World Ocean Day was commemorated in Malta in an activity for children from a number of primary schools who created audio-visual productions.
Meanwhile in the first week of next month, Malta will be joining a campaign being held in conjunction with other Mediterranean countries to clean up the beaches from plastic with an initiative which has the support of the EU and the organisations which certify beaches with a blue flag.
Matthias Cutajar, Keira Zammit, Kaiya Bezzina and Calvin Lee Vidal won the competition which was held in a spirit of friendship between the students of Santa Theresa College aimed at creating awareness about the maritime environment and the oceans. They produced material to show the environmental damage which is being caused to the seas through waste such as plastic.
Their teacher, Beverly Ann Attard, explained that the competition was held to give students a practical way to set an example with their actions as well as to convey a message to their relatives.
“This was for children to become more aware and not throw away plastic which may end up in the sea and even cause the death of sea creatures. They learned that we are not only polluting our environment but even causing harm to ourselves…”
Oceans Ambassador Professor Alan Deidun said that the maritime awareness campaign is taking place for the fourth consecutive year.
“What does ocean literacy mean? To make a person more literate and instil more awareness about the importance of the sea in our lives.”
The activity was held at the Aquarium in Qawra in the presence of the President of Malta, George Vella.
In another initiative, 11 NGOs which certify beaches with a blue flag, are organising a week of activities to clean up bays in 11 countries, including Malta.
With the message, Caring for the Sea that Unites Us, the participants from Malta are from Nature Trust who are joining organisations from Cyprus, France, Greece, Slovenia, Italy, Montenegro, Israel, Portugal, Spain and Turkey. They are encouraging all citizens from Mediterranean countries so that in the first week of July, they will join forces in a clean-up campaign of our beaches for a cleaner maritime environment.