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MERR celebrates World Oceans Day

June 20, 2019

Marine Education, Research and Rehabilitation Institute celebrated World Oceans Day June 8 in Lewes, beginning with a beach cleanup on Beach Plum Island and Cape Henlopen State Park. Despite the foggy and cool weather, a good crowd turned out to collect trash.

An east wind loaded the beaches with trash. The collected trash was used to create an art project called Trash Talking Turtles for display on the MERR premises. It’s modeled after an original creation by Christina Trapani, owner of Eco Maniac Company. Her eco-friendly alternatives to single-use plastics were also available for sale.

MERR Executive Director Suzanne Thurman said, “This year MERR wanted to focus on changing consumer choices in the fight against plastic in the ocean.” The event explored various ways to help lessen the presence of plastic and its impact on marine life.

A mini film festival ran throughout the day. The day concluded with a screening of “A Plastic Ocean” and a discussion with John Ososky, the Smithsonian Institution’s collection manager of marine mammals, he spoke about early Smithsonian curator Remington Kellogg, who made great scientific advances in the study of living and fossil marine mammals and spent much of his career focused on the conservation of the great whales..

Ososky has worked at the Smithsonian for more than a decade, assisting with the numerous species donated to the museum. Curators gather the specimens during their travels. Ososky transforms the remains into skeletons that museum visitors might see on display at the National Museum of Natural History. 

 

 

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