World Oceans Day 2010 Recognised by Sailors

For cruising sailors pollution of our oceans is a major concern. There is nothing more objectionable when sailing in pristine waters to then come across some discarded flotsam disposed of irrresponsibly - as humans we leave a trail wherever we go! I would trust that these days all yachties keep all trash on board to dispose of correctly at the next port. This way we can collectively make our contribution toward keeping our oceans clean.

The more worrying occurences are the major pollution events such as the current Deepwater oil spillage off the Louisiana coast - this is ocean pollution on a massive scale and even after it is finally plugged the ongoing effects from it will be long term.

World Oceans Day is now officially recognised by the UN and celebrated annually on June o8.

The following is an extract from http://www.sail-world.com/ cruising blog:

'World Oceans Day' .
June 8th is World Oceans Day, and never were our oceans more in need of a friend.

With discarded plastic bags killing thousands of precious sea animals, with the world's fish stocks at record lows and the oil well damage on the shorelines of the Indian Ocean, Canada's Pacific coastline and now the Gulf of Mexico, the world that the sailor loves to inhabit is under threat like never before.

Go to the World Oceans Day website to see how you can be involved!

About World Oceans Day:

As a result of a United Nations General Assembly resolution passed in December 2008, World Oceans Day is now officially recognized by the UN as June 8th each year.

The concept for a “World Ocean Day” was first proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and it had been unofficially celebrated every year since then. Since 2002, The Ocean Project and the World Ocean Network have helped to promote and coordinate World Oceans Day events worldwide. We help coordinate events and activities with aquariums, zoos, museums, conservation organizations, universities, schools, and businesses. Each year an increasing number of countries and organizations have been marking June 8th as an opportunity to celebrate our world ocean and our personal connection to the sea.

Together, we also developed and widely circulated a petition to the United Nations urging them to officially recognize World Oceans Day. With help from our Partner organizations, tens of thousands of people from all parts of the world signed online or paper copies of the petition. Congratulations to all for helping to make this happen!

Designation of World Oceans Day provides an important boost to those organizations and individuals who have been deeply committed to ocean conservation. Official UN designation is another important step toward improving the health of our world's ocean.

Now we need to capitalize on this fresh momentum! We hope you will be involved in planning or participating in a World Oceans Day celebration near you!

Extract courtesy Sail-world, images courtesy google.

We can all do our bit by acting responsibly when at sea and getting involved with various anti pollution programmes when on land. The long term survival of the marine environment is in the interest of us all as humans. Remember, the oceans will survive without us but we will not survive without the oceans.

You can read more about responsible habits at sea in my ebook 'Voyage of the Little Ship Tere Moana' downloadable from my website http://www.sailboat2adventure.com