Head out a mile or two on the Pacific, by boat, by paddleboard, or by another water-ready conveyance, and you're going to be massively, indubitably gull'd, and probably seal'd and sea-lion'd, too.
What you're not going to see, most probably, unless your cetacean-based luck is incredibly high, is a vaquita. In fact, there are just over a couple dozen of these small porpoises around, and we don't mean off the coast of California, but on this planet.
The vaquita's urgent plight, as well as the lives of all of the ocean's denizens, gargantuan and bitty, and the state of the Big Water itself, all weave through World Ocean Day, which is on Thursday, June 8.
How to observe the important occasion, which calls upon landlubbers to ponder the overall health of our ocean, to celebrate it, to learn more, and to take action? We can, of course, make for the beach here in Southern California, for some deep-of-mind meditation on the issues, and a little splashing about, too, if that's our want.
But for specific activities related to World Ocean Day, you can splash over to the Aquarium of the Pacific, in Long Beach, where visitors "...can learn about climate change, ocean pollution, and other ocean issues by viewing films and shows and exploring exhibits."
There's a lot of exploring to do, as the aquarium reveals that the water covering this little hunk of space rock "...remains 90 percent unexplored."
We generally know this fact, but, still, that calls for a wowee. So: wowee.
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And surely, from school, you remember how much H2O covers this earthly sphere: Some 70 percent, which, yes, is incredibly sizable, which, yes, means that gently and consistently putting our hand against the ocean's forehead, to see how it's feeling, is a positive, must-do step to be taken on behalf of all living beings.
If you can't make the Long Beach-based institution, you can join a beach clean-up on June 8 or down the road, soon, near you. Need ideas as to where and when? Start here, at World Oceans Day headquarters.
Yes, in some places the day goes by "Ocean" and in others "Oceans," but it all leads back to the same spot: Loving the big, briny expanse and all of its treasures, not of the sunken assortment, but those rocking gills and fins and blowholes and blubber. And, of course, the water, too, a true treasure of colossal proportions.
