World Oceans Day - Sailors for the Sea

World Oceans Day

 June 7, 2015  | By: Oceana

June 8th marks World Oceans Day – a dedicated spot on the calendar to stop and think about how awesome the ocean is! As a boater and someone who is lucky enough to see the ocean almost everyday – I want encourage fellow boaters to take care of the ocean and celebrate advances in ocean health.

Healthy Ocean, Healthy Planet, World Oceans Day

The simple truth is you protect what you love, you keep your backyard clean and if we all do this together everyday, the ocean will get healthier. So in honor of World Oceans Day, I want to share some ocean optimism that we have seen growing across the boating community and beyond!

  • The Volvo Ocean Race Newport Stopover had over 200 volunteers that helped sort through trash greatly reducing the amount of waste that went to landfill.
  • Charleston Race Week achieved gold level Clean Regattas certification for the first time and started composting to reduce waste that would have otherwise been sent to the landfill.
  • Amazing research in Indonesia has found that electric ‘biorocks’ help grow coral reefs.
  • Over 1,000 people have taken our pledge to reduce their carbon footprint. You can join in and we will teach you how you can protect the ocean: sailorsforthesea.org/nt3
  • In one year, Baltimore’s trash wheel has prevented 182.58 tons of trash from getting to the ocean. That included 110,500 Plastic Bottles and 401 footballs.
  • Stop tabs, a simple easy solution for launching a kits without throwing yarn or rubber bands into the your favorite place to sail!
  • The first offshore wind farm in the US is about to be built just off the coast of Block Island eliminating the use of one million gallons of diesel fuel to create electricity.
  • 111 regattas, 48 of them outside the US have implemented the Clean Regattas program this year!
  • The Caribbean Sailing Association has been working with us to protect paradise and Antigua Sailing Week just joined in! Many Caribbean regattas have been using the Clean Regattas program for years reducing their environmental impact on islands that don’t have many resources.

We want to hear your ocean health success stories! Share them on social media with #worthmysalt or email them to hilary@sailorsforthesea.org.

– Hilary Kotoun
Social Impact Director
Sailors for the Sea