One cold dreary evening, much like today, I was searching through YouTube and came across a documentary called "Around the Americas." It was an hour long program about four sailors who traveled from Seattle, through the Northwest Passage, down the eastern seaboard, around Cape Horn then back to up the west coast to Seattle. Their mission: To raise awareness of ocean health issues.
There is not a day that goes by that our local news doesn’t contain a story about the health of the Chesapeake Bay. One look at the murky, brownish gray water and you know that they bay is sick. Groups such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) strive everyday to help restore and preserve the health of our local treasure. The Around the Americas campaign goal had the same vision as CBF but on a much larger scale.
The 64’ steel cutter sailboat named Ocean Watch carried four full time sailors and played host to scientists and educators throughout the 28,000 mile journey. They witnessed collapsing fishing villages, melting polar ice caps and dying coral reefs. This hour long documentary has breathtaking scenery through the Northwest Passage and nail biting sailing adventure as they traveled around the infamous Cape Horn. Even with all that beauty and adventure I was left with a pit in my stomach when they showed the man-made waste that was floating in the harbors and in the middle of the ocean.
Here in Baltimore we have seen what the Inner Harbor looks like after a heavy rain. Bottles, plastic bags, paper and wood are all floating on the surface of the oil filmed water. Now imagine that same scene in the middle of the ocean, hundreds of miles away from the nearest port. Our tributaries eventually lead out to the Atlantic Ocean. When an empty cup gets thrown on the ground, if it doesn’t get caught in a storm drain, it will eventually wash out to sea. Ocean Watch found that debris field and it just made them sick.
You owe it to yourself to watch the "Around the Americas" documentary. If nothing else it will remind you how beautiful our aquatic treasures are and hopefully make you think twice before throwing trash on the ground instead of a waste can.
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