Photo: Cindy Lipathay

Today is Blog Action day and founded to raise awareness about water. Being largely made of it, having given birth in it, and loving to return to the sea as a scuba diver, makes healthy water a big part of my life.

Water quality issues are not often discussed in my home town. There is regular monitoring of water quality at beaches during the summertime but it seems spurred by tourism concerns more than ecological awareness. The degradation of the seas seems too big to fathom, akin to the national debt, but becoming educated about local issues is satisfying (or frustrating) as you witness the issues unfold.

I support local sustainable fisheries and the San Diego Ocean Foundation’s effort to educate children about the ocean’s wonders. May they grow to enjoy the wonders beneath the waves and experience their own body’s connection to our liquid existence.

cancun underwater museum

A glimpse of the Underwater Museum. Photo- Cassandra Collings via Trover

Here’s one artist’s expression – an underwater museum off Cancun – and his effort to help rescue reefs by drawing crowds (and underwater corals) to his creations. There’s a saying that you can’t fix something on the level of the problem. I love that this artist has taken an absurd idea – building a reef, or series of them – as an underwater museum. It is just a matter of time before these sculptures, over 450 of them, are encrusted and hardly recognizable.

It seems a good reminder of how temporary our human ways may be. One day our cities may be so encrusted because oceans have risen to cover them. Healthy water, healthy oceans and a healthy planet is a long term goal.