PHOTOS: 2017 World Oceans Day
Blake Delaney celebrated World Oceans Day with Mote on Saturday, June 3. Credit: Conor Goulding / Mote Marine Lab
Written by: Mary Alice Blackstock
Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium celebrated its 10th annual World Oceans Day Family Festival with over 1,000 visitors on Saturday, June 3.
World Oceans Day is an international day of ocean celebration that provides a unique opportunity to protect, appreciate and give back to the world’s oceans. Our oceans supply our oxygen, clean our drinking water, regulate our climate and provide the foundation for many modern medicines.
Nationally celebrated on June 8, World Oceans Day was established in 1992 at the Earth Summit and declared a holiday by the United Nations in 2009 to serve as a reminder that a healthy ocean is critical to our survival.
This year, Mote held a Give-a-thon from June 2 to June 4 in conjunction with World Oceans Day. A final tally of funds for the 2017 Give-a-thon is still in process but we’re happy to report close to $36,000 was raised thanks to tremendous support from our community, Board, Volunteers and Staff and to the generous match by Gene and Anne Beckstein.
Mote celebrated its 2017 World Oceans Day Family Festival with the theme “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” complementing Asolo Repertory Theatre’s family-friendly summer production. The festival included educational activities, games and music to promote ocean sustainability and conservation.
Community groups in attendance included Save Our Seabirds, Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast, Sharks4Kids, Longboat Key Turtle Watch, Conversation Ocean and the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.
Guests enjoyed entertainment from Jambo’s Journey Jumbo Live, a family-friendly, interactive performance that teaches ocean appreciation and encourages children to reuse, reduce and recycle. Also in attendance were the Garbage Men, a local band that teaches sustainability through the use of instruments made from recycled and reused materials.
Mote would like to extend special thanks to its event sponsors: Wilde Insurance Services and Cityside SRQ.
World Oceans Day is only officially held once a year, but every day, each and every one of us can work to ensure that the oceans are healthy for future generations!
