World Oceans Day 2009 events in the San Francisco Bay Area

Here is an updated listed of all the OceanHealth.Org co-sponsored events for World Oceans Day 2009 in the San Francisco Bay Area.

World Oceans Day 2009 Events:
http://www.oceandaysf.org

June 6, World Oceans Day Shoreline Cleanup
Saturday, 9:45am-12pm
Shorebird Park Nature Center, 160 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94710

Please RSVP ASAP for this event at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=82912567897 or by email eli@oceanhealth.org.

Bring your reusable gloves (if you have them), then ride your bike, take public transportation or carpool to the Shorebird Park Nature Center for a quick orientation before we hit the shoreline to pick up marine debris.

June 7, World Oceans Day Beach Cleanup
Sunday, 10a-12p
Judah Street Entrance to Ocean Beach, San Francisco, CA 94122

Please RSVP http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=55915392141 or by email to eli@oceanhealth.org. This is a free event!

We expect a big turnout this year and are excited for you to join us. Please join the hundreds of Bay Area residents that are expected to turn out to rid Ocean Beach of marine debris, which diminishes our beach experience and poses a threat to wildlife and ocean ecosystems. What better way to celebrate the oceans that give us so much than by helping make it cleaner?

9:30am-10:00am Registration and Orientation
10:00am-12:00pm Beach Cleanup
12:00pm Wrap up and thank you!

Please join us at the Judah Street entrance to Ocean Beach in San Francisco. You can reach the location by the MUNI N Judah line or check 511.org for public transportation from your area. Biking is highly recommended. Carpooling is requested of those who must drive.

Gloves and bags are provided for the event, but you are welcome to bring your own work gloves or reusable bag for picking up marine debris along Ocean Beach.

Participants should dress in clothing appropriate for variable weather conditions at Ocean Beach. Weather can differ even from other locations in San Francisco so dressing in layers and checking the current weather conditions is important. Rain gear could be brought as a precaution.

Strong rain or severe weather cancels, but please call 415-342-7497 to confirm if you have any questions on June 7.

Cosponsored by:
The San Francisco Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation
California Academy of Sciences
Aquarium of the Bay


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June 8th, World Oceans Day Film Festival
Monday, 6:30pm-9pm
Montara Lighthouse, 16th Street and Cabrillo Highway, Montara, CA

Please RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=172640435149 or by email to eli@oceanhealth.org. Please be sure to RSVP because there is a 50 person maximum for attending this event.

Please join OceanHealth.Org with the Surfrider Foundation San Mateo County Chapter for the World Oceans Day Film Festival. To celebrate, we'll be screening short ocean films. We hope that you'll join us in this great location to share our love of the oceans and to view a variety of films showing perspectives on the ocean.

Event is free if you RSVP, but $8 donation for World Oceans Day is appreciated and will help support local ocean nonprofits.

6:30-7pm Reception
7-8:30pm Films
8:30-9pm Discussion

Short films include:
"End of the Line"
"Silent Snow"
"Keeping Coast"
"Favela Surf Dreams"
"Papa Tortuga"
"Revolution of the Crabs"

Cosponsored by:
Surfrider Foundation San Mateo County Chapter


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If you can, please take public transportation or carpool because there is limited parking.

Public transportation: From The Daly City BART station take the Samtrans 110 to the Linda Mar park and ride. Transfer to the Samtrans 294 and let the driver know you want to be dropped at the Pt. Montara Lighthouse stop.

June 10, World Oceans Day Film Festival
Wednesday, 6p doors open, 7p Films
Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St., San Francisco, CA (Near Mission Street and 16th Street BART)

RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=83358966876
Buy tickets online at http://www.victoriatheatre.org or at the door on June 10th. Your $10 ticket gets you admission for any or all of the films!

