CBU Celebrates World Oceans Day

June 8 is World Oceans Day, a United Nations-recognized day of ocean celebration and action. This year, CBU will be celebrating World Oceans Day by partnering with Central Cape Breton Community Ventures Inc. for the 4th annual Àros na Mara World Oceans Day Festival. This four day festival, held June 7-10 on the Barra Strait, acknowledges and celebrates on of the province’s greatest indigenous resources, Canada’s Inland Sea – the Bras d’ Or Lake.

The goal of World Oceans Day is to change people’s perspectives on how important our oceans are, and how we can preserve them for future generations. It also serves as a way to educate the world on life below the ocean, and the ways our daily actions affect that ecosystem. World Oceans Day is a celebration; whether you live on the coast or inland, there is no denying the great beauty surrounding us.

“On World Oceans Day, think of the global ocean that connects all the world’s ecosystems, and take action in the local piece of the ocean that touches you in your ecosystem. Cape Breton is an island with an ocean surrounding it and an ocean within it. You have plenty of choices about where to take your stand for future ocean health,” says Bruce Hatcher, Director of the Bras D’or Institute at Cape Breton University.

Cape Bretoners will gather for a weekend of family fun and ocean-themed networking and socializing, where they will be surrounded by historical demonstrations, performance, music and fine dining at many different venues throughout the celebratory weekend. This year’s discussion panel theme is: Beauty, Science, and Eco-tourism at the Barra Strait.

Àros na Mara (Gaelic for House of the Sea) is a flourishing concept to develop a Marine Science Centre at the Barra Strait, for the purposes of research, education, and ecotourism. This year’s event will examine the roles that Research, Education and

Institutions such as the proposed Àros na Mara Marine Science and Energy Center can play in supporting community resilience. CBU currently offers courses in marine science such as marine ecology and marine environment protection. CBU students are also able to complete an honours degree in Marine Biology. This World Oceans Day event will help raise awareness of the fact that CBU is an institution where students are able to study and conduct marine research that reaches beyond Sydney into the communities of Cape Breton.

For more information, please visit the Àros na Mara website.