April 26, 2013
Success on South Beach!
BY: Justine Sullivan
Every spring, the Nautica South Beach Triathlon gives us reason to smile. There’s the energetic crowds, the celebrity entrants, and the warm-but-not-too-brutally-hot April weather on Miami Beach. This year, however, in Oceana’s 5th year participating through our partnership with Nautica, our grins got even bigger as we set a pair of performance records where it matters most: raising funds for our conservation work.
Team Oceana, comprised of seven passionate ocean advocates, nearly doubled its previous fundraising record at the race, raising $7,171, while our partners at Nautica raised another $20,000 for Oceana by donating 100% of proceeds generated from their beachside shop. That’s $27,000 raised in one weekend, which will go a long way toward improving the condition of the oceans around South Florida, the country, and the world
Two campaigns with huge ramifications for Florida – promoting seafood traceability and preventing seismic airgun testing in the Atlantic Ocean – also carry broad impacts for the rest of the U.S. and marine life in the Atlantic. Seafood traceability legislation, which is being considered in both houses of Congress, promises to protect consumers and the oceans from seafood fraud. Meanwhile, preventing seismic airgun testing will protect over 130,000 whales and dolphins – including endangered right whales – from the cacophonous harmful onslaught caused by airguns.
Oceana’s fundraising efforts at the Nautica South Beach Triathlon will serve us well in our future pursuits of policies that protect against seismic testing and seafood fraud. While it’s too late to donate to Team Oceana for this race, there’s still plenty of ways to get involved:
1) Sign up to get more information about racing with Team Oceana at the Nautica Malibu Triathlon in September.
2) Tell your Members of Congress to support seafood traceability
3) Tell President Obama to oppose seismic airgun testing
As in any good team, we each have a key role to play. Whether it’s racing, fundraising, organizing, donating product sales, signing petitions, or just applauding the individuals that do those things, we’ll reach our goals only when we work together. In this moment, however, the following athletes and volunteers deserve an especially hearty round of applause for their great work earlier this month!
Athletes: Oren Cohen, Sarah Curry, Mike Gibaldi, Summer Osterman, Ronnie Pryor, Jose Salinas, and Randy Swanson
Volunteers: Nicole Delgado, Tamara Oyarzabal, and Andrew Rubin
Thank you all for your dedication and support!