For the twelfth successive year, Shoreham-by-Sea will be celebrating the international World Oceans Day with an all day environmental fayre about the local sea and seashore. The exhibition will take place under the marquee on Coronation Green (on the town side of Shoreham footbridge) all day on Saturday 9th June on the second weekend of the Adur Festival. Len Nevell will be present with the lobsters and crabs, and there will be aquarium and strandline exhibits of what lives under the sea off the Sussex coasts.

"The idea is to give the younger children a first hand experience of the undersea world, to show them some of the creatures, small fish, crabs and other strange animals that live in our oceans. Several national initiatives have now caught up with the lack of contact of nature that young children have." (Quote by Andy Horton) Experts will be on hand to answer questions and identify anything washed up on the seashore and seen beneath the waves. Wildlife writer Steve Savage will present the whale and dolphin exhibition with the life sized replica of a Bottle-nosed Dolphin. The Friends of Shoreham Beach (FOSB) will again take an active role with their display of the wonders of Shoreham Beach with opportunities for children of all ages to participate. There is still space for wildlife, heritage groups, other local community groups, volunteers and anybody interested in the oceans and wildlife to participate. World Oceans Day was first declared as 8th June at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Events will occur all around the world on and around this day, which now enjoys the support of the United Nations on the sustainable use of the resources of the oceans. In June 1992, over 150 Heads of States signed the Convention on Biological Diversity at Rio de Janeiro. They did so to express a shared belief that action must be taken to halt the worldwide loss of animal and plant species and genetic resources.

 Adur World Oceans Day is a collaborative project by various groups including the British Marine Life Study Society, the Sea Watch Foundation, Friends of Shoreham Beach, the Ouse & Adur Rivers Trust and other groups, with support from Adur District Council. Other events will take place in East Street and Shoreham town centre on the same day, including the monthly Farmers Market and the Food & Drink Festival. (David Steadman is the contact for further details of what else is going on.)

 World Oceans Day UK Web Page
 http://www.glaucus.org.uk/WOD.htm

 ADUR WORLD OCEANS DAY
 http://www.glaucus.org.uk/AWOD2012.htm

 Adur World Oceans Day Blogspot
 http://glaucus-worldoceansday.blogspot.com/

 Adur World Oceans Day on Flickr
 http://www.flickr.com/groups/worldoceansday/

 In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly decided that, as from 2009, 8 June would be designated by the United Nations as “World Oceans Day” (resolution 63/111, paragraph 171). Many countries have celebrated World Oceans Day following the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The oceans are essential to food security and the health and survival of all life, power our climate and are a critical part of the biosphere. The official designation of World Oceans Day is an opportunity to raise global awareness of the current challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans.

 United Nations World Oceans Day page:
 http://www.un.org/depts/los/reference_files/worldoceansday.htm

 Contacts: Andy Horton
 British Marine Life Study Society
 Tel: 01273 465433