Yesterday marked the 14th annual World Oceans Day, a day dedicated to protecting the world’s oceans and their resources. Starting in 2008, June 8 was officially designated as an international day of celebration by the United Nations General Assembly. It began as a collaborative concept of The Ocean Project, a network of some 2000 organizations that work on ocean conservation and climate initiatives, and the World Ocean Network, an international association working to raise public awareness about the importance of the ocean. Their collaborative effort arose from the events surrounding the International Year of the Ocean in 1998. Together, they started a petition entitled, “Help Make a Difference for our Ocean Planet!” and were able to collect enough signatures to convince the United Nations to declare June 8th a day of international recognition for the world’s oceans.

While many organizations throughout the world work on ocean conservation, the idea behind the international event was not just to bring these organizations together, but also to give the public ways that they could participate through advocacy, education and hands-on activities. The event’s website (https://worldoceanday.org/) provides those who are interested in participating with ways to help through resources, ideas, and tools for organizing local efforts. There is an interactive map on the website where you can look at an area’s geography and find an event and also connect to other individuals and organizations near you. Last year, there were more than 1000 events from 150 countries listed on the website. The annual report from last year is published there as well.

Aside from creating a resource to engage the public, the initiative also formed the World Ocean Day Youth Advisory Council in 2016. This was specifically aimed at getting young people throughout the world involved in building a better future for the world’s oceans. It is a group of more than a dozen young people appointed each year from countries around the world to bring new ideas and a fresh perspective to ocean conservation.

In 2020, World Oceans Day joined the Campaign for Nature in its goal to protect 30% of lands and oceans by 2030. This 30×30 goal aims to convince world leaders to commit their countries to reach this goal in 10 years. This year, that goal continues and is reflected in the 2022 theme, “One Ocean, One Climate, One Future – Together”. This is a reminder that while we sometimes talk about oceans with an “S” and the day is called World OceanS Day, in truth, all that water is interconnected. What we do in Maine in the Atlantic Ocean impacts people and wildlife living on the coast and in the waters of the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean and the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean and vice versa.

There is both a comfort and a nervousness bred by this connection. We share some common goals and interests in learning ways to protect oceans no matter where they are and to collaborate in our efforts to do so because of their eventual impact directly on us. There is also a sense of responsibility to take care of not only our own geographic area, but to think more broadly about how to have a larger global impact. But, at the end of the day, we can come back to what is accessible and within our immediate ability like simply picking up after your dog or using less chemicals on your lawn or picking up a piece of trash on the street. There are small things that can make a difference bigger than each of us. That’s the point of making this a global event and the power of a collective mission.