Calling all Ocean Huggers!

Kids playing in the ocean

Thank you Susan Z for this inspiration!

• FIRST: What does the ocean mean to your kids?  Ask them: whales, starfish, mermaids, underwater volcanoes, mysterious deep water creatures, scuba diving, sailing, swimming, sandcastles, tide pools, haunted shipwrecks…
• NOW, WATCH THIS: Ble Planet II - Attenboros message for Worls Ocean's Day

The ocean means so much to the world, beyond the beauty and mystery, but it desperately needs preservation.  Did you know that the equivalent of one giant truckload of trash (mostly plastics) is dumped into the ocean EVERY MINUTE?  For this reason, from the Arctic to Zanzibar, millions of people will be celebrating World Oceans Day, this week.  Your children (and you) can get involved by checking out the World Oceans Day Youth Advisory who collaborate with the Youth 4 the Oceans network. 

What is happening on World Oceans Day - Monday June 8th?

• Nearby, the New England Aquarium will offer a brilliant festival,
• On Cape Cod, the Ocean Protection Advocacy Kids, will host “One Ocean, One Cape Cod” screening of Sonic Sea. 
• Elsewhere, your kids can look into someday participating with the Sea Youth Rise Up group.  
• For inspiring reads, check out I Can Save the Ocean!,  Follow the Moon Home,  Oil Spill!, and The Pout-Pout Fish Cleans Up the Ocean (younger kids) and At Home in the Coral Reef,  Why Are the Ice Caps Melting? , One Well, The Story of Water on Earth,  Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea,  The New Ocean: The Fate of Life in a Changing Sea,  How to Speak Dolphin,  Plastic Ocean: How a Sea Captain’s Chance Discovery Launched a Determined Quest to Save the Oceans, and lastly, Song for a Whale, among many others. 
• Of course, any of David Attenborough’s visually-stunning and educational videos about world waters are sure to be a hooting success for any child — or adult!  
• The best thing of all, however, is the 5minutebeachcleanup — can your kids take a BEFORE pic and an AFTER pic of your 5 minute beach clean up this summer?  Post it!  And thank your kids!