Ocean-lovers, Unite!

Did you know it’s World Oceans Day? Please take a moment to think about the ocean today and what it means to you.

I asked Sven to free-associate the word “ocean.” Here’s the result: “Waves, the stillness while I was skin-diving, feeling that’s where I belong, silence, away from everything. The skin between me and the water disappears, and it’s as if I have become one with the ocean.”

Hmmm. Not sure whether I would have come up with the same concepts. My take would be: “Pollution, life, starfish, fish, tuna, mercury ….”

One of the fish that is endangered by the oil spill is the blue tuna, which spawns in the Gulf of Mexico, then travels to the waters off New England. (Donna Hull writes about how you can volunteer to help clean up the spill at My Itchy Travel Feet.)

The ocean means something different for everyone. Artists, particularly, draw inspiration from the sea. (Over at Music Road, Kerry Dexter suggests a few tunes for World Oceans Day.)

Finally, celebrate World Oceans Day by watching the movie Oceans, released on Earth Day. (Read a review over at Film Gecko.)

We all come from the ocean. Think about it a minute.

Living by the ocean is a special privilege. Our B&B guests often visit the Outer Cape to spend time with the ocean. One guest in particular comes to mind, a woman from Munich, Germany who had grown up by the seacoast. How important it was for her to re-visit the sea! Anyone who lives beside the ocean becomes addicted. I don’t think I could live anywhere else.

Here is a look at what we can find washed up on the shore:




Fish, lobster traps, shells, seaweed, driftwood, plastic bags .... Plastic bags? I ask you, should plastic bags be floating in our ocean? The ocean has become a garbage dump. It's such a travesty, you could almost cry about it. I picked up this bag and removed it from the beach. Small bits of plastic get eaten by fish. People eat fish. We will suffer the consequences of having added plastics to our food chain. There's not much we can do about that. But we can stop adding more plastic to our world. When you go shopping, say, "Thank you, but no plastic bag for me, please. It's not good for the environment." Bring your own canvas bag or basket.

Now, please head over to Beth Terry's Fake Plastic Fish for videos and a thought-provoking exhibit called Plastic Century, at the San Francisco Academy of Sciences ...

Do your part to save the oceans. Begin by spreading the word. Say NO to plastic!