Blog Action Day

today has been deemed Blog Action Day. A day when thousands of bloggers around the world will post with an environmental theme.
http://blog.blogactionday.org/
I've had a few blogs here and there that have spoken on the environmental theme.
Today, near and dear to Athena's and my heart is of course, the oceans and seas.
Here are my suggestions for Seven Steps to Stewardship of the Seven Seas.
1. Properly secure, stow, and dispose of trash. Under federal law, it is illegal to toss ANY garbage from a boat while you are anywhere in lakes, rivers, bays, sounds, and from zero to 3 miles offshore. Yes, this means you cannot throw a banana peel or your half-eaten sandwich overboard!!! Plastics should never be thrown overboard in any waters. FYI, cigarette butts are considered plastics because of their filters! If you fish, and your fishing line breaks, do everything in your power to retrieve as much of the line as possible, and then recycle it at a monofilament recycling bin, or properly dispose of it. Monofilament strangles birds and other marine life.
2. Take proper precaution when boating in shallow waters and snorkeling or SCUBA diving around corals. Propeller scars through seagrass beds can take up to 10 years to completely recover. Corals take longer to recover.
3. Respect wildlife. Observe wildlife from a distance. Show compassion for all living beings equally without exception. The dolphin is no more important to this planet than mollusk or catfish.
4. Watersheds drain to waterways that most often drain to the oceans and seas. What we do in our watersheds can affect the water quality of our oceans and seas. Be cognizant of how much fertilizer and chemicals are used on your lawn. Better yet, grow a native yard with native plants that doesn't require fertilizers or chemicals for maintenance.
5. Don't eat marine life. Our commercial fisheries including shrimp, etc, which provide to our beck and call, react to supply and demand. Don't demand. Fishing practices damage the marine environment. Fishing wastes resources and precious life (i.e. not every fish or other catch makes it to the table). Don't fish, not even catch and release. Species continue to decline. There is mortality associated with catch and release that can't be prevented even with the most ethical fishing procedures.
6. Don't promote or support development that destroys marine habitat. No habitat - No fish. No fish...
7. Share what you know. Others may not realize their impacts.