World Ocean Day was yesterday, but no worries if you missed it; World Ocean Day was created to advocate for and inspire people to take action every day, not just on one day. Consequently, it is always appropriate to celebrate our ocean and to help protect it.

This year’s theme for World Ocean Day is Wonder – Sustaining What Sustains Us. This theme emphasizes the importance of our ocean in sustaining life on Earth.

A few reasons the ocean is critical to us are:

• Oxygen production – Approximately half of the oxygen production comes from the ocean
• Climate regulation – The ocean absorbs about 31% of the Carbon Dioxide emissions released into the atmosphere, acting as a carbon sink.
• Food – The ocean provides food for billions of people
• Medicines – chemicals from marine organisms are used in treating human diseases
• Economic Benefits – The ocean supports economic activities like fishing, tourism, and transportation
• High cultural and recreational value

We need a healthy ocean, and there are ways to contribute to this.  A few examples of actions that you can do to help protect our ocean today, tomorrow, and in days to come:

Choose sustainable seafood: sustainable seafood, wild-caught or farmed, is harvested or produced considering the long-term health of species populations and ecosystems. You can learn about sustainable seafood choices by visiting the Sustainable Seafood website developed by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Reduce, reuse, and recycle: Minimizing waste reduces pollution, conserves resources, and protects natural resources for future generations.

Shop smart: Plastic pollution is a threat to our ocean. By buying fewer plastic products, especially single-use plastic items, we are helping reduce ocean plastic pollution.

Conserver water: Water is a finite resource. Water conservation is critical for the long-term well-being of our planet, so the less water we use, the better. Plus less water we use, the less runoff and wastewater that could end up in the ocean.

Volunteer: Participate, or better yet, organize a beach cleanup in your community. Coastal cleanups by volunteers help reduce ocean pollution and could contribute to scientific research related to plastic pollution. Volunteers using the free Marine Debris Tracker app during their cleanups are contributing data used for research, policy, and management. You can learn more about this app here.

Educate: By educating yourself about the importance of the ocean, you could help others understand how critical the ocean is. By educating yourself, you could become a better steward. For example, by becoming a better angler or boater, you help manage and conserve natural resources. At Florida Sea Grant, we have a free, online, do-at-your-own-pace educational program for those who want to learn about sustainable fishing and boating practices. You can enroll and get your certificate at the Florida Friendly Angler website.

World Ocean Day is an important day to remind us how critical and valuable the ocean is, how fortunate we are, and that we all need to do our part to keep it healthy. Therefore, we should be celebrating and caring for our ocean every day, and simple daily things like those mentioned above help.

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