BLUE HILL - The Marine Environmental Research Institute (MERI) invites all members of the community to join in a celebration of World Ocean Day from 2:00 to 5:30 pm on Sunday, June 8, 2003 at the MERI Center for Marine Studies on Main Street in Blue Hill. The open house event will feature a variety of ocean-themed activities for the entire family. MERI staff will be available to give tours of the Center, including the new marine laboratories, to talk about upcoming MERI programs for the summer months, and to provide information on how individuals in the community can help to protect our ocean resources. World Ocean Day was created in 1992 at the UN Earth Summit to encourage organizations and individuals around the world to come together to celebrate the ocean and reflect on its importance in our lives.

MERI Director Dr. Susan Shaw says, “This is an important time to focus on the ocean environment, our most important natural resource. According to recent national assessments, our oceans are in peril and need attention more than ever before. MERI is pleased to have this opportunity to share its scientific and educational vision for the future while we celebrate our own community by the sea.”

A highlight of the open house will be an exhibit of ocean-themed artwork by students of local artist Rebekah Raye. Raye, who has been teaching art for more than twenty years, has been using the MERI Center’s Ocean Room to conduct group art classes this spring. Raye says, “I have a strong philosophy for mixing art and science, drawing inspiration for my work from the natural world. What better way for the students to connect with the creatures of the sea than by studying them up-close in the MERI Ocean Room as they draw and paint them?” The students’ artwork exhibit joins ocean-themed paintings and sculpture by a variety of local artists in the MERI Center’s permanent collection. Rebekah Raye will also give demonstrations throughout the World Ocean Day open house of various artistic techniques taught in her classes.

Another feature of MERI’s World Ocean Day celebration will be a reading by noted radio commentator, environmentalist, writer, and MERI spokesperson Cherie Mason from the book Chairworm & Super Shark, a children’s story written by the late Elisabeth Mann Borgese. Borgese, the founder of the International Ocean Institute and long-time member of the MERI Board of Directors, was known as the “Mother of the Oceans” for her advocacy of the peaceful use and preservation of what she called “the ocean commons”. Mason, who also recently joined MERI’s Board of Directors, says “The world's oceans comprise 70 percent of our Planet Earth home. It's time we gave them a celebration!”

World Ocean Day at MERI will also include a story in the form of a song, about an encounter with an Orca whale in Cobscook Bay, by Rob McCall, pastor of the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill and Awanadjo Almanack author. The event also features a selection of sea songs by Stonington lobsterman and musician Frank Gotwals, and an ocean-themed puppet show with local educator and environmentalist Andrea DeFrancesco. The MERI open house will feature an educational exhibit on common household products containing toxic ingredients with a potential for impacting the ocean environment and human health, along with natural, non-toxic alternatives. Throughout the day, there will be face-painting for the kids, refreshments, and more.

MERI’s day-long celebration will culminate with a global perspective on the importance of managing ocean environments around the world. Harold “Skip” Owen, MERI’s Marine Projects Coordinator and vessel captain, will give a slide talk on Antarctica, entitled Images from a Frozen Ocean. During the winter months, Owen serves as Marine Projects Coordinator for the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). The images, which include marine mammals such as whales and seals that live in that harsh environment, are from digital photos collected during Owen’s twenty years of research in the Antarctic.

A complete schedule for World Ocean Day at MERI is included below and is also available on MERI’s website at www.meriresearch.org.

The Marine Environmental Research Institute is a non-profit organization founded in 1990 to protect the health of the marine environment through research and education. For information on MERI’s most recent research and World Ocean Day, or to learn about the programs offered through its Center for Marine Studies, call 207-374-2135, Email: meri@downeast.net, or visit MERI online at www.meriresearch.org.

MERI WORLD OCEAN DAY CELEBRATION June 8, 2003 2:00 – 5:30 pm MERI Center for Marine Studies 55 Main Street, Blue Hill
2:00	Open House begins   Throughout the day: Ocean art exhibit – students of Rebekah Raye Tours of MERI Center and educational exhibits Art technique demonstrations by Rebekah Raye Face painting for the kids Refreshments
2:30	Puppet program by Andrea DeFrancesco
3:00	Reading by Cherie Mason from Elisabeth Mann Borgese’s book Chairworm & Super Shark
3:30	Sea Songs by Frank Gotwals
4:15	Sea Storytelling by Rob McCall
4:45	“Images From a Frozen Ocean”: Slide talk on Antarctica by Skip Owen
5:30	MERI World Ocean Day Open House ends

MERI’s two-toned lobster, by Richie Scantlebury (student of Rebekah Raye) Photo courtesy of Ken Woisard   Portrait of a harbor seal, by Charlene Farnsworth (student of Rebekah Raye) Photo courtesy of Ken Woisard     Rebekah Raye’s art students at work in MERI’s Ocean Room Photo courtesy of MERI   Rebekah Raye with her art students in MERI’s Ocean Room Photo courtesy of MERI       MERI Center for Marine Studies, Blue Hill Photo courtesy of MERI