California Ocean Day 2023: A day of action for California’s ocean and coast

This year’s California Ocean Day showcased the strength and commitment of the ocean community. From enthusiastic college students to seasoned lobbyists, attendees at Ocean Day made it clear to state leaders that Californians care about the ocean.

Environment California Conservation Associate Ben Grundy addresses crowd at California Ocean DayPhoto by Ricky Mackie | Used by permission

Senator Ben Allen, Senator Lena González, and keynote speaker Terry Tamminen, former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, kicked off Ocean Day with motivational remarks about California’s progress, responsibility, and path forward when it comes to ocean conservation.

Former Secretary of the California EPA and Current Alta Sea CEO Terry Tamminen speaking at Ocean Day 2023Photo by Ricky Mackie | Used by permission

Senator Lena Gonzalez speaking at Ocean Day 2023Photo by Ricky Mackie | Used by permission

Senator Ben Allen speaking at Ocean Day 2023Photo by Ricky Mackie | Used by permission

Following the opening remarks, the room full of motivated ocean advocates broke out into several lobby teams and prepared for a day of action. In just one day, Ocean Day lobby teams met with over 80 legislative offices, providing them with information on key issue areas including plastic pollution, kelp forest recovery, coastal resiliency funding, and offshore wind.

Ocean Day Lobby Team ‘Sunfish’ meeting with Senator Nguyen’s officePhoto by Ricky Mackie | Used by permission

After two years of virtual California Ocean Day celebrations, this year’s Ocean Day created spaces for networking and collaboration to blossom. One of these collaborative spaces was the Beach Party Networking Lunch. This event fostered conversations between ocean day attendees and over 30 experienced ocean leaders from legislative offices, state agencies, and NGOs. Sara Aminzadeh, Deputy Secretary of External Affairs at the California Natural Resources Agency spoke at the lunch event, sharing her passion for environmental action.

Deputy Secretary of External Affairs Sara Aminzadeh speaks at the Ocean Day Beach Party Networking LunchPhoto by Ricky Mackie | Used by permission

Tuesday’s celebration also featured the return of the Ocean Day Science Communication Shark Tank Competition in which several students from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego presented their research on various ocean topics ranging. The event was co-hosted by Jenn Eckerle, Deputy Secretary for Oceans and Coastal Policy at the California Natural Resources Agency and Executive Director of the Ocean Protection Council, and Samantha Murray, California Fish and Game Commissioner and Executive Director, MAS MBC Program, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD. This year’s competition winner was Lilianna Watson for her research project Swim Down: Finding Neurodivergent Identity in the Depths. 

Scripps Institution of Oceanography Master’s Candidate and Science Communication Shark Tank Competition winner Lilianna Watson and Co-host Commissioner Samantha MurrayPhoto by Ricky Mackie | Used by permission

Overall, California Ocean Day highlighted the importance of communicating with state leaders about timely ocean issues, the power of coming together to collaborate on conservation efforts, and the joy that comes with celebrating California’s beautiful coastal and marine ecosystems.