World Oceans Day is an opportunity to honour the world's ocean, celebrate the products the ocean provides and also a time to appreciate its own intrinsic value. Global pollution and over-consumption of fish have resulted in drastically dwindling population of the majority of species.
The concept for World Oceans Day was first proposed in 1992, by the Canadian government at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and it had been unofficially celebrated every year since then. Since 2002, The Ocean Project and the World Ocean Network have helped to promote and coordinate World Oceans Day events worldwide. They help coordinate events and activities with aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organisations, universities, schools and businesses. Each year an increasing number of countries and organisations have been marking June 8 as an opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea. This year, World Oceans Day is themed Oceans of Life. 2010's theme focuses on our oceans's great diversity of life and how we can all help in its conservation.
In 2009 The Ocean Project started an annual tradition associated with World Oceans Day. We launched "Wear Blue and Tell Two" as a new way of celebrating our world's ocean on June 8th.
Our ocean has a great wealth of diverse kinds of life but it's in trouble. Climate change has already been linked to the killing of coral reefs. Coupled with destructive fishing practices, there is a dramatic decline in many types of fish and sea life we depend on.
There are important, easy actions each of us can take to help. Calculating our carbon footprints and looking for ways to reduce our role in climate change is a great step. Likewise, we can choose seafood that is abundant in supply and fished or farmed without harm to the ocean and coasts.
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