Watch this TEDTalk from Capt. Charles Moore to learn more about the Pacific gyre, where discarded plastic goes to … well, not to die but live on in a hideous afterlife, poisoning and killing fish, turtles and seabirds. It never degrades and never goes away.

In this email interview, Dianna tells us more about these symbolic necklaces and the work she’s doing with the PPC:

Q: What do these necklaces mean to you?

A: These necklaces are a talisman (made from recycled melted glass from bottle necks) to remind us to choose wise and healthy alternatives. And to REFUSE single-use and disposable plastics daily. Here’s what the artist who makes them said:

“These necklaces are an example of re-use and a metaphor for how just a little bit of human interaction and creativity and vision can alter everything and / or anything … and can become a beautiful artistic expression … the glass was dug out of the dumpster and was reworked and redesigned to become a talisman.”
– Liz Marx, glass artist

Q: What are some ways we can reduce / reuse / refuse plastics in our own lives?

A: Here are 10 ways we can reduce plastics use:

1) Bring your own grocery bags
2) Bring your own water bottle
3) Bring your own travel mug
4) Bring your own takeout/leftovers containers (stainless steel is great)
5) Bring your own utensils and straw (stainless steel or glass ones are great)
6) Shop the bulk bins and bring your own bags/containers
7) Buy “naked” produce instead of using plastic produce bags.
8) Switch to bar soap instead of liquid soap.
9) Buy large sizes of food (as much as you will consume before it goes bad) instead of single sizes. Less plastic that way.
10) Give up packaged convenience foods and frozen foods. They ALL come packaged in plastic.

Q: Is there a way to buy a necklace so that the cost supports the PPC?

A: You can get the necklaces, along with T-shirts and stainless steel bottles that support the work of the PPC, at our website: PlasticPollutionCoalition.org.

PLUS: Watch this awesome video Dianna made this spring with students in Barcelona:

Photo collage from images shot by James Duncan Davidson

Aside from being a comedian and legend, Chevy Chase is a longtime activist for the environment. (It helps that he’s married to Jayni Chase, the founder of the Center for Environmental Education.) Together, Chevy and Jayni wrote this editorial for World Oceans Day, based around their experiences on Mission Blue Voyage, the boat trip inspired by Sylvia Earle’s 2009 TED Prize wish. From the CNN.com editorial:

In April, we went on a trip to the Galápagos with 100 ocean scientists, activists and artists, filmmakers and musicians, to talk about what’s going on in the ocean and what we can do to help. On the Mission Blue Voyage, we heard things and saw things that shocked us — like Brian Skerry’s picture of shrimp bycatch, the 8 pounds of dead sea creatures that are thrown away as garbage in order to catch 10 ounces of shrimp … We also saw amazing things, thing that blew our minds — like watching a bioluminescent jellyfish light up its mating display in the pitch-black deep ocean. We talked with some of the smartest people we’ve ever met, and we came up with some big plans for saving the ocean.

We’re not scientists, but we know something we can do: encourage you to talk and think about the ocean, with hope that you will be more involved in the things that will make a difference …

Read Chevy and Jayni Chase’s editorial on CNN.com >>

Photo: TED / James Duncan Davidson. See hundreds more glorious photos from Mission Blue Voyage on Flickr >>

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

Watch Brian Skerry’s talk on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 700+ TEDTalks.