6pm: Doors Open and reception with local ocean nonprofits.
.
7pm: Short ocean films, including:
"Silent Snow"
"Favela Surf Dreams"
"Papa Tortuga"
"Revolution of the Crabs"
"Sand Dancer"
"Keeping Coast"

8:30pm: Discussion and Intermission

9pm: Feature Films:
"End of the Line" (23 minutes)
"A Sea Change: Imagine a World without Fish" (60 minutes)
"Tapped" Trailer (6 minutes)



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Plastic Ocean: A Journey to the Pacific Gyre

Please join us on Wednesday, May 27, at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco for a presentation about plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

6:30pm - 9:30pm

Aquarium of the Bay - Pier 39
The Embarcadero & Beach St
San Francisco, CA

RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=102665954127


An evening of education and networking about plastic with the team who saw it first hand: Dr. Marcus Eriksen, PhD, and Anna Cummins from the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and the JUNK Raft.

6:30 - Networking, plastic art, eco film shorts, visit the aquarium, drinks and snacks

7:30 - Program on Plastic in the Ocean

- Local Shorts (5 - 10 minutes)
- Kathleen Egan, Stop the Plastic Wave, SF Surfrider
- Eli Saddler, OceanHealth.org
- Linda Hunter, The Watershed Project

- Main Event (1 hour)
- Introduction by Mark Massara
- Dr. Marcus Eriksen, PhD, and Anna Cummins
- Q&A

Learn about what is happening in the Pacific Gyre and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that is growing from plastic pollution.

Please RSVP as space is limited!!

Brought to you by:
Algalita Marine Research Foundation
JUNKride 2009
San Francisco Chapter of Surfrider
OceanHealth.Org
Aquarium of the Bay
The Watershed Project

World Oceans Day Film Festival and Beach Cleanup

Just a quick update and summary of our June events for World Oceans Day celebrations in the Bay Area. We are really excited and hope that you will join us at one or all of the events.

World Oceans Day 2009 Events:
http://www.oceandaysf.org

June 7, Sunday, 10a-12p
World Oceans Day Beach Cleanup
Judah Street Entrance to Ocean Beach, San Francisco, CA
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=55915392141

June 8, Monday, 6:30p-9p
World Oceans Day Film Festival
Montara Lighthouse, Montara, CA
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=172640435149

June 10, Wednesday, 6p doors open, 7p Films
World Oceans Day Film Festival
Victoria Theatre, 16th St. & Mission St., San Francisco, CA
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=83358966876
Buy tickets: http://www.victoriatheatre.org

Oppose increased Hawaii swordfish longline fishing that endangers sea turtles by 5/18

If you have not already, please submit your opposition online to increased Hawaii swordfish longline fishing that harms sea turtles by May 18 by clicking: http://ow.ly/58tg

Federal regulations are proposed that would increase the longline fishery for swordfish in Hawai'i. This unnecessary increasing in catching toxic swordfish will further threaten endangered leatherback sea turtles,whose Pacific populations collapsed to less than 10 percent during the 1980s and 1990s, and loggerhead sea turtles.

Please tell the federal government that even a few injured or killed leatherbacks and loggerhead sea turtles is too many when these populations are so endangered. The current plan could triple the number of deaths if it is not stopped and further risk sea turtle extinction in the Pacific.

Swordfish is known to contain high levels methylmercury (a neurotoxin that should be avoided) and other contaminants because they bioaccumulate ocean toxins brought up the food chain. Some restaurants will not even serve swordfish anymore because of tumors in the tissue and concerns about its health effects. The question is why risk harming critically endangered sea turtles to put poison on your plate?

Please act by May 18 with your comments to tell the federal government to that we cannot risk sea turtles for increased swordfish catches. Swordfish, along with many top ocean predators, have also declined dramatically and should be protected from overfishing, too.

Thank you for your support of sustainable oceans!

Please also join us in our 10 for Turtles Campaign! In honor of World Turtle Day on May 23, we are asking Twitter users to donate $10 or any amount to help Honu.Org in our advocacy efforts.

