May 23, 2011
Ocean Hero Finalists: Wyatt Workman
BY: Emily Fisher
This is the ninth in a series of posts about this year’s Ocean Hero finalists.
Today’s featured junior ocean hero finalist is eight-year-old Wyatt Workman, who may be familiar to some of you since we have written about his activism and artwork before.
But in case you don’t know Wyatt, he is quite a special young ocean lover. A talented artist, he has dedicated himself to getting the word out about the plastic pollution fouling our oceans. Through his artistic endeavors, including a book, clay figures, and a claymation movie, “Save the Sea from the Trash Monster!”, Wyatt has raised nearly $4,000 for Oceana.
In late 2010, more than 300 people attended Wyatt’s art show, where he sold out of all 70 art pieces he made. He now has a waiting list for his art and he gets about 10-20 people a day signing his website pledge to make changes in their lives to keep trash – particularly plastic – out of the ocean.
He was also recently honored by the Pacific Aquarium in Long Beach, CA as their Young Hero of the Year, his book has been named “Book of the Month” by A&I Books in Los Angeles, and he has been featured in Time Magazine for Kids.
Whew! Impressive for an eight-year-old, huh?
Have you voted yet? Check out the other finalists, cast your vote and spread the word! And stay tuned for more spotlighted finalists in the coming days!
Special thanks to the sponsors of the Ocean Heroes Award for making all of this possible: Nautica, Revo and For Cod & Country, the new book by chef and National Geographic fellow Barton Seaver.