The Sacramento Speakers Series featured renowned oceanographer Jean-Michel Costeau on Wednesday night. I wasn't very inspired, but I had tickets and my business partner's daughter, who was 14, was excited to attend. So what a great surprise to find him so charming, interesting and thought provoking. And what a sad story he told of the devastation that we are creating in even the most remote areas of the world.

In conjunction with PBS, he has chronicled his travels to and exploration within the remote

Northwest Hawaiian Island Archipelago, the most remote island group in the world. There, they discover diverse wildlife populations above and below the sea and investigate these species' fight against extinction and the devastating effects of pollution, mining, fishing and development.

Check out the first episode at 8PM on PBS on April 5th, the second on April 12th. I think you will be fascinated and maybe even be spurred to consider what you can do to stop the pollution that is reaching even these remote islands.

And try to get your teenage children/grandchildren to watch too. It is important that they see what is happening to the world they will soon inherit.

Gillian Parrillo
The Sacramento Executive