Reflections on World Oceans Day 2019

< 4 mins read. Approx. 350 words

World Oceans Day is today and this year’s theme is #GenderandOceans. This theme brings attention to an important issue for the management of marine and coastal biodiversity – the role of women and the gender inequalities that shape our impact on the ocean.

One way that we can stop ocean pollution is by reducing single use plastic waste. NatGeo Magazine’s last year’s cover had created quite a stir on social media with its powerful message to highlight this crisis. Its simply inconceivable that by 2050 there will be more plastic in our oceans than the fish!

I have written an entire series of blog posts based on plastics’ menace in our daily life in the recent past. To read them all please click here.

Personal context:

To me it personally stirs the memory of growing up in a landlocked region in India and dreaming of visiting the ocean someday. I cannot express the joy I experienced, as a thirty year old, when I saw the Indian Ocean in Goa or the out of body experience I had, while floating and snorkeling in the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, in the Negril province, of the little paradise called Jamaica.

Now that I see the world through the eyes of a toddler, the need and importance of saving our oceans is even more imperative than before. No matter how may times I visit our local aquarium, the ocean’s wonders never stop to inspire me..

In conclusion:

My sister and I used to read a lot of Archie comics growing up as a way to encourage our little brother to read more. One of the comic strips (highlighted above) that comes to mind, today is that they say a prayer* for ocean water.

I hope today that we all say a little prayer for the oceans, the waters and the species, inhabiting the fragile ecosystems, and work towards their safe future together. Tathastu (Sanskrit word for Amen).

*God’s spirit will flow like living water through anyone who truly believes in Him!

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