Today, there are many ongoing projects collecting data and researching about oceanic issues, all with the goal of promoting change and spreading awareness about what’s happening. They range from the smallest of beach cleanups to full scale investigations of corrupt companies. Some of these projects are initiated by individuals and others by entire organizations. A few major organizations taking action are Mission Blue, the Ocean Conservancy, the Surfrider Foundation, the Oceanic Preservation Society, Oceana, and Sea Shepherd.
One particular organization is the Oceanic Society. Their mission is to be continually “inspiring and empowering people worldwide to take part in building a healthy future for the world’s oceans.” One unique part of this organization is that they sponsor organized expeditions to a wide variety of places around the world with cool marine life. They are trying to help humans connect to the oceans by travel, so that people care more about the ocean and are motivated to try and fix our damaging habits. The more people that care, the more power we have to make a difference.
Making a difference is not an easy task: just as the ocean itself is incredibly complex, its issues are too. My plan for helping the ocean is to address each of these issues, beginning with plastic pollution, because it has a direct impact on marine life, will have a long lasting effect, and ties into many other problems facing the ocean. One of the first steps in combating plastic pollution is to ban single-use plastics. A big part of this is not only the act of eliminating the plastic itself, but also coming up with how we can start using different biodegradable materials instead. Overfishing is another primary focus point, because it is one of the most directly caused issues by humans, and yet, many people don’t realize it’s happening at all. One good thing about restoring our oceans is that when we start to work on some problems, others will improve as well because everything is connected.
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