Love Canada - Love our Oceans

by Jill Smith

Did you know Canada has the longest coastline of any other country in the world?  All the more reason to love our oceans as we love our home and country.

It goes without saying, and it’s obvious - whether you enjoy diving, surfing, or relaxing on the beach, we always clean up after ourselves.  We will continue to explore and appreciate the ocean without interfering with wildlife or removing rocks and coral. 

Here are 2 more ways to love our ocean:

Ocean Wise

1.   Make Safe, Sustainable Seafood Choices

Fish populations in oceans all over the world are being depleted due to demand, loss of habitat, and unsustainable fishing practices.  Don’t support restaurants that serve Shark Fin Soup to help put a stop to the cruel practice of netting and hacking the fins off sharks alive, and tossing their carcasses back in the water.  When you choose seafood that is healthful and sustainable, you help reduce the overexploitation of marine species. 

Helpful tip: There’s an APP for that!

Ocean Wise iPhone App - Ocean Wise is the trusted symbol of ocean-friendly seafood in Canada. The new Ocean Wise app makes it easier than ever to make ocean-friendly seafood choices. It features a searchable, real-time updated seafood database. It also enables you to locate and make reservations at Ocean Wise .

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2.  Plastics - say NO
(whenever you can)

From the bottom of the food chain up, marine life are ingesting plastics in alarming amounts, and the toxins leach into the flesh of seafood that ends up on our dinner plates. Not only that, but marine species are increasingly found dead or injured due to entanglement in our plastic trash. Minimize or eliminate the use of plastic bags, and avoid plastic straws and other plastic products whenever possible.
Read More from Project Aware - committed to the health or our oceans: http://www.projectaware.org/update/plastic-not-so-fantastic-marine-creatures-or-our-diets

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Project AWARE Foundation is a growing movement of scuba divers protecting the ocean planet – one dive at a time.  Project Aware is focusing on 2 major ocean issues - Sharks in Peril and Marine Debris.  Scuba divers are uniquely positioned to directly and positively affect real, long-term change in these areas. 
Every year, Adventure Sports Newmarket Inc. supports Project Aware by dedicating our spring scuba kick-off dive to “Diving Against Debris”, cleaning up the trash that has accumulated over the year.