Dr. Asha de Vos, the world famous Sri Lankan Marine Biologist and Ocean Educator now has an expedition ship deck in her name. Aurora Expeditions, one of the world’s leading expedition cruise operators last week announced the latest addition to their fleet “Sylvia Earle”. Celebrating the world ocean day the company announced that they are honoring worlds leading female conservationists by naming the decks of the new vessel under their names. Dr. Asha share a deck named after herself with Hanli Prinsloo, a Freediver and Ocean Conservationist.
The vessel itself is named Sylvia Earle honoring marine biologist, oceanographer and explorer, Dr. Sylvia Earle. Dr. Earle was the first female chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and named by Time Magazine as its first Hero for the Planet in 1998. The company expect to christen the vessel in November 2021. According to Aurora Expeditions the Sylvia Earle will be equipped with one of the lowest polluting marine engines in the world that features low energy consumption, high fuel-efficiency and a streamlined design to deliver an 80% reduction in emissions.
Along with Dr. Asha de Vos, Sharon Kwok – Future Generations Educator, Dr Carden Wallace AM – Coral Conservation Champion, Joanna Ruxton – Plastic Pollution Campaigner, Bernadette Demientieff – Arctic Wildlife Guardian, and Hanli Prinsloo – Freediver and Ocean Conservationist will be honored with vessel decks named after each one of them.
“I can’t say I ever imagined anyone would name a ship’s deck after me, not even in my wildest dreams, but now my story will travel to the far reaches of the globe and bring more attention to my island home. How incredible is that?” Dr. Asha expressed her excitement in a Facebook post.
Today in a special online event Dr. Asha and all other scientists joined in for a special discussion themed “7 AWESOME HEROES of the Ocean” and discussed her journey as a marine biologist and educator, and challenges she had to face during her work. The event was organized by Ocean Geographic Society under their World Ocean Week special series.
As the Sri Lankan Scientist magazine we congratulate Dr. Asha and wish her all the very best and success in all her ocean conservation and knowledge dissemination work.
Images – https://www.auroraexpeditions.com.au/
