Tuesday 8 June is World Oceans Day. This year’s theme is ‘Life and Livelihoods’, reflecting the importance of oceans for culture and economies around the world.
Oceans cover more than 70% of the planet, produce at least 50% of the world's oxygen, and absorb about 30% of carbon dioxide produced by humans.
As a coastal city, the sea is part of people’s everyday life in Brighton & Hove. With fish populations declining and marine life being depleted by warming climate and plastic waste, it is more important than ever to manage resources sustainably and restore ecosystems.
Here are 10 things about the sea and local marine environment, together with some ways you can help protect it.
- There are nine Marine Conservation Zones in Sussex, covering 22% of the Sussex seas.
- One in two marine turtles have eaten plastic and 90% of seabirds have plastic in their stomachs (Source: WWF Fight Plastic Pollution)
- Take litter home from the beach; organise a beach clean
- Learn about the ocean from the Ocean Blues website
- We have two species of seahorse in Sussex: the short-snouted seahorse and long-snouted or spiny seahorse
- Join the Sussex Dolphin Project
- Underwater forests of giant seaweed, known as kelp, are one of the most biodiverse on the planet and lock up vast amounts of carbon. The Help Our Kelp project is working to restore these forests along the Sussex coast and a new byelaw prohibits trawling in areas along the Sussex coast closest to the shore, allowing habitats like kelp forests to regenerate
- Sussex eel stocks have fallen by over 90%
- Get involved with The Living Coast and The Living Seas
- Five tips to help save our oceans
Brighton & Hove City Council has signed up to the Greater Brighton GB10 pledges for the environment and to tackle the climate and biodiversity emergency. Pledge one is to re-introduce a 10-mile kelp forest off the coast of Sussex.
