Announcing Oceana’s second annual Ocean Hero contest. The contest was so popular in its inaugural year, we brought it back to highlight and honor individuals who have gone above and beyond to help the ocean. This year,for the first time, Oceana has added a “Junior Ocean Heroes Award” for nominees under 18 years of age.

Some quick facts about this year’s program:

• Nominations can be made at Oceana.org/heroes
• Nominees of all age are welcome and a Junior category has been added those under 18 years of age.
• Finalists selected by Oceana will be voted upon by the public (Starting in late April)
• Winners will be announced in conjunction with Oceana’s celebration of World Oceans Day on June 8.
• All finalists will receive a Nautica gift certificate and their stories will be featured on Oceana’s website.
• Winners will receive a $500 gift card from Nautica and a trip to Los Angeles the “Oceana World Oceans Day with Nautica and GQ” event on June 8.

The great part about last year was learning about the nominees and getting to highlight their unique stories, from last year’s winner John Halas, who developed a reef buoy mooring system in the early 1980s and has installed it in nearly 40 countries around the world, to 12-year-old Casey Sokolovic who has baked cookies and sold organic coffee to raise money for a sea turtle rescue.

“This is our chance to honor those –- young and old — who do great things for the ocean, but otherwise might not get the recognition they deserve,” Oceana CEO Andrew Sharpless said. “Not only will we honor the winning ocean heroes, but we will also highlight the wonderful stories of all of our finalists.”

Last year’s winner was marine biologist John Halas, who designed an environmentally friendly anchor and mooring buoy system that prevents damage to coral reefs. He has worked to expand this anchorage system in 38 countries.

“I enjoyed the recognition I received and was humbled by it,” Halas said. “People from all over had heard about the Ocean Heroes honor and congratulated me.”

“Nautica is proud to help Oceana recognize the everyday Ocean Heroes who contribute to the cause of protecting our oceans,” said Karen Murray, president of leading global lifestyle brand Nautica, which is the lead sponsor of the Ocean Heroes Award contest. “We want to do our part to recognize and share these thoughtful and inspiring stories with the rest of the world.”

Oceana will welcome the submission of nominees of all ages, although individuals nominating an Ocean Hero must be 13 years of age or older. After the nomination period, a group of finalists in both the adult and junior categories will be selected by a panel of experts from Oceana.

The public will be invited to vote and to choose the 2010 Ocean Heroes. The announcement of the winners will occur in conjunction with Oceana’s celebration of World Oceans Day on June 8.

To nominate an Ocean Hero and learn more about last year’s heroes, including winner John Halas, please visit the contest page at http://Oceana.org/heroes.

Shared by : The Plus Size Mommy

Oceana campaigns to protect and restore the world’s oceans. Our teams of marine scientists, economists, lawyers and advocates win specific and concrete policy changes to reduce pollution and to prevent the irreversible collapse of fish populations, marine mammals and other sea life. Global in scope and dedicated to conservation, Oceana has campaigners based in North America, Europe and South and Central America. More than 300,000 members and e-activists in over 150 countries have already joined Oceana. For more information, please visit www.Oceana.org.

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