A summer crowd gathers at the beach.
© Janine Boylan

The World Comes Together to Celebrate World Oceans Day

Long before the Internet connected our world, the oceans did, flowing from the shore of one country to another.  From the beginning of time, the oceans have fascinated us and served us, yet only in modern times have we come to understand the oceans as a shared responsibility.

In 2008, the United Nations officially designated June 8th as World Oceans Day, an international day to celebrate the water that unites us.

On this day, people are finding common ground in events across the globe. Documentary film festivals, underwater clean-up dives, educational aquarium and zoo events, and music concerts to raise funds for ocean conservation are but a few.

The Legendary Ocean

When did the fascination with oceans begin? Long before World Oceans Day and even before written history, legends and folk tales show that the ocean is a heritage shared by many different cultures:

• Multiple cultures have sea gods. The Greeks tell stories of Poseidon, the Hawaiians of Kanaloa, and the Polynesians of Tangaroa. These gods often played a part in the creation of the world and reside in the oceans where they rule over the creatures there.
• Mermaid stories also appear in many cultures, including British, Chinese, Cambodian, Thai, and ancient Greek. These half-fish, half-human ocean beauties are sometimes evil, luring sailers to their deaths. Other times, they are helpful, rescuing people who fall in the sea.

A seagull captures a mermaid’s purse. While these little pouches are really shark egg cases,
stories connect the glistening pouches to mythical mermaids.
© Janine Boylan

• Legends told in Norway, Denmark, and Germany all explain why the sea is salty. In one version, a man gets a magical grinder that produces anything asked. When he takes his treasure to sea and asks the grinder for salt, it produces so much that the salt fills and sinks the boat. The grinder tumbles to the ocean floor and, as the story goes, is still there today producing salt.

Flakes of sea salt collect on the shore.
© Janine Boylan

Today’s Real Ocean

In our world today, the oceans are not full of fantasy. In fact, in many places, they are full of trash.

Paul, your drink is ready for pick up.
© Janine Boylan

Until very recently, it was common practice to dump things in the oceans: household garbage, cars and tires, human waste, industrial waste, radioactive waste. Out of site, out of mind.

But, of course, the waste isn’t out of our lives:

• The toxins in the oceans kill ocean life.
• They also reappear in the fish we eat.
• Waste thrown in the water strangles ocean critters and even gets caught in boats or nets.
• Regularly, beaches are closed due to the potential harm that the infected water can have on swimmers.

And these are just a few examples of the effect of this waste. Ocean pollution is not one community’s problem. Tainted sewage runoff in one part of the world will reach another part of the world through our shared water connection.

And that brings us back to World Oceans Day—a day to come together as a planet and protect what has been a cross-cultural connection for ages: our oceans.

The oceans, which according to NOAA, cover 71% of the Earth and contain 97% of the Earth’s water, are a vital part of our world:

• They are a source of food, ranging from fish to seaweed to crab to salt.
• They help us breathe. Half of the world’s oxygen comes from phytoplankton, tiny one-celled plants in the ocean.
• Between 50-80% of Earth’s diverse life lives in the ocean—and more species are being discovered constantly. Some discoveries lead to beneficial ingredients for pharmaceuticals.
• The tides and waves, as well as heat collected in the ocean from the sun, can be used world-wide as a source of renewable energy.
• Ocean activities such as surfing, swimming, diving, sailing, and fishing relax or thrill us.

The power in waves can be harnessed for energy.
© Janine Boylan

Oh, I see! Our oceans are critical—they surround us, feed us, and empower us. And next Saturday, June 8, on World Oceans Day, you can be part of the effort that is finding common ground in the protection of our oceans. In the words of poet Ryunosuke Satoro:

Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.

How will you help save our seas?

For starters, you can download our free tips for reducing your use of plastics:

Learn more about the ocean and see promises you can make for its protection on the World Oceans Day Facebook page. 

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