We believe in the ethos: you protect what you love

 

The I AM WATER mission is to help people fall in love with the ocean.

 
 

Much of today's ocean degradation is fundamentally due to human disconnect. Many people feel very little, or no connection to the ocean, behaving in ways that negatively affect the well being of this precious resource.

We feel especially passionate about working with underserved / low income coastal communities where, despite living walking distance to the shoreline young people have never seen the world just beneath the waves.

 Want to support our work? Please consider making a donation!

 

Watch as a group of Grade 7 Students experience their ocean for the first time:

 
Tidal pool treasures! A glimpse of what's to find when you slow down and look a little harder ... Our coaches and lead coordinators found this four-colour nudibranch (Godiva quadricolor), a tiny kind of sea slug, in its bright miniature forest on World Oceans Day 💙 ___________ Photo: @katherinejanewallis @meganrose_f
A recent article proposed that letting kids spend time in nature "reduces stress and fatigue. According to the Attention Restoration Theory, urban environments require what's called directed attention, which forces us to ignore distractions and exhausts our brains. In natural environments, we practice an effortless type of attention known as soft fascination that creates feelings of pleasure, not fatigue" ~ Danielle Cohen, Why Kids Need to Spend Time in Nature
Happy happy WORLD OCEANS DAY 💦 To us, every day is #WorldOceansDay but today the whole world agreed and we got to share it with amazing partners, friends and the I AM WATER Coaches! As part of the global launch of this year’s #RunForTheOceans we hosted snorkel experiences at St James tidal pool and and joined the @adidasza team to rack up some km’s for conservation... while picking up trash on the beach with the @thebeachco_op! What a day! Check out our stories for more fun pics from the day and remember you can run from today until June 16th and each km logged on @Runtastic in the #RunForTheOceans @adidas will donate $1 to ocean education! 📷 @kyle.kingsley @meganrose_f @adidasza and others 🙏
There is an active principle in all things; In all things, in all natures, in the flowers And in the trees, in every pebbly stone That paves the brooks, the stationary rocks, The moving waters and the invisible air. All beings have their properties which spread Beyond themselves, a power by which they make Some other being conscious of their life, Spirit that knows no insulated spot, No chasm, no solitude, from link to link It circulates, the soul of all the worlds. This is the freedom of the universe; Unfolded still the more, more visible, The more we know; and yet is referenced least And least respected in the human mind, Its most apparent home. ~ William Wordsworth ____________ Photo: @petermarshallphoto
Welcome to World Environment Day 🌍🌿 This year's theme "Air Pollution" seems unrelated, at first glance, to the ocean - but considering most of the oxygen that we breath comes from plants in the sea...it's a fitting tie-in to World Oceans Month 💦The @unenvironment designated today's theme, and encourages us all to adopt more plant-based diets 🥑🥗, change our mode of transport 🚲, recycle & lower our consumption ♻️ and hold our authorities to more green spaces in our cities 🌱🌳 We say yes to all the above, but more than ever - today, remember to breathe in deeply; drink in each conscious sip of air and use that privilege - of clean, salty air - to inspire action, whatever that might be! ___________ Photo: @petermarshallphoto captures the kelp forests of the Cape near the Table Mountain National Park in South Africa
We often speak about what our oceans give us in practical terms: food, the oxygen we breathe, the climate that makes our planet habitable. But ask the kids on our workshops what the ocean makes them FEEL, and you hear a whole other side to why we need to celebrate and protect them 💙 Calm, energised, happy, adventurous, refreshed, inspired - what do our oceans mean to YOU?
June is World Oceans Month! As if we needed another excuse to celebrate our Oceans 💙 But take a deep breath...no, take 3 deep breaths...and remember that 2 of those life-giving lungfuls come from the plants in our oceans, like the microscopic phytoplankton that sometimes colour our seas - and these glorious submarine forests of kelp 🍃🌿💦
The end of the week, the end of the month - and looking ahead to a busy June for the oceans 💦 We have World Oceans Day coming up, the G20 Osaka Summit that will focus on our global climate and people around the world are calling for a Global Deal for Nature 🌍 In the midst of all this effort and action, we want to live the words of Claude Monet: "My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature". But there's a shift happening, so let's find those quiet spaces in nature to recharge and galvanize, and keep pushing forward 💙 ___________ Photo: @petermarshallphoto captures coach @amalia_de_abreu on camera in a quiet moment in the kelp forests of the Cape
We listened to an interview with Dr Sylvia Earle (of @mission_blue) this morning, and were struck by this little memory of hers: "The ocean got my attention when I was about 3 years old. A wave sneaked up behind me and knocked me off my feet, and my mother, instead of racing out to take me out of the ocean forever, saw the big smile on my face and let me run back in" 💙 How we learn to interact with the ocean is important. And who knows which next little marine biologist might grow up to change the world, if they're allowed to experience the sea? __________ Photo: Coach Azi diving in on a recent weekend freediving jaunt with all the I AM WATER coaches