The special expedition has been organised with the support of the MMCO and the Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping of Mauritius to mark World Oceans Day on 8 June to raise awareness on the role of oceans and the need to protect them. Oceans occupy 70% of the Earth’s surface, and hence represent the largest ecosystem; they are home to a large percentage of the planet’s biodiversity. They support essential services for people, such as food provision, climate regulation and recreation. They are also crucial for the economy. But they face a number of threats mainly deriving from human activities – the recent shipwreck of a chemical-laden cargo ship off the coast of Sri Lanka and the oil spill caused last year by the shipwreck of the MW Wakashio off the coast of Mauritius remind us that those threats are real. Those threats affect ecosystems and marine life, including species such as sperm whales. There is growing concern that a broad range of marine species are under increased risk of extinction and that marine biodiversity is experiencing potentially irreversible loss due to a number of threats that include overfishing, bycatch, climate change, invasive species and coastal development. The coronavirus pandemic has raised our attention on the human-nature linkage.
The event will consist of a series of talks and a Question & Answer session to reflect on the World Ocean Week theme.
#ZistwarNouLosean (History/Story of our ocean) Initiative was inspired by National Geographic Education and Adobe mini-course #StorytellingForImpact through Photography. The organizers being National Geographic Educator and NatGeo #GenGeo, organized a national youth initiative where the youth between 8-25yrs old use photography to tell their story about the ocean and raising awareness about the protection and conservation of our ocean, Mauritius & Rodrigues Island.
Photo credit: #zistwarnoulosean
Elevate our youth’s voices around the world through an exciting and engaging interactive activity.
The lesson plan: https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipOegNHYxD3TOeSNnKmvb9QymjSUp-heFi28gJ58
The Padlet platform: https://padlet.com/zigyrigad/WODYouthVoices2021
Sharks are not only one of our favorite things to see on a dive, but they are incredibly important to ocean health and have an important role to play in increasing ocean resilience to climate change.
Join us on World Ocean Day to talk all things shark and climate. Joining us are three amazing panelists ready to share their expertise and experience and dive deep into a discussion on ‘The Story of Sharks in a Changing Climate’.
Panelists:
Brendon Sing – Director of Shark Guardian
Apryl Boyle – President and Executive Director of El Porto Shark
Sara Asadi Gharabaghi – Marine Ecologist
Host:
Sadiyah Rawat – Divers for Climate
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This event is part of Divers for Climate’s World Oceans Week Webinar Series. For more details, follow us on Instagram @diversforclimate
Poems created by the youth around the world for World Ocean Day, more details soon!