World Oceans Day, June 8, is a great time to remind ourselves what our oceans mean to us. Living on the West Coast, we love our Pacific Ocean for its beauty and as a place to play, fish, boat, swim and work. More importantly, oceans produce half the oxygen we breathe and absorb a third of our carbon dioxide emissions. However, oceans and coastal ecosystems are being threatened by issues such as climate change, ocean acidification and plastics pollution.
That being said, let’s celebrate our oceans and learn about them in honour of World Oceans Day. Here are some great events happening this week in Metro Vancouver:
Saturday, June 6, 2015
World Oceans Day at the Vancouver Aquarium: 10 am – 5 pm
Visit the Vancouver Aquarium and learn about the amazing work that is being done to conserve our oceans. Highlights include:
- A Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup tsunami debris display opens Friday, June 5 which will show the impact the 2011 tsunami in Japan had on B.C shorelines. The display will showcase the volume of debris found on just 100 metres of remote coastline and will hang above the Strait of Georgia exhibit.
- Sustainable seafood cooking demonstration
- Exhibitors from the ocean conservation industry
- A passport activity to learn about Vancouver Aquarium conservation projects
- Marine life presentations including Converting Plastic into Fuel: A Solution to Oceanic Plastic Pollution
- Appearances by Bee Bop the Beluga
Location: 845 Avison Way, Vancouver
For more information, visit www.vanaqua.com.
Saturday, June 6, 2015, 10 am
World Oceans Day Presentation: Converting Plastic into Fuel: A Solution to Oceanic Plastic Pollution
Join the Vancouver Aquarium for a presentation on converting plastic pollution into fuel. Two innovative organizations, The Ocean Legacy Foundation and Resynergi are working together to identify plastic pollution hotspots around the world, send expeditions to those hotspots and then remove the pollution with plastics-to-oil conversion technology.
Location: 845 Avison Way, Vancouver, BC V6G 3E2
Please RSVP to be placed on the guest list to jonathan.hultquist@vanaqua.org
For more information, visit the www.vanaqua.com.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
World Oceans Day Citywide Beach Cleanup, 11 am – 1 pm
Beach cleanups are a fun and easy way to get involved and keep your beaches and oceans clean. Help keep our beach cleanups totally zero waste — don’t forget to bring your work gloves and a reusable mug!
Location: Kits Beach in Front of the Boathouse
For more information, visit the Surfrider Foundation, Vancouver Chapter.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
World Oceans Day Festival at Surrey’s Blackie Spit Park, 11 am – 3 pm
Discover and celebrate the world’s oceans at this free, fun filled family festival at Blackie Spit Park. Enjoy live music, marine touch tanks, nature walks and much more.
Location: Blackie Spit Park, 3136 McBride Ave
Hosted by: Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society and the City of Surrey
For more information, visit www.surrey.ca.
Monday, June 8, 2015
World Oceans Day: Celebration of the Salish Sea at the Vancouver Aquarium, 6:30 pm
Join the Vancouver Aquarium and Georgia Strait Alliance for a celebration of the Salish Sea. The evening begins with a status report on the biodiversity of Howe Sound followed by a screening of a 30-minute documentary film The Unknown Sea.
Location: 845 Avison Way, Vancouver, BC V6G 3E2
For more information, visit www.vanaqua.org