Simply go to http://www.honu.org, then click on the link at the top for a quick and secure donation. Please follow us on Twitter while you are at it: http://twitter.com/honu to get our updates.

Thank you again! Mahalo!

Costumed Crusaders Ask Bay to Breakers Runners to BYOB - Bring Your Own Bottle for Water, That Is.

Costumed Crusaders Ask Bay to Breakers Runners to BYOB - Bring Your Own Bottle for Water, That Is.
Anti-plastic environmentalist to promote reducing and recycling plastic during B2B 2009


Contact:
Beth Terry, FakePlasticFish.Com, cellular 415-260-2861, beth@fakeplasticfish.com
Eli Saddler, OceanHealth.Org, cellular 415-342-7497, eli@oceanhealth.org

San Francisco, CA – May 17, 2009 - Bay to Breakers hosts the "world’s largest footrace" annually with as many as 100,000 runners and can generate vast amounts of plastic pollution that harms our oceans. During the event, many participants opt for bottled water in single-use plastic containers instead of bringing their own reusable water bottles. This year, anti-plastic environmentalists are attending Bay to Breakers as costumed crusaders to remind participants to bring their own reusable water bottles and bags to the event rather than using single-use plastics.

“We want to remind people at Bay to Breakers to have fun, but leave harmful plastics at home,” said Beth Terry, Oakland anti-plastic blogger of FakePlasticFish.Com. “Plastics that end up on the beach or in the ocean are not fun for the wildlife that can be killed by swallowing them.”

Beth Terry has been collecting and tallying her plastic waste each week at FakePlasticFish.Com to bring attention to the issue of plastics in the environment and to show readers that it is not hard to find healthy, plastic-free alternatives.

Beth's costume, the Fake Plastic Sea Monster, is made of 2-years worth of collected plastic trash. Beth’s costume symbolizes how plastic has escaped the ocean and is washing across SF Bay to Breakers, wreaking havoc for sea turtles, fish, birds, and other marine animals! B2B participants are encouraged to spot the sea turtle being chased by the Fake Plastic Sea Monster and pledge to do their part to reduce their plastic consumption and help solve the problem of plastics in our environment.

“The truth is convenience kills and plastic is especially deadly to endangered sea turtles,” said Eli Saddler, Executive Director of OceanHealth.Org. Mr. Saddler added, “Today’s convenient plastic item could end up in the stomach of a sea turtle tomorrow so we hope a race that ends at the ocean will remind people of our responsibilities to the ocean and about reducing marine debris.”

Eli Saddler, the Executive Director of OceanHealth.Org, will be in his leatherback sea turtle costume and doing his best to evade the Fake Plastic Sea Monster. Eli’s sea turtle costume was made from recycled plastic bottles and other reused materials to promote the idea that recycling and reuse are vital to protecting endangered sea turtles and other wildlife from plastic marine debris. In the past 20 years, leatherback sea turtles in the Pacific, including those near the coasts of the Bay Area, have declined by 95 percent. A recent study found that one-third of all dead leatherback sea turtles had ingested plastic.

Plastic Bottle Facts:

• Plastic bottle caps are one of the most common kinds of beach debris found and can be deadly when swallowed by wildlife.
• Nearly seven times as much water is used to make the bottle than you actually drink.
• Making bottles to meet Americans’ demand for bottled water requires more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel more than 1 million U.S. cars for a year.
• Over 85 percent of water bottles are not recycled and wind up in landfills where it takes thousands of years for the plastic to decompose.
• Bottled water can cost up to 10,000 times more per gallon than tap water.
• Global consumption of bottled water reached 154 billion liters (41 billion gallons) in 2004.
• Americans drank 26 billion liters in 2004 or about one 8-ounce glass per person every day.
• Buried water bottles can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade.

