Oceans Week Victoria is going virtual this year with its week-long celebration of the ocean both local and global.
But while the 2020 edition of World Oceans Day on Monday might have looked different, the cause remained the same: environmental education.
“There are a ton of organizations that do absolutely fantastic work that not a lot of people know about,” said Brett Soberg, owner and operator of Eagle Wing Whale & Wildlife Tours, one of several volunteer partners in the event.
“We wanted to really create a platform to help amplify everybody’s good work and encourage others to share what good work they’re doing.”
The eight-day event, which began Sunday, continues through June 14 with a variety of daily activities in the spotlight. Website visitors can use the calendar at OceansWeekVictoria.ca as a jumping off point to daily ocean-themed live events and learning activities provided by businesses, non-profit organizations, artists and educators. “We’ve put this all together in a place where people can go with a one-stop-shop sort of mentality,” Soberg said.
“We’ve turned it into a virtual platform promoting local organizations. We’ve put it into one place so that hopefully, moving forward into the future, is a cool place to look for events happening outside of Oceans Week Victoria, too.”
Youth-oriented educational events by everything from the Royal B.C. Museum to Parks Canada are listed on the Oceans Week Victoria website, in addition to supplemental material. The majority of the educational resources available will be presented through Zoom, Facebook or YouTube, with each day broken off under thematic umbrellas, ranging from watersheds to sustainability and the Salish Sea.
“Each day has a particular theme with particular messaging, questions and answers, or call to action,” Soberg said. “Thought-provoking ideas for people was the concept, which gave us the opportunity to really break down all the valuable information into themes, with very specific targeted messages.
“This year it is virtual, but for next year we are optimistic that we’ll actually be able to have live and virtual events. It will be more of a blended, balanced version of what this year is.”
