Tampa Bay comes together to raise awareness this World Oceans Day

World Oceans Day is a global celebration on June 8 to raise awareness about the importance of protecting oceans across the world. To bring that awareness to the greater Tampa Bay area, Keep Pinellas Beautiful and Clearwater Marine Aquarium partnered up to bring resources and educational tips to residents.

"This is an international holiday, but the whole idea is to bring awareness to the ocean, so people understand the importance it plays in our everyday lives and then it's up to all of us to make a difference in helping to protect and save our oceans," said Devon Francke, education coordinator for Keep Pinellas Beautiful. "The whole purpose for today's event is to bring awareness on what so many different local organizations, regional organizations and businesses do to get involved and show the public what they can do too."

The World Oceans Day event had over 40 organizations helping bring awareness to numerous concerns that the Tampa Bay region is facing and how residents can volunteer to help protect oceans and other bodies of water.

"We want everyone to realize that if every single person picks one thing and they do it consistently, we will have a huge impact," said Dr. Kelly McAdams, vice president of conservation education at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

During the event, residents of all ages had the opportunity to learn how they can make personal impacts to protect the ocean.

One organization, Stewards of our Urban Lakes (SoUL), has removed over 220,000 pounds of invasive plants from lakes around Pinellas County through the help of volunteers and interns, over the past five years.

"Invasive plants are a major concern for our waters because they change the water quality and destroy native plants," said Randy Slagle co-executive director of SoUL. "The other thing these lakes do is act as a buffer to the bay. A lot of the storm water that runs off into the lakes gets dumped into Tampa Bay, so we clean all that out too."

When a volunteer signs up for a Saturday morning cleanup, they are trained on how to properly remove invasive plants so they not only do it safely for the ecosystem, but can take that knowledge back with them to help other community lakes.

Another organization, Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, was also bringing awareness about keeping the bay and other bodies of water clean.

"80% of the trash on land gets into the water," said Ashley Burd, education manager for Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful.

At her table, residents could sign up and learn about beach and river cleanups taking place.

Numerous tables at the event were sharing how they are keeping the ocean, lakes and Tampa Bay clean through volunteer opportunities and educational pamphlets.

But there is more to it than keeping the water clean. It also involves protecting the wildlife that lives in it, and that's what tables like Friends of Tampa Bay Aquatic Preserves, Minorities in Shark Science and Save the Manatee Club were advocating for and providing educational material on.

"Manatees have no known predators other than mankind," said Peggy Dahl, a volunteer with the Save the Manatee Club. "Boat strikes are the leading cause of harm for manatees. Residents need to be on the lookout for injured manatees, report them and drive boats safely."

World Oceans Day may be observed internationally on just one day, but in the Tampa Bay area, organizations are working daily to maintain and protect the water that residents and visitors come to love and enjoy.