Days Of World Ocean

“The first observance of World Oceans Day allows us to highlight the many ways in which oceans contribute to society. It is also an opportunity to recognize the considerable challenges we face in maintaining their capacity to regulate the global climate, supply essential ecosystem services and provide sustainable livelihoods and safe recreation.”

Ban Ki-moon

Secretary General

United Nations

World Oceans Day (WOD), was officially declared by the United Nations as June 8th each year beginning in 2009.

The Oceans cover more than 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface – they have a significant effect on our climate and play a crucial role in maintaining the many ecosystem services such as fisheries.

The celebration of WOD is an opportunity every year to honor the world’s ocean, celebrate the products the ocean provides, such as seafood, as well as marine life itself for aquariums, pets, and also a time to appreciate its own intrinsic value.

As part of the commemorations of WOD, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has recently released a  report that brings to the surface the growing global problem of marine litter.

The report serves as a reminder that carelessness and indifference is proving deadly for our oceans and its inhabitants.
Click here to download the report.

Take action!

Here at Greenpeace we believe that without the oceans, life on Earth would not be possible.

They pulse across the globe driving the natural forces which maintain life on our planet: providing vital sources of protein, energy, minerals and other products; creating over half our oxygen; driving weather systems and natural flows of energy and nutrients around the world; moderating the climate, absorbing carbon dioxide, and transporting water masses many times greater than all the rivers on land combined.

Dead oceans= a dead planet.

In celebration WOD we believe that this special day is also a day of action as a proper response to the need to defend our oceans because without them, life on Earth cannot exist.

First Official UN Day For Ocean Awareness

It’s official, today is the first UN designated World Oceans Day. The concept for World Oceans Day was proposed at the 1992 Earth Summit and has been unofficially celebrated every year since then. 17 years later official designation by the U.N. was finally given and is considerate by ocean conservationists as a significant step in conserving and protecting our world’s ocean.

Each year the event organizers designate an official theme and this year they picked “one ocean, one climate, one future”. The offical website, TheOceanProject.com, explains;

The concept of a “World Ocean Day” was first proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The Ocean Project has been working closely with the World Ocean Network for the last six years to promote and coordinate World Ocean Day events and activities with aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organizations and agencies, universities, schools, and businesses. Each year an increasing number of countries and organizations have been marking June 8th as opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea.

With the World Ocean Network, The Ocean Project also developed and widely circulated a petition to the United Nations urging them to officially recognize World Ocean Day. With help from our Partner organizations, tens of thousands of people from all parts of the world signed online or paper copies of the petition. Your participation in all of this made a real difference!

While official U.N. designation is not going to change things overnight it is an important step in improving the health of our world’s ocean. Now we need to capitalize on this fresh momentum! We hope you will be involved in planning or participating in a World Oceans Day celebration near you in June.

For those not able to get off work to attend, google has created a few great visualizations to celebrate the wonders of the underwater world. Here is the link: World Oceans Day Visulizations by Google

And for Maritime History buffs it is also the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage on the sailing ship Onrust

World Ocean go public

Washington, DC (PRWEB) June 8, 2007 -- Today, Oceana is celebrating World Ocean Day by announcing the "Top 13 Ways to Love Your Oceans". The timing of this announcement also coincides with the debut screening of the anticipated blockbuster hit, Ocean's 13, starring A-list actors including George Clooney, Al Pacino and Brad Pitt.

"Before people race to the movie theatres tonight, we wanted to make sure they remember that today is World Ocean Day -- a day meant for celebrating the world's oceans and our personal connections to the sea," said Andrew Sharpless, CEO of Oceana.

Top 13 Ways to Love Your Oceans
Before people race to the movie theatres tonight, we wanted to make sure they remember that today is World Ocean Day -- a day meant for celebrating the world's oceans and our personal connections to the sea
Unfortunately, many people still don't realize how important our oceans are and how much they need their help and attention
Scientists have projected that if the depletion of ocean species continues at current rates, our oceans could essentially be empty by the middle of the century -- widespread recognition of World Ocean Day is long overdue at a time when the health of our ocean is in danger.
We created the Top 13 Ways to Love Your Oceans to provide a fun and easy way for people to help the oceans and honor World Ocean Day
Seeing Ocean's 13 might not have made our list of ways to love your oceans, but it's certainly not a bad way to spend a Friday night.
World Ocean Day is a concept that was created in 1992 at the UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro as a way for organizations and individuals to come together and acknowledge the ocean's importance and engage in activities that help conserve this part of our natural world. Every year since then zoos, museums, conservation organizations and agencies have taken it upon themselves to celebrate the honorary day on June 8th in an unofficial capacity.

"Unfortunately, many people still don't realize how important our oceans are and how much they need their help and attention," said Mike Hirshfield, Oceana's Chief Scientist. "Scientists have projected that if the depletion of ocean species continues at current rates, our oceans could essentially be empty by the middle of the century -- widespread recognition of World Ocean Day is long overdue at a time when the health of our ocean is in danger."

While serious threats face our oceans, the Top 13 list provides easy steps that ocean lovers can take to help save our oceans. The list links people to educational resources such as the movie Happy Feet, and Oceana's own publications including its sustainable seafood pocket guide and the "Green List," a consumer guide for grocery stores around the country that are posting FDA warning signs about mercury next to its seafood counters. Individuals are also encouraged to become Oceana advocates and to join Oceana's online community of "WaveMakers."

"We created the Top 13 Ways to Love Your Oceans to provide a fun and easy way for people to help the oceans and honor World Ocean Day," said Maureen McGregor, Oceana's manager of e-Advocacy and Marketing. "Seeing Ocean's 13 might not have made our list of ways to love your oceans, but it's certainly not a bad way to spend a Friday night."

Oceana campaigns to protect and restore the world's oceans. Our teams of marine scientists, economists, lawyers and advocates win specific and concrete policy changes to reduce pollution and to prevent the irreversible collapse of fish populations, marine mammals and other sea life. Global in scope and dedicated to conservation, Oceana has campaigners based in North America (Washington, DC; New York; Juneau, AK; Los Angeles and Monterey, CA; and Portland, ORE), Europe (Madrid, Spain; Brussels, Belgium) and South America (Santiago, Chile). More than 300,000 members and e-activists in over 150 countries have already joined Oceana