Ocean Conservancy

Hello! We are Ocean Conservancy. Our name tells you what we care about most: the ocean! We are a big team of scientists and helpers who work hard every day to protect the ocean and all the wonderful animals that call it home. From the tiniest fish to the biggest whales, we want to make sure they have a clean and healthy place to live. We began our work a long time ago, in 1972. Back then, we saw that the ocean was facing some very big problems, and we knew we had to find solutions to help.

One of the best ways we help is by bringing people together. Have you ever been to a beach? We run a special event called the International Coastal Cleanup. Every year, we invite friends, families, and students from all over the world to join us. These amazing volunteers walk along beaches and coastlines to pick up trash that doesn't belong there. They find things like plastic bottles, straws, and bags. But they don’t just throw the trash away. The volunteers also carefully write down every single piece of trash they find. This information is very important. It helps us understand what kinds of trash are causing the most trouble and where it comes from. By counting the trash, we can figure out how to stop it from ever reaching the ocean.

Keeping the ocean clean is a big part of our job, but we also work to keep the animals themselves safe from harm. We help create special places in the water called protected areas. You can think of these like safe parks for sea life. In these areas, animals like giant whales and gentle sea turtles can swim, eat, and raise their families without danger. We also work to change rules for things like fishing. We want to make sure that fishing nets are used in ways that don't accidentally hurt sea turtles, dolphins, and other creatures. It’s all about making the ocean a safer home.

Our work continues today because the ocean still needs our help. Two of the biggest challenges we are working on are the plastic that pollutes our waters and the ways our climate is changing the ocean. These are tough problems, but we use science to study them very carefully. Our scientists look for the best ideas and the smartest solutions to make a real difference. Our goal is to have a healthy ocean for the future. That means clean water for animals to swim in and safe homes for every single creature, from the colorful coral reefs to the deep, dark sea.