Every year hundreds of thousands of marine animals – such as sea turtles, seals, dolphins and whales – are harmed by ocean plastic pollution. Abandoned plastic fishing nets are a significant part of the problem. These nets can travel long distances from their points of origin and can remain in the ocean long after they are discarded, resulting in the entrapment and death of marine mammals, sea birds and fish. The result is an increasingly critical global threat to marine life.
Thank you to all why joined us for the Inaugural World Ocean Festival and standing together to #saveourocean. We are grateful for the many speakers, honorees, partners, exhibitors, attendees and media who came out to Governor's Island.
The UN Ocean Conference and World Ocean Festival will mark a historic convening of thinkers and doers from all over the world. But the momentum we feel when we’re together will only lead to lasting impact if we make a commitment (and a plan) to collaborate more effectively beyond the inspiration of events to unfold.
Youth from Sea Youth Rise Up, Heirs To Our Oceans, NYC Junior Ambassadors and more will be gathering for a youth rally at the World Ocean Festival on June 4th. It's sure to be an inspiring moment as the groups are bringing out some bright Ocean lovers. All are welcome to join!
On June 4, 2017, supporters of united action against Climate Change and in the pursuit of the global Sustainable Development Goals including ocean-focused Sustainable Development Goal 14 will take to the waterways of New York Harbor and to the shores of Governors Island to send a message to world leaders to #saveourocean.
For the first time ever, we know the full potential of fish recovery in Europe and it’s good news!
If we fully implement the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and manage stocks sustainably, fish catches can increase by 57% or 5 million tonnes. That’s a lot of extra fish currently missing from European seas.
It connects countries, ethnic and socio-economic groups, land life with sea life. If our rivers are our veins running through our earth, perhaps the Ocean is our lungs. After all, our lungs are about 83% water and the oceans cover 75% of the earth’s surface. The Ocean sustains all life on earth, absorbing 30% of all carbon dioxide.
The World Ocean Festival and Ocean March are this coming Sunday - June 4th! Here's how you can help to #saveourocean by spreading the word and check out the below schedules for the World Ocean Festival and Ocean March.
Did you know more than 3.5 billion people depend on the Ocean as their primary source of food? Part of the National Geographic speaker forum at the World Ocean Festival will be dedicated to speaking about fishing and seafood.
It is our honor to announce the InauguralWorld Ocean Festival Awards Honorees -- a group of inspirational individuals leading the way for us to recover a healthy and sustainable ocean through research, education, activism and advocacy.
New York City is a premier coastal city. With a population of 8.5 million residents and a coastline of 520 miles, we recognize the clear and inescapable link between climate change and our oceans and that protecting the health of our planet through effective management of our natural resources, including our oceans, is critical.
We have an incredible line-up of speakers at the World Ocean Festival Ocean Village to announce today! With the support of our Founding Sponsor National Geographic we will welcome some of the world’s top ocean scientists, entrepreneurs to Governors Island on June 4 in free, public dialogue on the topics of: “Coral Reefs and Climate” (11:00 a.m.), “Plastic Pollution” (1:30 p.m.), “Fishing and Seafood” (2:30 p.m.) and “Urban Ocean: Conservation” (3:30 p.m.). See the full program line-up and speaker bios here.
As part of our VR Pavilion at the World Oceans Festival we’ll be showcasing a variety of films including a preview of Making Waves: Re-engineering Aquaculture in Tanzania. Davar Ardalan is Director of Storytelling and Engagement at Secondmuse and tells us more about the 360/VR film & what we’ll be able to experience on June 4th.
We asked our community to share their fondest memories of the Ocean and why they love it. Our friend, Sebastian Nicholls of Sustainable Oceans Alliance, submitted the following essay. Want to share your own memory? Post a photo, share the memory and tag #oceanmemory on social media!
Melati and Isabel Wijsen had one simple thought: what can we do as children living in Bali, what can we do now. They now run a non-profit inspiring people across the world to say goodbye to plastic bags.
We're so thrilled to announce that there has been so much excitement building around the World Ocean Festival we had to move to a new home in New York City. The World Ocean Festival will officially take place on Governors Island on June 4th.
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are thinking differently, especially when it comes to the ocean. Their self-characterization as Large Ocean States is more than symbolic, more than just words. It represents a re-think on opportunities and challenges for small island states. At the Ocean Conference in June in New York, we will all need to embrace this new mind-set.
Imagine a planet where 90% of the habitable space is unexplored, where launching expeditions into that uncharted territory almost always yields new species and insights, and where the unique features and isolation of a dark world harbor plants and animals that bend the rules of life itself.
Ocean conservation is hard. You fight the challenges of “out of sight, out of mind,” of largely unregulated high seas, and of waters so vast people find it hard to believe humans could actually overfish it (or as the saying goes in Jamaica, “fish can’t done”).
As the Maritime Director of World Ocean Festival, I feel that all of my past experience and connection to the ocean is coming full circle. This event, which will bring together boaters, sailors, mariners, kayakers and more, is not only amazing, but it is one of a kind...