LOS ANGELES ( December 29, 2003 )---The Shifting Baselines Ocean Media Campaign (www.shiftingbaselines.org) proclaims 2003 to be "The Year of Ocean Decline," and announces the first annual Rotten Jellyfish Awards. To announce the awards, comic actresses Jennifer Coolidge ( American Pie, Legally Blonde 1 and 2, Best In Show ) and Danielle Gaither ( MadTV ) lent their voices to a growing array of celebrities supporting the Shifting Baselines project.

The Rotten Jellyfish Awards honor the worst cases of ocean decline with biting humor. For example, shark fin fishing receives a Rotten Jellyfish Award for devastating shark populations worldwide. It is a particularly wasteful fishery in which the fins of sharks are hacked off, then rest of the body is thrown overboard. "No wonder sharks are attacking surfers," Danielle Gaither offers.

Another Rotten Jellyfish goes to the "Dead Zone," which Jennifer Coolidge points out is not a gathering place for fans of Jerry Garcia, but is in fact an enormous region in the Gulf of Mexico that is now lifeless due to pollution and excess fertilizer washed out of the Mississippi River.

In addition to the comic deliveries of Ms. Coolidge and Ms. Gaither, the VNR contains an introduction by Shifting Baselines Executive Director Dr. Randy Olson . To help illustrate the awards, the press conference footage is peppered by B-Roll of shark-fin fishing, dynamite fishing, plastics in the sea, dying coral reefs, closed beaches, and other "honored" topics of ocean decline. Additional B-Roll is available after the awards.

The overall purpose of the VNR is to call attention to the severity of ocean deterioration and help support the major ocean conservation groups, all of whom are participants in the project. These include The Ocean Conservancy, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Surfrider Foundation, twelve other major ocean conservation groups, and the newest partner, World Wildlife Fund. While presented with a humorous edge, the "winning" issues are in fact serious problems. The Shifting Baselines website, www.shiftingbaselines.org , provides insight into the major problems.

Shifting Baselines is a partnership of ocean conservation and the Hollywood filmmaking community directed by Dr. Randy Olson with scientific support from Dr. Jeremy Jackson, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Hollywood support from producer Gale Anne Hurd ("Terminator," "Aliens," "The Abyss," "The Hulk") of Valhalla Motion Pictures. In addition to delivering the harsh truth about ocean decline, Shifting Baselines also seeks to inform and engage the viewers through the use of humor. Earlier efforts this year included a comedy contest on the subject of "Lowered Standards" and a comic Public Service Announcement featuring actors Jack Black, Henry Winkler, and Tom Arnold.

For media inquires, please contact:
Kate DiRanna
323-997-3167
kdiranna@yahoo.com

VNR DOWNLINK INFORMATION:

Dec. 30 Tape Feed Out - 4pm CST - 4:30pm CST
ATLANTA UPSOUTH TRANSPONDER - GALAXY 4-19 C-BAND Satellite
Confirmation: 122903-251
Orbital Position: 99 degrees (W)
Bandwidth: 36 MHz
Uplink Frequency: 6305 MHz (V)
Downlink Frequency: 4080 MHz (H)