Since 2009, June 8 has been recognised by the United Nations as “World Oceans Day” (WOD).
The oceans are essential to food security and the health and survival of all life, power our climate and are a critical part of the biosphere. The official designation of World Oceans Day is an opportunity to raise global awareness of the current challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans such as climate change, ocean acidification, pollution, and overfishing.
Around the world, people take part in events and activities that help protect our ocean for future generations. WOD reminds us to think about what the oceans means to us and what it has to offer (helps feed us, regulate our climate, cleans the water we drink, offers us potential medicines and generates most of the oxygen we breathe!) and learn about the rich marine creatures and habitats and how our daily actions affect them (for example, throwing plastic bags and waste into the city’s drains and rivers end up in the sea where turtles, thinking they are jellyfish, attempt to digest them, but end up dead due to suffocation).
Sources:
Marine Group, Malaysian Nature Society Selangor Branch 