PWF World Ocean Day

A talk with Alicia and Jenny with the Pacific Whale Foundation. Pacific Whale Foundation joins us today to invite residents & community members to be a part of World Oceans Day (an internationally recognized day of service & celebration)

• From fellow ocean conservation organizations in Australia and Italy to Mozambique and beyond, we will unite to share stories, citizen science opportunities, beach cleanups and more that make caring for our oceans an accessible, social and FUN way to spend the most relevant Saturday of summer!
• This year’s theme = TOGETHER WE CAN
• Our citizen science Coastal Marine Debris Monitoring Program has logged tens of thousands of marine debris items to date, allowing us to prioritize targets for our advocacy efforts. Your contribution led to a ban on cigarettes on Maui County beaches, another on plastic shopping bags, polystyrene, and is now leading the movement against single-use plastic waste. Join us at the Kamaole Beach Park III cleanup in Kihei hosted by Surfrider Foundation Maui Chapter, at Pai’a Bay hosted by the County of Maui or at Kahului Harbor to make a difference. Participants will receive great incentives including discounts at Pacific Whale Foundation’s Ocean Store and a chance to win day passes to Maui Ocean Center.  (9-11 AM) 
• RSVP for our FREE World Oceans Day eco adventure. Participants will assist with annual research by conducting a microplastics tow while en route to Olowalu reef where we will clean up reef rubbish. While in the water, snorkelers will collect seawater samples, inspecting for debris and recording data with the assistance of Certified Marine Naturalists onboard Ocean Odyssey. Call 800-942-5311 to RSVP as space is limited.(8:30 - 12:30 AM)
• Keiki are encouraged to celebrate with a special World Oceans Day theme at our award-winning Ocean Camp, including a ‘Pollution Solutions’ art project. How will you help to keep plastic out of the ocean and protect marine animals? Submissions can also be uploaded to our Facebook page using the hashtag and handle #reuseorrefuse @pacificwhalefoundation. One lucky keiki will receive a snorkel trip for 4 or a gift certificate to our online Ocean Store, which offers a huge selection of eco conscious products and alternatives to single use plastics. (All day!)
• Party for the ocean at Maui Brewing Co in Kihei. Join us on the lanai to play, laugh, learn and talk story, where we will present findings from 6 years of marine debris monitoring in Maui Nui. Compete for a cause and the chance to win great prizes with Oceans Day BINGO and a Cornhole tournament, try your hand at up-cycled crafts, visit with eco vendors and learn how you can get involved with PWF’s core Research, Education and Conservation programs. A portion of proceeds from house beer sales will benefit Pacific Whale Foundation. (4-7 PM)
• TODAY we are on day 19 of our 30-day countdown to World Oceans Day; an Instagram challenge that has our social media community creating a new post each day based on a group of keywords we developed relating to World Oceans Day. Want to play along? Check our hashtag #worldoceansdaypwf. 
• Learn more! PACIFICWHALE.ORG/EVENTS
• IMPORTANT: World Oceans Day marks the official kick off date of our ANNUAL CONSERVATION INITIATIVE, the RETHINK campaign! This initiative will provide a full-year of Research, Education and Conservation programming to increase recognition and understanding of the impacts of single-use plastics on our ocean environment and decrease their utilization on a broad scale. (Jenny & Alicia are running this campaign for the next 12 months - ask them all about it!)
• AND ON JUNE 3….Back by popular demand, we will be sharing favorite shorts from our World Whale Film Festival at Paia Bay Coffee on Monday, June 3. Join us with special guests as we present this special movie night featuring Tourism Vs Shark Fishery by Madison Stewart (aka Shark Girl), Finding Away by Spearfishing Champion Kimi Werner, and Trashy Selfie by world champion windsurfer Sarah Hauser and big wave surfer Paige Alms. Choose your screening, films start at 6:00pm and again at 7:30pm. 10% of food and beverage sales including the featured cocktail ‘Ocean Breach’ will support Research, Education and Conservation programs led by Pacific Whale Foundation in our mission to protect the ocean through science and advocacy and to inspire environmental stewardship.
• PWF = (808) 249-8811; pacific whale.org; Facebook.com/pacificwhalefoundation; Instagram.com/pacificwhalefoundation