###

About OceanHealth.Org: OceanHealth.Org (Ocean Health Institute) is a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that promotes healthy, sustainable oceans and public health protection from ocean-based threats. In addition to work educating consumers about taking action to reduce plastic use, OceanHealth.Org promotes sustainable seafood consumption and endangered marine species protection through scientific research, educational activities, and advocacy efforts. http://www.oceanhealth.org

About Fake Plastic Fish: Beth Terry is an Oakland resident and the author of a blog about plastics called, “Fake Plastic Fish.” For almost two years, Beth has been chronicling her efforts to reduce plastic in her life and providing insight into how readers can eliminate, reduce, and recycle plastic in their lives. Her website is http://www.fakeplasticfish.com.

World Oceans Day June 2009 in the Bay Area

This will be our third World Oceans Day series of events and we could not be more excited about all the events that will be happening. This is also the first year that the United Nations has declared June 8 as World Oceans Day, an official holiday to celebrate the oceans. In 2008, the City of San Francisco declared June 8 World Oceans Day and we were proud to promote that effort. At a time when our oceans need us the most, people across the world are getting more engaged with ocean issues. We are glad to share the following events with you and hope that you will keep checking back for more as events are finalized. More to come soon!


World Oceans Day Film Festival, June 4-12, 2009

As a reminder, we are still accepting submissions of short ocean-related films through the end of May for our World Oceans Day Film Festival. Please email eli@oceanhealth.org for details. Any film of any style with a connection to oceans, coasts, or islands will be considered. We are especially looking for comedy, animated, and action sports films that celebrate the oceans. Stay tuned for a listing of all the venues where we will screen our program of short ocean films. Filmmakers, please contact us about how to submit your film. Submission is free and online submissions are encouraged.


June 7th, World Oceans Day Beach Cleanup at Ocean Beach in San Francisco

Please RSVP to help us have a head count: http://tinyurl.com/WODoceanbeach or by email to eli@oceanhealth.org. This is a free event!

We expect a big turnout this year and are excited for you to join us. Please join the hundreds of Bay Area residents that are expected to turn out to rid Ocean Beach of marine debris, which diminishes our beach experience and poses a threat to wildlife and ocean ecosystems. What better way to celebrate the oceans that give us so much than by helping make it cleaner?

Judah Street and Great Highway
San Francisco, CA 94122


View Larger Map

9:30am-10:00am Registration and Orientation
10:00am-12:00pm Beach Cleanup
12:00pm Wrap up and thank you!

Please join us at the Judah Street entrance to Ocean Beach in San Francisco. You can reach the location by the MUNI N Judah line or check 511.org for public transportation from your area. Biking is highly recommended. Carpooling is requested of those who must drive.

Gloves and bags are provided for the event, but you are welcome to bring your own work gloves or reusable bag for picking up marine debris along Ocean Beach.

Participants should dress in clothing appropriate for variable weather conditions at Ocean Beach. Weather can differ even from other locations in San Francisco so dressing in layers and checking the current weather conditions is important. Rain gear could be brought as a precaution.

Strong rain or severe weather cancels, but please call 415-342-7497 to confirm if you have any questions on June 7.


June 8th, World Oceans Day Film Festival
Montara Lighthouse, 16th Street and Cabrillo Highway, Montara, CA

Please RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/WODmontara or by email to eli@oceanhealth.org. Please be sure to RSVP because there is a 50 person maximum for attending this event.

Please join OceanHealth.Org for World Oceans Day. To celebrate, we'll be screening short ocean films. We hope that you'll join us in this great location to share our love of the oceans and to view a variety of films showing perspectives on the ocean.

Event is free if you RSVP, but $8 donation for World Oceans Day is appreciated and will help support local ocean nonprofits.

6:30-7pm Reception
7-8:30pm Films
8:30-9pm Discussion


View Larger Map

If you can, please take public transportation or carpool because there is limited parking.

Public transportation: From The Daly City BART station take the Samtrans 110 to the Linda Mar park and ride. Transfer to the Samtrans 294 and let the driver know you want to be dropped at the Pt. Montara Lighthouse stop.


Stay Tuned for More Event Announcements! Check out http://www.oceandaysf.org for related events.