11 Ways to Celebrate World Ocean's Day

There are 48 days between Earth Day and World Ocean's Day.

48 days to learn about the land we live on and the water that surrounds us.

48 days to teach ourselves something new and make an effort to change some our of actions, because how we behave and how our behaviors affect every part of the world. From the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, to how we commute, how we watch TV and prepare meals, how long we let the water run before turning it off to conserve. Every action matters.

Earth Day and World Ocean's day inspires us every year, more than just the days marked by the calendar. We love this season where the connection to conservation buzzes about in the news, online, and in our communities. Hope and action is in the air.

The first step towards action is awareness. If we do not know a problem exists, we cannot fix it. If we are unaware of the vast, beautiful, important world of the ocean, we do not care to protect it.

The ocean provides most of the air we breathe, and is a major source of food and medicine for the global population. In 2008, the UN General Assembly designated June 8 as World Oceans Day. This designation encourages awareness of the challenges facing the global community revolving oceans. We cannot afford for ocean to become a barren wasteland.

image via Earth Times

Get involved. Here are 11 ways you can celebrate World Ocean's Day:

1. Learn more about the day and the importance of the ocean. All action starts with awareness.
2. Take shorter showers. Did you know a 5 minute American shower uses more water than someone in the developing world uses all day! Challenge yourself to shave off several seconds of your showers by first timing several of your showers. Set goals to shower in less and less time, soon you'll be shaving a minute, or 2 or 3 in each shower! 
3. Reduce, reuse and recycle because our trash ends up in the ocean!
4. Green your life by eliminating plastic packaging from your purchases and switch to reusable water bottles, grocery bags and even sandwich bags!
5. Sign up for a beach clean up.
6. Check out a thrift store before buying new.
7. Turn the water off while brushing your teeth.
8. Eat less meat. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization estimates meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change worldwide... far more than transportation. Switching from a meat-centered weekly menu to a diet rich in vegetables and grains could save 2,500 liters of water a day! (source)
9. Collect runoff water in your home and garden and reuse. Rain water is perfect for watering plants and water from the shower before the heat turns up is great for making tea or coffee!
10. Eat only sustainably farmed or caught seafood.
11. Tell someone you know about World Ocean's Day and how we can all get involved to protect our oceans and our world.

What do you pledge to do this year?

Sea Turtle Protection Society Saves 80 Turtle Babies!

Something very exciting just happened in Indialantic, Florida in cooperation with the Sea Turtle Preservation Society.

A call came into the pager of one of the volunteers, she was told baby sea turtles were popping out of the nest. The volunteer headed to the scene, with a bucket in tow hoping to save as many of the babies as possible. They succeeded in saving 80 sea turtle babies. During the day the sand is so hot it will fry the babies if they are not picked up right away. They were released that night as during the day it's too hot and too dangerous due to predators.

It takes 1,000 eggs to have one mature sea turtle. So the stranding team works very hard to save as many turtles on the beaches. The Sea Turtle Protection Society periodically gets these kinds of calls. Earlier last week, 5 babies were rescued but we're deceased before they reached the facility. Two weeks prior, 23 babies were rescued then released into the water.

The STPS's mission is simple "to help sea turtles survive". The volunteers are dedicated to sea turtle educating the public about protecting sea turtles, research and rescuing sick and injured sea turtles that arrive on their beaches. They often take advantage of educate the public in the vicinity as they release babies into the water.

The Sea Turtle Protection Society is happy to announce that Brevard Zoo will be opening a rehab center that will save turtles a long trip to another facility and this will save more lives.

Sea turtles are an endangered species.

photos taken by Debbie Livingston

Intricate Hand-Made Bead Embroidered Cuff Bracelets

We are so impressed with this talented artist! Her bracelet designs includes thousands of beads meticulously embroidered to create a 2" wide by 7" long piece of art for your wrist. The intricate beading provides a whole backdrop, playground and home for the Little Critterz and a beautiful setting to enjoy while you wear it.

Karen, the artist chose to use a tree frog because of it's cute colors and bug eyes, and it's ability to frighten predators if disturbed. She uses a mix of green beads to replicate it's rainforest home, using emeralds, jades, chartreuse, and dark red beads to emulate jungle vines.

For her second piece, a sea otter was chosen because of it's playfulness and ability to incorporate the piece situated amidst a sea of waves, whitewash and seaweed.

Both pieces took several days to complete. Beginning by fastening the Little Critterz to a square piece of metal, weaving beads into complex patterns, then attaching the bracelet to a cuff form backed with ultra suede for your comfort.

These pieces are available on her Etsy shop here for the frog and here for the otter, but hurry only 1 of each is available now!

Amazing Animal Profile: Octopus

Many of you may know Octopus as calamari, yet it's talents far exceed a seafood dish. The octopus has several defense mechanisms including, expulsion of ink, deimatic behavior (any pattern of threatening of startling behavior such as suddenly displaying eyespots), ability to jet quickly through the water, ability to hide and camouflage. Check out the octopus blending into the algae! I would never have guessed it was there!

Octopus weigh on average 110 pounds (50kg) and measure 16 feet (5 meters) from the tip of one arm to the tip of the opposite arm. One was recorded at an astonishing 600 pounds (272kg) and measured 30 feet (9.1 meters).  If an octopus looses an arm, it is capable of growing it back.

There are 300 species of octopus. The octopus lives in all of the world's oceans, but most commonly found in tropical and temperate waters. The common octopus is considered to be the most intelligent of all invertebrates. Giant Pacific Octopus are also very intelligent, they can mimick other creatures, open jars and solve mazes in labs.

Octopi can live as little as 6 months, but the average life span is 3-5 years. Reproduction is the main cause of death. Males live only a few months after mating and females die shortly after their eggs hatch. Female octopus fail to eat in the month following the hatch of their eggs, eventually dying of starvation.

For an incredible, short video on octopus camouflage and more miraculous under the sea visuals, watch this TED talk here.