Oceana, the largest international advocacy group dedicated solely to ocean conservation, is strategically stationed in coastal communities around the world. It is probably working to protect the waters that lap the shores of your favorite beach.
The nonprofit launched in 2001 after a group of leading foundations discovered that less than 0.5 percent of all resources spent by environmental nonprofit groups in the United States went to ocean advocacy. Today, the group works to implement laser-focused, science-based policy changes worldwide. In the United States, their focus is primarily on federal laws, but they also work on state and local legislation and campaign to change policies at major corporations.
“We build people-power to influence decision-makers to help us win campaigns and pass laws to protect our communities and oceans,” said Hunter Miller, campaigns manager for Oceana's field team in the Southeast U.S.
Miller, based in St. Augustine, Florida, said one of Oceana's main focuses is passing federal legislation to address the plastic pollution crisis, which has extreme adverse effects on oceans, beaches, and human health around the world. They have found that the most effective method for addressing this issue is passing policies that limit the production and use of single-use plastic.
Current proposed federal policy changes include banning plastic foam food containers, loose-fill foam, and single-use foam coolers nationwide. They are also having success passing policies like this at the local and state levels.
What Goes Up Must Come Down
Most recently, this past spring, Miller's team helped pass legislation in Florida banning the intentional release of balloons. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
“Balloons and ribbons attached to them are problematic because they're one of the deadliest forms of plastic pollution,” Miller said. Once deflated, balloons and their plastic ribbons can look remarkably like a food source, such as a jellyfish, which is one of sea turtles' favorite foods. Once swallowed, they can be deadly.
Before this bill, people in Florida were allowed to release up to ten balloons a day. The balloons can travel hundreds of miles and end up in oceans or other bodies of water.
Miller and his team heard about the problem from various people on the ground—those patrolling for sea turtle nests, offshore fishermen and shrimpers, and even duck hunting guides inland in the Everglades. “Balloons were one of the most common things people were pulling out; they're really pervasive,” he said. “Sometimes it can be a mistake, but oftentimes people just don't know or don't realize when you release ten balloons, you could be fatally injuring an endangered species. What goes up must come down.”
Miller said the balloon bill was a prime example of the type of work Oceana does: identifying a problem that threatens oceans and working with a diverse group of stakeholders to find a solution and change laws.
Crystal Clear, and Keeping It That Way
Some of Oceana's other wins in the Southeast include influencing the passage of a ten-year ban on offshore drilling off Florida's Gulf Coast and in the Atlantic Ocean up to North Carolina.
“Just a few years ago, Florida's Gulf Coast, the entire Atlantic Coast, the Pacific Coast, and parts of the Arctic were offered up for potentially expanding offshore drilling,” Miller said. “Especially here in Florida, our beaches and healthy and abundant oceans and coastlines are critical to our economy.” The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, which happened off the coast of Louisiana but threatened Florida's economy, was still fresh on people's minds.
“There was a concerted effort to oppose that expansion, and with the help of our partners and bipartisan support in Congress, we were able to stop that.”
Miller said aerial satellite images of the Gulf of Mexico show black dots of oil and gas infrastructure everywhere in the central and western Gulf, and thousands of miles of pipelines are buried underneath. “If you look at the eastern Gulf, it's just this crystal-clear blue, vast space. And we want to keep it that way,” Miller said. “We don't want that infrastructure and that risk of oil spills to be coming closer to our state.”
Gentle Currents, Greater Conservation
Oceana also focuses on policies directly impacting specific endangered species.
Only about 350 North Atlantic right whales exist, and they spend most of their lives in the frigid waters off the coast of Canada. But every fall and spring, the mothers make an incredible migratory journey down the eastern shore of the United States to birth their calves in the waters off Southern Georgia and Northeast Florida.
“With so few left, they certainly are at risk of going extinct in our lifetime,” Miller said. They face two main threats: getting entangled in roped fishing gear, like lobster traps, mainly in the Northeast United States, and being struck by ships and big boats.
The right whale population is so small that it is observed very closely by scientists and advocates. When a new calf is born, it is a huge celebration. One of the calves born earlier this year died after being hit in the face with a boat's propeller. “It was completely heartbreaking,” Miller said. “And it's a huge blow for the species.”
Oceana is working to build support for and to implement a federal rule that would slow vessels down in areas where scientists know right whales are present. Miller likened it to how cars slow down in school zones.
Some fishermen and shipping companies are opposing the rule because they want to get to their destinations as fast as possible, but Miller said others are fine with the rules. “For us, if we want to save this species from extinction, these rules are reasonable, and they'll help us do that.”
Horizons of Hope and Change
Miller said his team was impressed with the broad-based bipartisan support the balloon bill received in Florida. Once it was in committee, it moved quickly through the branches to approval. Following that momentum, Miller and his team are working with stakeholders to develop additional state legislation that will directly impact the amount of plastics ending up in the ocean.
“We are looking for ways to reduce plastic pollution at the source versus just doing endless cleanups.”
“We know that cleanups and individuals bringing their own reusable water bottles will not be enough to solve that problem,” Miller said. “We need to be looking for solutions in our individual lives but also for businesses, and certainly, the government at every level needs to play a role. We can't keep passing the buck on to one group. We all have to chip in to adequately address the problem of this magnitude that is plastic pollution.”
To learn more, visit oceana.org.
Story by Lauren Sage Reinlie. Photos courtesy of Oceana. Beach Happy Magazine, Summer 2024.
