It’s something we all fear — what if we could never jump into the ocean and ride waves again? That’s exactly the picture painted by a recent article on The Inertia, “The Oceans Could Be Dead by the Year 2048,” and let me tell you: the idea that our oceans could be gone for good is beyond alarming. Is nobody paying attention? Have we not heard the saying a million times from our friend Captain Paul Watson, “If the ocean dies, we die!” From what I can tell this is becoming more and more of a reality every day. We continue to allow companies to ravage the ocean with commercial fishing, sonar testing, oil exploration and irresponsible waste dumping. Because of this, the coastlines are littered with trash, beach closures are becoming more and more common place, and our marine life is suffering.

With the way things are going chances are pretty good our children may soon not be able to surf at all. I’m not sure about all of you, but there is absolutely no way I am going to sit on the sidelines and watch this go down without a fight.

By now you’re probably asking yourself, what can I do about it? Isn’t it too late? Short answer is: no! It’s definitely not, and after some research and careful consideration we have created a list of just three steps you can implement today to ensure this never happens!

Vote!

As wave riders/ocean lovers it is our duty to pay attention to what is happening in our coastal communities. Chances are there are corporations or businesses in your area that are pushing the limits to save a buck at the expense of our environment. It’s our job to make sure that does not happen! So pay attention to what’s on the ballot and not only get out and vote but also educate your friends and family and encourage them to do the same. Below we have listed some links to current acts being discussed regarding water quality, overfishing and marine protected areas. Be sure to check them out and also feel free to discuss them with your local non-profits to see how you can help your community. A couple initiatives I’ve payed attention to are the Restore Beach Act and Restore Clean Water Act.


Get Involved!

Beach Cleanups, Surfing Clinics, Marine Animal Education, the list goes on of all the different ways you and your grom can get involved. All you need to do to participate in any of these activities is find a local non-profit organization working to help your favorite break and let them know you’re at their service -it’s that easy! Whether you grab a bag, some gloves and start cleaning. You can teach some groms to surf and what it looks like to protect our ocean/ marine life. Every little bit adds up, and with an army of involved wave riders it’s only a matter of time before the situation starts to improve.

Share the Love and Support!

Let people know why you LOVE the beach and why it is important to YOU that we all protect our coastlines. For us, it is ridiculously obvious that our beaches need help. But for people who don’t frequent the coast they are not always aware of the issues and problems we face. It is our job to inform them. If we let them know how passionate we are about our sport and the environment than maybe, just maybe, we can influence some of their actions to help us out. Support your local surf shop or non profit organizations that are helping with these issues. Your dollar spent is like a vote for cleaner oceans! So pay attention and make your purchase work for you.

There it is — three easy to implement steps that will definitely help ensure our future generations of wave riders will have nice clean waters to surf and swim. Do you have any other ideas? Please comment below with what you are doing and please feel free to reach out if you need help finding a group to work with in your area.