World Oceans Day: Call to swim for our oceans
|Published
Durban — According to the United Nations 90% of big fish populations have depleted, and 50% of coral reefs destroyed.
June 8 marks World Oceans Day where everyone has been called to do more to protect our oceans by creating a new balance with the ocean that no longer depletes its bounty but instead restores its vibrancy and brings it new life.
Durban former international swimmer Sarah Ferguson best known as a record-breaking endurance swimmer is calling on fellow ocean swimmers to join her at the World Ocean Day Swim at the Durban Beach Club.
She explained that her motivation for organising the World Ocean Day Swim on June 8 is way more important than "just" providing a quality sports event in Durban for her fellow swimmers.
“The swim is really for ocean lovers to have an event that is going to create awareness for plastic pollution. As a swimmer, I want to raise awareness for my sport, but I also want to offer a swim in honour of World Ocean Day, and so help create awareness about why we should protect the oceans,” she said.
Ferguson has conquered some of the world's most daunting endurance swims, but the motivation for the June 8 event is part of what she believes is a much bigger competition to beat plastic pollution.
The event offers swimmers the option of distances ranging from 800m, through the traditional Mile or 1.6km, up to a testing 3.2km and the even longer 5km distance.
All proceeds from the event will go to Breathe Conservation, Ferguson's South African-based non-profit marine conservation organisation that focuses on reducing and eliminating single-use plastics.
“This is an opportunity to showcase our beautiful ocean, but more than ever it is a way to highlight why it is so important to protect it. The ocean is faced with so many challenges, especially in Durban with the sewerage, with the floods, with plastic pollution, and with marine life getting caught in the fishing nets and the shark nets,” said Ferguson.
The Breathe Conservation motto of "Live Deeply, Tread Lightly” aims to inspire future generations to reconnect with nature by providing education resources and running monthly beach and reef clean-ups, amongst other events – such as the World Ocean Day Swim.
Entries for the World Ocean Day Swim are at roag.org and more information about Breathe can be found at breatheconservation.org
More information about Breathe can be found at breathe conservation.org.
“It is really valuable to have something like World Oceans Day, which is a global day that recognises the Oceans and recognises the importance of it in our lives, and be able to coordinate with that,” said Ferguson.
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