Environment

Ocean Photographers Take Over White House Instagram

(With permission)

September 15, 2016

The White House is letting photographers passionate about the oceans take over their Instagram account for the day.White House Instagram

They've taken over the White House.

At least, they've taken over the White House's official Instagram account.

In the wake of today's announcement that President Obama is designating a Connecticut-size area of the Atlantic as a Marine National Monument, the White House decided to let several photographers with a connection to the ocean take over its Instagram account for the day.

The photographers include Paul Nicklen, a photographer for National Geographic, Bo Bridges, and Michael Muller. More images will be added throughout the day.

View this post on Instagram

I’m @michaelmuller7 and I fell in love with our ocean over a decade ago. In the middle of a rewarding career, I decided to share the focus of my lens between the famous actors, musicians and athletes and our ocean, with sharks in particular. At the onset, I had no idea the number of sharks being killed annually. With my wife, Kimberly, and three daughters I realized that they may never get to see some of the animals I was documenting, and that I should do my part to try and shift people’s perceptions. Years and tens of thousands of photographs later, I am proud that #OurOcean has been created; enabling so many like-minded people to share ideas and strive for solutions to the many crises OUR OCEAN faces today. The time to act is now. No better way to jumpstart that action than President Obama’s move to protect a slice of ocean off the coast of New England, creating the first-ever marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean.

A post shared by The Obama White House (@obamawhitehouse) on Sep 15, 2016 at 12:01pm PDT

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@bobridges here to remind you that nothing comes close to the size of a blue whale. We are constantly learning about the ocean and nothing gets me more excited than jumping in to experience it first-hand. I’ve been diving and surfing since I was a kid and still have problems explaining the immense beauty and degradation I have seen over the years. I want to help preserve these waters so my kids and their kids, and generations on, can enjoy what I love most. It’s my true connection to the universe. Photo: @bobridges #OurOcean conference #ActOnClimate

A post shared by The Obama White House (@obamawhitehouse) on Sep 15, 2016 at 10:07am PDT

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Hi Instagram, @paulnicklen here. I’m kicking off a takeover of the White House account today with a few other photographers who are passionate about #OurOcean. During a feeding frenzy on herring in #Norway, a humpback whale whips its tail across the surface of the water creating a backlit curtain of seawater. I've been documenting both the beauty and the plight of our planet's polar and our world's oceans for twenty years. The commitments of #OurOcean plus President Obama’s embrace of conservation (he's protected over 550M acres of land and water so far, more than any President ever) is positive change in the right direction. The news today that President Obama is creating the first-ever marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean is an important step. We hope to help this work with the @Sea_Legacy mission of creating high-impact visual communications that propel people to take action to protect our oceans. Producing powerful imagery will inspire people to care. Hope is empowerment and hope is a solution. We want to bridge this gap between information and emotion and restore the ecological integrity of the ocean by protecting 20 percent by 2020. The work that is being done at the #OurOcean conference is so valuable in helping to move us forward toward this vision.

A post shared by The Obama White House (@obamawhitehouse) on Sep 15, 2016 at 8:11am PDT