Sound Environment

By Michael Graca, Buzzards Bay Coalition Communications Director The historic, seaside village of Onset, MA will be teeming with sails this summer with the opening of the Onset Bay Center, a hub for on-the-water exploration for children and adults that is operated by the Buzzards Bay Coalition, a membership-supported non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration, protection, and sustainable use and enjoyment of Buzzards Bay and its watershed. Sailing, kayaking and paddling, swimming and coastal exploration will be…

By Jamie Rhodes, Clean Ocean Access Shrink Wrap Consultant   If you drove behind the Clean Ocean Access offices in Middletown, Rhode Island over the past six months, the towering mountain of white plastic shrink wrap has been hard to miss. In recent weeks, the skyscraping pile transformed into more than fifty packed bags holding up to 350 pounds each and strapped to some old wooden pallets. This has all been in preparation of sending this plastic…

By Hailey Simpson, Coastal Engineer Living shorelines are starting to become the talk of the town for many coastal communities that want to increase the resiliency of their shoreline. By using a naturalistic approach, living shorelines create a more durable and sustainable coast for both people and coastal resources. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) defines a living shoreline as a “protected, stabilized coastal edge made of natural materials such as plants, sand or rock. Unlike…

By Laura McMillan Director of Communications, Connecticut Fund for the Environment/Save the Sound     The International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) is an initiative that was launched more than 30 years ago by the Ocean Conservancy. Save the Sound (a program of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment) has been the Connecticut coordinator since 2002. Since then, ICC weekend has grown from 18 to 42 cleanup events, and volunteers tirelessly cleaned over 500 beaches! In 2019, Save the…

By Bryan Vorbach, Associate Veterinarian, South Carolina Aquarium   Sea turtles are some of the most beloved species to inhabit the planet’s oceans. Unfortunately, due to people, they are also some of the most threatened with extinction. Of the seven species currently alive today, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists three species as vulnerable to extinction, one as endangered, and two critically endangered. Nearly every threat facing sea turtles is caused by human activity….

By Megan Dear   Plum Island is an ecological and historical centerpiece to the animals – including humans – and plants that depend on it. Even though the island is only 840 acres, it has a huge impact on marine and terrestrial wildlife because of its history of being mostly untouched by humans. The flora and fauna native to the island were able to grow and prosper without being subjected to habitat fragmentation, deforestation, and pollution that…

Our friends at 11th Hour Racing, a Newport, RI-based organization that establishes strategic partnerships within the sailing and maritime communities to promote collaborative, systemic change benefitting the health of our ocean, have announced three new grantees within its Ambassador Program. The 11th Hour Racing Ambassador Program comprises a community of marine industry professionals committed to ocean health, and representing many sections of the sport of sailing.   The East Bay Sailing Foundation was chosen by Ambassador John Mollicone, the…

By Amber Stronk, Communications Manager at Sailors for the Sea powered by Oceana With over 12 million registered boats in the U.S. alone, many of these sailors and boaters see firsthand the issues that our oceans face such as plastic pollution, oil spills and marine habitat destruction. Sailors for the Sea is mobilizing engaged conservationists within the sailing and boating community who are collectively taking action to address pressing ocean health issues. Our Green Boating initiative provides…

By Monica Pepe, Whale and Dolphin Conservation I recently attended a two-day workshop on Long Island on offshore wind development projects. You could say I was “blown away” (I’m a sucker for a good pun) by the number of people involved in the workshop – over 180! While we were primarily focusing on the wind farms planned for development off the coast of New York, there was a broad range of stakeholders in attendance. Most of the…

Mount Gay, the makers of the world’s oldest rum, is supporting Oceana, the largest international organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation, with the launch More Taste, Less Waste, a collaborative Mount Gay Rum x Oceana pledge campaign that promotes the reduction of single-use plastics as a means to advocate for the reduction of plastic use. Committed to lessening the impact of plastics while enjoying the ultra-premium rum, Mount Gay and Oceana are encouraging customers to take a…