MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A celebration of all things ocean brought crowds of people to the shore off Collins Avenue and 34th Street in Miami Beach.
Sunday was World Oceans Day.
“For us ocean lovers, this is a really important weekend to raise awareness and to make sure people know that we need to protect the ocean and ways that they can do it any way they can take action,” said Cat Uden, senior field representative for Oceana in South Florida.
A sunrise swim kicked off the day’s festivities, showing love and reverence to the sea.
“It’s important to come together as a community and understand that we depend on oceans more than ever,” said Merle Liivand, an Estonian Olympic swimmer and eco-mermaid.
This was the culmination of weeklong programming by the eco-nonprofits Artsail and the Blue Scholars Initiative to engage more and more people to care about our natural world and the footprint we all leave on it.
“It’s really bringing people in and get them excited about wanting to do something that really make a difference,” said Ombretta Argo’Andruff, founder and executive director of Artsail.
Added Adam Steckley, co-founder and executive director of the Blue Scholars Initiative: “Once you’re connected, you start to learn about it. Once you start to learn about it, you start to really appreciate it and understand that we’ve got to protect it.”
Our ocean is under assault from pollution, overfishing and climate change, wreaking havoc on our coral reefs and disrupting the delicate balance of our marine ecosystem. It’s past time our leaders step up.
“We have to start with policy, by changing local policies to make sure we protect the ocean from pollution, but also make sure that it’s a clean space where fish and all the other marine life can thrive, and then, therefore we thrive,” said Danni Washington, co-founder of Big Blue and You.
Every second breath we take comes from oxygen produced by the ocean. If the oceans collapse, so does most of life on the planet. The nonprofit Big Blue and You recently led a delegation of young conservationists to our nation’s capital to press lawmakers to push policy to protect our most valuable resource.
“When you see the table of all of these big decision makers, you never see youth at the table,” said Alejandro Ganaza, an activist with Sea Youth Rise Up. “And sometimes, it’s important because we are the generation being most affected. We are the generation that’s going to come up with these solutions and innovative technology that’s going to really expand us forward.”
Sophie Ringel, founder of Clean Miami Beach, was also part of that D.C. delegation.
Back on the sands, Ringel led volunteers on her 485th cleanup in six years that so far have removed more than 125,000 lbs. of trash from our marine environment.
“Our mission is very important,” she said. “It is to engage the community and get them outside, get them to the beach, and get them or make them aware about plastic pollution. What is plastic, where does it come from, and what can we do to avoid it? Because it’s very, very harmful for our wildlife and our own health.”
The resounding message at the event was pretty loud and clear. Now, more than ever, it’s up to all of us to step up and use our voices, our treasure, and our resources to protect and restore our ocean.
Our consciousness and behaviors can be fostered at even the youngest of ages.
The Breathe and Splash Swim School was there, planting seeds and inspiring a new generation of ocean warriors.
“They’re going to be more aware, they’re going to pay attention to what is happening in the ocean,” said Christine Garrido, founder of Breathe and Splash Swim School. “So to do that and to share our love for the water together, I think it’s just very magical.”
Added Liivand: “It’s all about love. It’s a love language that the ocean gives us, and we have to come out here and enjoy and receive it, and we have to protect it.”