Our oceans are constantly threatened by things that impact them in a negative way. Harmful influences come from many different sources and can have lasting effects on marine life, the environment and humans.

Here's what you can do to help protect our oceans.

At Home & Work:

• Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Reduce your waste by re-using and recycling products. For example, re-fill empty plastic bottles instead of purchasing new ones. Reducing waste can help decrease marine debris and other environmental pollution.

  Video: NOAA "What is Marine Debris?"

• Do not litter.
  Marine animals can become entangled in seaborne garbage and may even mistake ocean debris for food. This can be hazardous and potentially life-threatening to ocean organisms.

• Conserve water.
  Using eco-friendly appliances such as low-flow toilets, showerheads and faucets helps to reduce water usage and sewage waste. You can also save water by turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth or collecting rain water to irrigate plants. Doing so helps to decrease the amount of contaminated water that enters our oceans.

• Avoid or minimize the use of fertilizers and pesticides in your garden.
  Chemicals found within these products make their way into natural bodies of water, encouraging algae growth which can suffocate aquatic life.

• Use a broom, not a hose.
  Using a broom instead of a hose to clean your driveway, patio, or sidewalk reduces the amount of chemical pollutants that seep into natural water systems. Using a broom also prevents garbage from entering storm drains whose contents can empty into our seas. And, last but not least, it conserves precious freshwater.

• Clean up after your pet.
  Dispose of animal waste in proper garbage receptacles. Runoff can flush bacteria and other pathogens into our oceans. This contaminates the water, sickens wildlife and poses a health-risk for humans.

• Properly maintain septic tanks to prevent spillage.
  Toxic chemicals from septic tanks percolate through the ground, making their way to our oceans and other natural resources. These substances may be harmful or even deadly to humans and marine life.

• Make eco-friendly choices when selecting seafood as a meal.
  Many of the world's fish stocks are decreasing. Help protect struggling populations, by choosing to eat fish whose populations haven't seriously been over fished.

More seafood meal guides:

• Environmental Defense Fund: Seafood selector

• Blue Ocean Institute: Seafood Guide

• Be a smart shopper.
  Only purchase marine jewelry, fishes, and other ocean souvenirs if they were obtained using safe and eco-friendly fishing practices.

• Hold the anchor.
  Instead of dropping an anchor, tie your boat to reef mooring buoys. This prevents damage to corals and other sea life.

• Navigate carefully.
  Protect underwater animals, like manatees, by obeying no wake zones. Reduced boat speed reduces the likelihood of injury to ocean animals and prevents damage to natural underwater structures, such as coral reefs and seagrasses.

For more information on seagrases, click here:
Florida Department of Environmental Protection- Seagrasses
• Look, but don't touch.
  Touching corals and other marine organisms can be damaging to wildlife. Touching certain plants and animals may be potentially dangerous to humans as well.

• Keep your fishing lines.
  Do not throw fishing line into the ocean or leave it behind. Turtles and other animals can get entangled in old fishing line, causing serious injury or death.

For more information on this topic, please visit:
Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program
• Keep invasive-exotics out.
  Never return marine aquarium animals to the wild. Introducing exotic fishes and other ocean organisms to natural water resources can disrupt existing native ecosystems.

• Carpool
  Carpooling can help to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Absorption of carbon dioxide by our seas alters the chemistry of our oceans. This chemical unbalance makes it difficult for corals, lobsters and other marine specimens to form strong shells and skeletons.

• Check for leaks.
  Rainwater can wash motor oil, anti-freeze and other vehicle fluids into our seas. In the ocean, these substances can be life-threatening for various plants and animals.

• Trash it correctly.
  Dispose of oil and other vehicle-related elements at service stations and appropriate waste facilities. Doing so reduces garbage, such as car tires, from polluting the ocean and prevents toxic chemicals from entering the sea.

Oceanography Camp for Girls
The University of South Florida provides a free, 3-week hands-on learning experience for 8th grade girls in Pinellas County, Florida.

Pointless Personal Pollution
Are your daily activities affecting important water resources? Learn about Pointless Personal Pollution and how you can reduce your negative environmental impact.

Beach clean-up.
Help reduce ocean pollution. Join a beach clean-up group in your area.

For more tips on how you can help protect our oceans, click here:

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: What Can I Do?
• MarineBio: 100 Things We Can All Do
• Oceana: Living Blue