World Ocean Day 2025 is year two in a multi-year action theme: Catalyzing Action for Our Ocean & Climate. Many students from Dee’s Video Storytelling class have been inspired by the ocean and featured them in their videos.
Favorite ocean-themed videos
🌊Our global mean sea level has been rising as far back as the 19th century. Sea level rise impacts humans and wildlife alike. Visit www.un.org to find out how you can support efforts in reducing sea level rise.
Student: Noe Vargas
Quarter: Spring 2023
🌊 This year’s World Ocean Day theme this year is “One Ocean. One Climate. One Future.” One of Dee’s BIOL 305 students, Giovanna Esquivel, created this powerful PSA reminding us how our actions impact our world. Whether you’ve never been to the ocean or you go every day, what we use on land like plastics and fertilizer that we use end up in the ocean. Visit oceana.org to learn how to protect our oceans.
Student: Giovanna Esquivel
Quarter: Spring 2024
🪸 The underwater life of the Hawaiian Islands relies on the ever present coral reefs to survive. From tiny zooplankton to manta rays, coral reefs provide shelter and food for all types of wildlife.
Student: Taylor Sekizaki
Quarter: Spring 2015
Latest research about our oceans
Scientists at the Center have written many articles about our impacts on the ocean. Make sure to check out:
Ship collision risk threatens whales across the world’s oceans
Ship collisions continue to negatively affect whale populations despite mitigation measures being in place. Through species distribution models and shipping data the authors clearly show that the problem is a global one, and calls for a global response.
Males miss and females forgo: Auditory masking from vessel noise impairs foraging efficiency and success in killer whales
On top of ship collisions, ships make too much noise for species that rely on ecolocation to forage. Reducing speeds and increasing distances between vessels and whales are some of the mitigating actions we can take to decrease the noise humans make in the seascape.
Changing course: Relocating commercial tanker lanes significantly reduces threat of chronic oiling for a top marine predator
For once, a paper with a happy ending! Find out how our research and advocacy helped penguins in Patagonia.
No matter how you choose to celebrate World Ocean Day, we hope you fill it with wonderment and curiosity about our oceans.
