Help Save Our Oceans!

Happy Friday friends! For those of you who didn't know, today is World Oceans Day! 

 Now, you might be asking yourself what is World Oceans Day? Well, World Oceans Day is an unofficially celebrated day dedicated to protecting our gorgeous shore lines and water ways! Not only is this day about protecting our great big blue, but it is also about celebrating the mystery of the ocean and appreciating all that it has provided for us, such as tasty seafood! Did you know that a living organism called Algae, lives in our oceans and provides 70-80% of our oxygen?! This is even more of a reason why you should help protect our gorgeous seas! World Oceans Day was originally proposed in 1992 by Canada, but was officially recognized by the United Nations in 2008. This day has been coordinated by the Ocean Project and World Ocean Network (amongst other environmental advocates). These organizations have been working hard to spread awareness about pollution in our oceans, dwindling fish populations due to overfishing, and how you can help!  World Oceans Day is an opportunity to appreciate the ocean and join the cause to protect it! Today, Gypsy Rose will share some ways how you can help protect the beautiful seas we all love!

1. Save the Whales! Sure, this sounds like a cheesy bumper sticker, but whales play a huge role in our oceans ecosystem. Whales keep the oceans food chain at a balance. Due to humans hunting these gentle giants, Greenpeace reports that "The blue whales of the Antarctic are at less than 1 percent of their original abundance, despite 40 years of complete protection." When there is an imbalance in the ocean's food chains, this will impact everything on earth. Whales eat zoo plankton, and zoo plankton eat phytoplankton. Phytoplankton remove carbon from the atmosphere. We have enough carbon in our atmosphere as it is! If whales don't eat zooplankton, we'll have overgrowth and lose our essential carbon cleaning phytoplankton.

2. Advocate for our Oceans! The ocean cant speak for itself, so lets speak for it! WRITE A LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA HERE and urge him to protect our seas! Advocate in your communities and spread the word about our endangered ocean! There are plenty of organizations that help our shores such as GreenPeace , Ocean Conservancy, Oceana, Save our Seas, and plenty others! 

3. Do not support off shore drilling.  Offshore drilling greatly threatens marine life, and marine life habitats. When there is an oil spill, the oil poisons the oceans so that life for sea creatures is nearly impossible. Fish that do survive, especially filter fish, carry oil toxins in their bodies which can make them deadly to eat. So be careful when eating clams and mussels. Not only does it threaten the oceans, but it threatens the land as well. Once there is an oil spill, that oil can be evaporated into our atmosphere and can infect our soil and ground water. 

4. When enjoying seafood, be sure that you are eating sustainable seafood. Fish populations are decreasing every day due to demand, and not enough supply. HERE is a list of sustainable seafood recipes that you can try at home! And if you can, stop eating seafood all together!

5. If you are lucky enough to live along a coast line, go to the beach and help clean it up! Not only can you enjoy the beachy atmosphere, but you can set an example to other beach go-ers to clean up!

6.  Did you know that plastic constitutes for 90% of all trash floating in the ocean? This is why properly recycling and reducing our use of plastic is extremely important! Please be conscious of your consumption of plastic!

Everyday should be World Oceans Day! Keep advocating for our big blue seas! We hope you enjoy today!!! We also hope these tips were helpful to you and your community! Peace and love always from Gypsy Rose!