Today is World Oceans Day and this year’s theme is: “The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods”

We live on a blue planet, covered in water filling 70% of our earth. Oceans alone produce half of all the oxygen we need to breathe and not only that, they are rife with biodiversity and a food source for millions. Like most of earth’s great treasures though, they are in great peril.

I live in Sydney, but grew up and lived next to the Atlantic Ocean for almost my entire life. While New York’s beaches may not be as glamorous as Sydney’s (although they are just as cold!) - the ocean has always been an undeniably magical part of my life.

One of my favorite things to do at the beach when I was little was to dig a hole in the sand deep enough to get to water. It should amaze us all that water lies beneath us, all around us and is always present in our lives and earth. Quite literally, it’s the story just beneath the surface.

But perhaps it’s beneath the surface and we can’t peer into the water as easily as we can look across air that its story can be ignored. A world lives just under the surface of any ocean, teeming with wildlife crucial for our planet to survive.

This World Oceans Day is the perfect time to take a stand for our oceans. A summit in October will vote on an action to protect 30% of oceans by 2030. Only 7% are currently protected. Celebrate today by signing the 30x30 Petition showing world leaders the ocean matters at this link