Awareness Into Action: Celebrating World Ocean's Month with Oceana
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We draw inspiration from the active coastal California lifestyle, and we understand the important role we play in protecting the environment for years to come by the choices that we make today. In celebration of World Oceans Month, we are honored to partner with Oceana to shine a spotlight on the efforts they’re driving to protect and rebuild abundant, biodiverse oceans. Through our partnership with Oceana, we hope to help raise awareness around the threats to our oceans and embrace a commitment to protecting them for future generations.
As the largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation, Oceana is campaigning around the globe to protect and restore the world’s oceans. Since 2001, Oceana has won over 300 victories for the oceans and protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean habitat around the world. Off the coast of California, Oceana successfully campaigned to phase out deadly drift gillnets and transition to more selective fishing gear that will protect whales, dolphins, and sea turtles from entanglement. Now 90% of the seafloor off the U.S. West Coast is off- limits to bottom trawling safeguarding fragile deep-sea coral gardens. And Oceana stands up for the ocean’s tiny fish—like sardines and anchovies that drive a healthy ocean— winning legal cases that ensure our nation’s fishery laws are being upheld. These are just a few ways Oceana has been a leader in protecting and restoring marine biodiversity and abundance.
Oceana California Campaign Director and Senior Scientist, Geoff Shester, joined the Oceana team in 2002. Since then, he has been passionately working to lead campaigns that enact protections for our oceans as well as research expeditions off of California's coasts. He shares more on his love of the oceans and why it's so important to him to protect them, stating, "Growing up in Carlsbad, I spent much of my childhood at the beach, swimming and bodyboarding. I learned to scuba dive in college and fell in love with being underwater in California’s kelp forests. To me, the oceans are an endless source of fascination and mystery. The more I learn and the more time I spend in the ocean, the more I realize we don’t know. The idea that humans could damage and destroy fragile ocean treasures before discovering or understanding them is a passion. As a scuba diver, I’ve seen the loss of precious kelp forests due to climate change, and the impacts from destructive fishing practices. This drives me to find solutions that keep fishing communities on the water and in business, while making our oceans safer for wildlife and ocean habitats."
We believe that the ocean isn’t just our playground to enjoy–it covers two-thirds of our planet and contains most life on Earth. By enacting policies that curb destructive practices that threaten the health and longevity of delicate ocean ecosystems, we’re proud to support Oceana in the fight to safeguard our oceans.
Vuori Collaborator and Oceana Supporter, Dylan Efron, has grown up on California's central coast and has always been an avid diver, surfer, and all around ocean lover. He reflects on his love of the California coasts, saying, "I think the California coast has this vibe and energy that's really relaxed; it feels like you're a part of nature and i think once you get in the water you feel even more welcome and present. When you dive you feel like one of the lucky people who gets to enjoy this whole other world that exists. Every time you get into the water you learn something new, and you appreciate what makes this environment healthy. Then you can start to understand more about what it takes to protect it. You start to develop a passion for it and want to take care of it. If we don’t change, and we don’t protect the waters, we are going to lose this other world that is just magical."
Inspired is an understatement, and organizations like Oceana remind us that every voice can make a difference in creating the world we want to see. Stay tuned for a month of celebrating our oceans, and more ways we’re taking action to protect them. Head over to Oceana’s site to learn more about its mission to save the oceans and help feed the world, as well as efforts happening here in California.