"From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere."
Dr. Seuss
June 8th is World Oceans Day. It's the undersea version of Earth Day and has been growing over the past few years and for 2010 the celebratory plans took it up a notch as The Ocean Project joined forces with Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss? Well it just so happens that June 8th is also the 50th anniversary of the Dr. Seuss children's classic, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish so they got together and developed fun family educational events that are taking place this weekend.
And who would have ever fathomed that this would be overshadowed by the world's worst oil spill in history. I'm certainly having a hard time celebrating as I sit here stunned at the news and photos while BP Oil continues to gush into the Gulf. But then again, maybe it's a good thing. I mean it is by far the largest wake up call to date so what better time for us to learn what we can do to help as well as how we can help our oceans in general be it along the shores of our own beaches or how we interact with and impact all waters on land and sea.
I perused the World Oceans Day events list and found many fun family events taking place today and throughout the weekend. They range from celebrity book readings at bookstores in California, to large family oriented events in Boston at the wharf to educational presentations about our oceans ecosystems and even training for the Great Annual Fish Count. Then I noticed a few events surfacing in Florida that are focused on the BP Oil spill and what we can do to help. Here are two examples:
Plan for the Worst - Expect the Best!
Join together with Palm Beach County Florida residents at Boynton Beach Inlet Park on June 22nd to learn what you can do to help Florida's coastal communities and species prepare for the impact of the BP Oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
"KICK THE SLICK" Meeting
July 25, 2010 - Jacksonville, FL - meeting to organize "Kick the Slick" = A 12-hour benefit spectacular with live music and a silent auction of original art and other treasures with all proceeds going to benefit the most urgent needs arising from the tragic Gulf Coast oil slick.
Isn't it amazing how in the midst of tragedy it is in our very nature to pull together and find some good. Even as reports today confirmed the oil slick will reach the Pensacola beaches any day now I have a feeling that most if not all of the local events in our country will go on as planned with some changes and in some form or fashion will now include discussions about and information on ways we can all help.
So how can we help? It starts with you and me. Information. Education and pulling together. Take a look at the links below as well as in your local event listings for events taking place near you and then tell a friend or better yet bring a friend. And if you don't have one think about organizing your own "Kick The Slick" event.
Oh, and as to the Dr. Seuss 50th anniversary - if you don't have your own copy of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish to read on June 8th head out to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of the special Random House 50th anniversary edition. It's sure to be a collectors item.
Yours in the ocean and yellowfish life.
cs/
Relevant Weblinks:
Provincetown Coastal Studies World Oceans Day Events
Yellowfish Cafe - More detailed list of weblinks and ways you can help now
Yellowfish Cafe - More detailed list of weblinks and ways you can help now
"The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."
Howard Zinn (1922-2010)
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