Pollution is harmful to the planet, and our oceans are especially vulnerable.
Organizations fighting ocean pollution like Ocean Conservancy work every day to prevent pollution from affecting marine life. If you want to help out, there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer and get your hands dirty! They’ve got a variety of programs that help keep our oceans clean, so take a look today!
You don’t have to wait for someone else to stop pollution and clean the oceans. You can do something about it with just one small donation or by giving your time volunteering. Let’s protect our water together!
“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.”
— Robert Swan
List of Organizations Fighting Ocean Pollution
The following organizations are working to combat ocean pollution and make a huge difference for our planet:
1. Ocean Conservancy
In 1972 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., Ocean Conservancy is one of the prominent organizations fighting ocean pollution striving to safeguard marine habitats, restore sustainable fisheries, and lessen the human influence on ocean ecosystems.
To sustain our oceans, the organization works on educating the public and lobbying for legislative reforms that will preserve thriving marine life. The International Coastal Cleanup program, which Ocean Conservancy has been conducting for over 30 years, brings together millions of volunteers to clean beaches worldwide.
2. Surfrider Foundation
Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit environmental group that works to protect beaches and oceans worldwide. The is one of the California-based organizations fighting ocean pollution focusing on water quality, plastic pollution, beach access, coastal preservation, and keeping marine and coastal ecosystems healthy. They are aware of the problems that pollution, offshore development, and climate change pose to the ocean.
The group says that its volunteers test the ocean water all year long to make sure that the public knows how clean the water is where they live. Under its Ocean Friendly Gardens program, they also create gardens and landscapes that collect floodwater before it gets to the ocean.
3. Oceana
Oceana is the most prominent marine conservation group globally, and it is also the largest organization of its kind. The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Oak Foundation, the Marisla Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund contributed to its establishment in 2001. Since its inception, Oceana has successfully secured hundreds of tangible policy victories for marine species and the environments in which they live.
Oceana is actively involved in attempts to halt fundamental causes of ocean pollution, such as oil, mercury, aquaculture, and shipping emissions. These activities are a component of the organization’s campaigns. In addition to that, the group works to conserve endangered areas in the seas. Some of these areas include the Arctic, the Aleutian Islands, the Mediterranean, and the Juan Fernandez Islands in Chile.
4. Coral Reef Alliance
The Coral Reef Alliance collaborates with communities worldwide to address coral reef conservation issues. Through a partnership with fishers, government officials, divers, and scientists, the group implements global conservation projects that promote coral reef health and resilience. The majority of the effort is conducted in four of the world’s most crucial reef regions: Fiji, Hawaii, Indonesia, and the Mesoamerican Region.
Globally, CORAL is bringing a new age of reef conservation that improves coral adaptability to a changing environment and enhances scientific knowledge of coral conservation.
“The oceans are the planet’s last great living wilderness, man’s only remaining frontier on Earth, and perhaps his last chance to prove himself a rational species.”
— John L. Culliney
5. Lonely Whale Foundation
The Lonely Whale Foundation was founded by actor Adrian Grenier and co-founder Lucy Sumner to raise awareness about ocean health and the welfare of marine species. The Foundation has launched the #StopSucking campaign to create awareness about the effects of single-use plastic straws in the ocean and encourage them to refrain from using them.
6. World Wildlife Fund
The Globe Wildlife Fund is yet another of the most important organizations fighting ocean pollution globally. It is functional in one hundred different nations, and it has over one million representatives in the United States and close to five million members all over the world. The distinctive approach that WWF takes to its work calls for action at every level, from the local to the global; and it guarantees the delivery of new solutions that satisfy the requirements of both people and nature.
“The oceans deserve our respect and care, but you have to know something before you can care about it.”
— Sylvia Earle
Working with fishers, fishing companies, and scientists worldwide to understand and meet sustainability standards is one of the top priorities of the WWF in the field of marine conservation. Another top priority is working with organizations from around the world to increase the extent of mangrove cover around the world by 20 percent by the year 2030. Finally, one of the top priorities is protecting the Arctic by advancing climate-smart, sustainable development, and safeguarding permanent protection for environmentally sensitive areas.
7. Surfers Against Sewage
SAS is one of the marine conservation organizations fighting ocean pollution in the United Kingdom that works to safeguard the ocean, beaches, and marine life. A group of surfers in Cornwall who had a passion for the sea founded the cause. Established in 1990 as a national campaign for improved water quality against sewage, the charity has now expanded its assistance to cover a wide variety of concerns about the coastlines of the United Kingdom. They want everyone to enjoy the water in a responsible and risk-free manner.
Since 1990, SAS has successfully generated funds for various programs that are intended to assist surfers and everyone who loves the ocean. They have been at the lead edge of the fight against plastic in more recent times. The Surfrider Foundation has organized beach cleanups around the country and has started a petition drive to get a deposit return system for single-use plastics implemented.
The Society for the Advancement of Social Action (SAS) can generate revenue by hosting community events and campaigns, selling items, donations from individuals and corporations, grant-making organizations, and sponsoring project fundraising activities by supporters.
8. Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is one of the most important marine organizations fighting ocean pollution; they’re established in Washington and take direct action to rescue the ocean.
Today, they have thousands of “Sea Shepherds” battling against ocean pollution in over 40 nations. They supply ships, equipment, technical expertise, and consultancy to a wide range of partners worldwide, including local communities and governments. They have effectively halted the devastation of the ocean environment in numerous nations, including Benin, Gabon, Indonesia, Italy, and Mexico, and assisted hundreds of arrests, the seizure of dozens of poaching vessels, and the collection of thousands of illegal nets.
“The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination, and brings eternal joy to the soul.”
— Wyland
9. Natural Resources Defense Council
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is another of the most famous international non-governmental organizations fighting ocean pollution (NGO) that advocates for environmental protection and works to protect the planet, its inhabitants, plants, animals, and the natural ecosystems essential to all life.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which has its headquarters in New York City and operates with the support of more than three million members and online activists, as well as approximately 700 scientists, policy advocates, and lawyers located in various parts of the world, works to protect oceans from being exploited and polluted. They advocate for the passage and enforcement of laws that protect marine life and take the appropriate measures to maintain oceans by prohibiting destructive fishing practices and protecting coastal areas from offshore destruction. They also encourage accepting and adopting laws that can save aquatic wildlife.
10. SeaLegacy
Project AWARE is a global NGO and ocean preservation campaign backed by an adventurous community. They witness “firsthand how swiftly overfishing and pollution may transform aquatic life, causing irreparable harm to ecosystems vital to marine health.”
They implement local and global changes for the ocean and its dependent populations to address these difficulties. Their local initiatives seek to save the most endangered marine species and reduce pollution. The devoted staff at Project AWARE works to push policy change and engage a network of volunteers to drive their conservation efforts.
Author’s Note
In conclusion, the ocean will always be a vast, dynamic, and ever-changing system. The responsibility of nature watchers and conservationists to secure its protection is long since past due, and they can no longer afford to watch from the sidelines.
With increased awareness, combined with proper actions taken by organizations fighting ocean pollution and all the nature watchers who carry out the workday in and day out, we can ensure that the ocean will always be a healthy environment for years to come.
If you’re interested, you can explore the world’s ten most and least polluted countries, eight worst polluted beaches, and worst polluted cities, and learn how to reduce them.
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