Earth Day is Sunday April 22nd.

I've been thinking about what to do to celebrate earth day this year, past years have been a beach clean up or a celebratory dive ... so what to do this Sunday?

Lately I've become keenly aware of the importance of conservancy, especially concerning the ocean and our Great Lakes. I think as a diver I have a great privilege in being able to visit the oceans and see for myself, if only briefly, just how marvelous and wonderful the undersea world can be.

When I attended the lecture given by Jean-Michel Cousteau, earlier this year, he encouraged the audience to think about making healthy choices for the ocean.

www.seafoodwatch.org

The concept is to, by all means, enjoy seafood - but think about the fish we eat and how it was caught before making selections.

We picked up a little wallet card that helps us decide which types of fish are better choices, and signed up for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Newsletter.

Then I signed up to receive an information kit and become an advocate.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/c...ledge_form.asp





Last night we watched an episode of "Nature" on public television about the 9000 mile journey made by a loggerhead sea turtle returning to spawn. Excellently depicting along the way the environment of the pacific ocean, including a segment on fishing tuna. Finally, I understand how dolphins and tuna fish together.





My earth day activity this year, instead of doing something for a morning, or even a day... I've decided to make a pledge to:

1. Educate myself as much as I can on the issues affecting the underwater environment
2. Take action in simple ways like making healthy choices, stop using pesticides, reduce the amount of chemicals we use etc.
2. To volunteer (more than I already do) at my local Aquarium
3. To be an advocate for making healthy choices.
4. Support the efforts of organizations like: The Surfrider Foundation, Great Lakes United and others.

I hope this will have a further reaching impact than just doing a beach clean up... but what the heck - I think I'll help "The River Keepers" with one of their clean ups anyway.