Tuesday 14 June 2016

Ed the Bear shares his One Ocean message at Adur World Oceans Day

Ed the Bear took part in Adur World Oceans Day again this year. 
The display stand had been updated to include Ed the Bears travels since last year. 
All the flags in the marquee have been put up because its the Queens Birthday.

The display included information about why the oceans are so important, such as how 50% of the oxygen we breathe comes from the ocean, 15% of the food we eat, new medicines etc.
The display also highlighted the threats to the oceans and marine wildlife and also showed people Ed the Bear had met on his travels and some of the fascinating projects he had helped with, such as recuing sea turtles and restoring a damaged coral reef.
There are also a demonstration about the dangers of Ocean Acidification.
And also an activity to learn about plastics in the ocean. The children had to get as much food (rice) without catching the plastic (red lentils). A plastic bottle filled with water and bits of plastic illustrated how plastic pollutes the entire water column.
This year we also brought a small aquarium tank with some rock pool animals.
A USB microscope cam showed the animals close up and in detail on a TV monitor.
This included shore crabs
Sea anemones
A live cockle
And my favourite, barnacles.
Ed also looked around the other exhibits which included a stand by Friends of Shoreham Beach - from the beach Ed the Bear comes from.
The display had pictures of the rare vegetated shingle plants and wildlife. There was also a display about plastic pollution.
There was also a display of local marine life in aquarium display tanks.


Ed the bear came eye to eye with some live lobsters and edible crabs.


Other displays included the brackish Wide Water lagoon, a mixture of salt and freshwater


There were lots of interested visitors, many of them families with children. They were amazed at Ed the Bears travels and saddened by what humans are doing to the ocean.


It was a fantastic day