Swimming in open water. A way to improve mental health
Orca
March 29, 2021
Like so many of us I’ve always loved the water, some of my earliest childhood memories involve splashing about in the waves with my family in Sidmouth...
As lovers of outdoor sports, nature, and especially the ocean, it is in our DNA to take care of the planet we enjoy so much. We understand that it is part of our responsibility as a brand to do everything in our power to protect our environment.
As lovers of outdoor sports, nature, and especially the ocean, it is in our DNA to take care of the planet we enjoy so much. We understand that it is part of our responsibility as a brand to do everything in our power to protect our environment. That is why at Orca we give support and visibility to several initiatives and organizations dedicated to environmental protection, such as the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Whale & Dolphin Conservation, Bruckner Chase & Ocean Positive and Mariah Reading.
GREAT BARRIER REEF FOUNDATION
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is home to a wide variety of corals as well as thousands of marine species, including fish, whales, dolphins and six of the seven existing species of sea turtles. Today this unique ecosystem on our planet is in grave danger.
The reef is under increased stress due to a growing combination of threats, the greatest being climate change. A changing climate and rising water temperature, poorer water quality from sediment runoff and pollution, as well as more severe cyclones are just some of the issues creating this ‘perfect storm’ which puts both the reef and the marine life that depends on it in imminent danger.
The Great Barrier Reef Foundation, created in 1998, fights every day to save the reef by trying to better understand its true condition and the challenges it faces. The GBRF informs and educates people about what needs to be done to address the causes of this problem, advises governments and industry, and raises funds to undertake practical actions, as well as to fund innovative technologies that seek to protect and restore the reef in the next 10 years.
WHALE & DOLPHIN CONSERVATION
In the last few decades, the situation of many cetacean populations has noticeably worsened, mainly as a result of the actions of humans, to the point that several species more than likely face extinction.
For this reason, in 1987 Whale & Dolphin Conservation was founded in the United Kingdom, a non-profit organization whose main objective is to ensure that all dolphins, whales and porpoises - including orcas -are safe and can swim freely in the planet's seas and oceans.
Whale & Dolphin Conservation has positioned itself as the world's leading organization for the protection of these animals, focusing on four areas of action: ending captivity, stopping whaling, creating healthy seas and preventing deaths in nets.
BRUCKNER CHASE & OCEAN POSITIVE
Bruckner Chase founded the Ocean Positive foundation in response to a request from the Government of American Samoa to provide individuals and communities with ocean sports training and education to improve water confidence, safety and knowledge of the challenges and opportunities in their local oceans and open waters.
The foundation’s mission is to positively impact the way we feel, think and act towards our oceans and communities. A cornerstone goal is to ensure that people have safe and positive experiences in any location, from the ocean to the mountains by instilling a philosophy of Respecting the Ocean from both a safety and conservation perspective.
Their ongoing opportunity is to connect and engage people and communities to enable sustainable positive change. They also work to cultivate an innate understanding of the strength and power of the ocean environment that is simultaneously vulnerable to human indifference and actions from land.
MARIAH READING
Mariah Reading is an eco-artist, athlete and a strong advocate for the existence, preservation and accessibility of National Parks. She was born and raised in Bangor, Maine (USA), where the surrounding landscape gave her a deep appreciation of the beauty of nature. As she travels through native lands, she creates impressionist paintings using trash to represent the harms of pollution and climate change.
"I have been contemplating my relationship with art and the vast amount of waste creating can produce. Classically trained as a landscape painter, I pivoted to eco-art when the parallel between painting landscapes and feeding landfills became overwhelmingly apparent. The landscapes that so richly inspired me were being hurt by the waste I created to depict them.
To rectify this unwanted connection, I have developed a zero-waste practice that involves creating canvases from debris found during my travels through National Parks and protected landscape environments. The physical pieces of trash are painted only on one side and intentionally left untouched on the reverse so the original piece of debris remains evident. Once completed, I photograph the painted object aligned with the physical landscape to both obscure and highlight the discarded object."
For these organizations and initiatives, every day is Earth Day. Every day, they fight and work to protect the environment and bring visibility to the different problems we face. For them, every day is an opportunity to do something for our planet. If you want to learn more about their work and how you can collaborate with them, we invite you to visit their websites.
• Great Barrier Reef: https://www.barrierreef.org/
• Whale and Dolphin. https://whales.org/
• Bruckner Chase & Ocean Positive: https://bcoceanpositive.org/
• Mariah Reading: http://www.mariahreadingart.com/
March 29, 2021
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