By Mary O’KEEFE

June 8 was World Oceans Day. It is an annual event that honors the seas and promotes their protection and conservation. Throughout the world environmentalists and citizen scientists educated the public through beach cleanups and other activities. 

In Redondo Beach, 7 Seas Collective (https://www.7seascollective.org/) held a beach health survey. Participants surveyed invertebrates from specific sections of the beach, surveyed kelp abundance and conducted a bird count. Citizen scientists, who are just people interested in conservation, were guided by an environmental scientist. (Full disclosure: my environmentalist daughter not only continues to thank the ocean but works to protect it.)

Why should we care, as members of landlocked communities, what is happening in the ocean? Well, the oceans cover over 70% of the planet; and they are a life source for Earth and humanity as a whole. 

According to the United Nations, the ocean produces about 50% of the planet’s oxygen. (Even landlocked people want to breathe, right?) The ocean is home to most of the earth’s biodiversity and is the main source of protein for more than a billion people around the world … not to mention the ocean is key to our economy with an estimated 40 million people being employed by ocean-based industries by 2030 – (so yes – all those people at Fish King in Glendale are part of that ocean-based economy.)

Every time when my kids were little (and even as adults), and now my grandkids, we went to the beach we looked out over the waves and thanked the ocean for giving us a great day. But there are some who just take this amazing life force for granted. They have a kind of attitude of “It has survived for millions of years – it can survive more.”

But again, according to the United Nations 90% of the big fish population is depleted and 50% of coral reefs have been destroyed. We are taking more from the ocean than giving back. 

Growing up in Iowa, farmers would talk about the fields they were letting go fallow. They would let portions of their acreage rest to allow the soil to regenerate. 

Farmers are so smart. I have always found that farmers are the most in tune with the Earth because they work alongside Mother Nature every single day. Even when some farmers used pesticides, they would talk to my grandpa (who worked at a grain elevator) about how much they hated using pesticides but to stay competitive they did. 

But many now, and back then, found safer ways to be sustainable because they knew what over-farming and using pesticides were doing to the soil. 

If only we could transfer that “farmer knowledge” to beachgoers and others who feel it is okay to pollute, dump into and overfish our oceans. 

The theme of this year’s World Oceans Day was “Wonder: Sustaining what sustains us.” It was a celebration of the oceans rather than a doomsday outlook. 

“This day reminds us of our deep connection with the sea and calls for its protection through decisions guided by curiosity, wisdom and a commitment to collective well-being,” according to the UN. 

As I write this the 2025 UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France is in session (through June 13). The theme of the conference this year is “Accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean.” There will be people from all over the world who are attending 10 Ocean Action Panels. The conference  goal is to create action oriented and an “intergovernmentally agreed declaration” of voluntary commitments. 

In short, governments will pledge to take specific actions to save the oceans. When they release those actions I will share them with you, but until then we can take our own actions in very simple ways: Join a beach cleanup. They have them all over Southern California or here’s a thought – when you go to the beach and see trash on the sand pick it up and throw it into a trash can. Or when you are on a walk in our community and see trash, throw it away because eventually it will, more than likely, find its way to the ocean. 

And maybe next time you are at the beach, before you leave just look out into the waves and thank the ocean for a great day. And follow 7 Seas Collective on Instagram for beach cleanups and other ocean conservation opportunities.  

Last week I wrote about the Blue Marble that was not so blue any more. I wanted to attach a photo but it was left behind so here is are the photos of our Earth … then and now. 

The temperatures from today through next week will be above normal for this time of year, which is about 78 degrees Fahrenheit. The hottest day will be on Sunday with highs in the 90s. This is caused by a high pressure from Arizona.