Yesterday, June 8th, was officially World Oceans Day. Some of us celebrated by propagating corals in our home reefs, others wrote articles strictly on coral conservation, and still others donated to conservation programs around the globe. Countless numbers of organizations got involved in the celebration, with groups such as the non-profit The Ocean Project leading the pack. The Ocean Project has served as a wonderful resource for conservation-minded individuals by offering up new ideas to save our seas and celebrating events, individuals, and other organizations that already do.
The Ocean Project’s goal for the 2011 World Oceans Day was simple, reach out to young people in your community and help inspire them. Because our youth are the future of our society, we need to get them involved in forward thinking activities and programs that encourage all forms of conservation. And as our hobby promotes conservation, what better way to teach our children than with aquariums? Aquariums are extremely useful educational tools and their impact can be far reaching. They effectively changed my life and guide my decision making on a regular basis, and can surely be a useful tool to promote conservation in others.
To close, I wanted to say that while we wholly support this day of ocean conservation and many others like it, we feel it’s never enough. We shouldn’t just celebrate conservancy for one day every once in a while, but use the day to inspire ideas and activities that last throughout the rest of year, if now for an entire lifetime. For starters, here’s a few things to keep in mind with our hobby.
- Choose to buy aquacultured over wild caught
- Stay away from species that suffer in the wild
- Purchase from honest and trustworthy vendors and wholesalers
- Reduce the electrical usage of your aquarium by buying more energy efficient equipment
- Actively frag corals and share them with your community
- Teach others about this wonderful hobby
- And finally, inspire our youth
