Clearwater Marine Aquarium Interview
Hi all! I mentioned previously that I scored an awesome interview with Anna Williams, a member of the Education team at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Let's dive right in! Here's what we learned from this fantastic organization located in Clearwater, Florida.
Emma Pearson: [Sea the Change] is extremely passionate about the ocean, and we want to do anything we can to make an impact. What, do you think, is the most important thing that we as an organization can do?
Anna Williams: One of the most important things that you can do as an aspiring [organization] is to keep yourself informed, and to utilize that information. As scientists, our information is continuously being challenged by the outside world. If you keep yourself up-to-date on information about how the world is developing, you can help to inform others.
Emma Pearson: What do you think is the most important things kids can do to help the ocean?
Anna Williams: I personally believe that the best thing to get kids involved in is recycling. It is important to establish early on in life a desire to keep our environments clean, to develop an understanding of how things break down, and to learn the repercussions of not disposing of items properly. It is important that they understand where the garbage that they throw away ends up, and how a lot of it goes into the ocean(Great Pacific Garbage Patch). Visiting rescue facilities and seeing first-hand how humans can effect marine life is a great visual representation.
Emma Pearson: Part of your mission statement is to educate the public, not only about your program, but about ocean conservation in general. What are key concepts of that education piece, and do you use any unique tactics that you feel are especially successful?
Anna Williams: The main way we educate the public about ocean conservation is through physical representation. We film every animal as they come into our facility, their journey, treatments, and hopeful release. These videos are shared with the world t show the impact that humans have on marine life, from fishing line entanglements, to swallowing fish hooks, to boat strikes. Humans have a tendency to sympathize more with a topic when they can see up close the effect that it has. Allowing humans to see their journey reminds them that they are a living, breathing creature that needs our respect and help.
Emma Pearson: Because Sea the Change originates in a landlocked state, we are curious if you use a different approach to convey your message for people living on the coast versus people in landlocked states.
Anna Williams: As I mentioned, videos are a great way to get the message out. In our immediate area we do go to a lot of events where we educate the public about protecting marine life. This is especially important during turtle nesting season(May-October), as we have a great deal more boat activity, fishing line in the water, and beachgoers. There are fishing line recycling containers at local piers - this way the discarded line can be collected and recycled, as opposed to going to a dump where an animal could possibly pick it up.
It was really neat to be able to hear from Ms. Williams about what she does as part of the Education team. She also sent a really inspiring video that gives you an inside look at what volunteers and staff do at the aquarium to help conserve the ocean and educate the public. You can view it here.
The video above describes the Clearwater Marine Aquarium's overall mission. You can learn even more about there organization here.
From everyone at Sea the Change, we hope you have a wonderful weekend!
