on the mid- and north coast. The Land-Sea Connection, international destination for seabirds, fishers as stewards of the resource, research, and legacies of protection are just a few of the themes interpreted on the panels. Visitors that view the marine reserves from land will better be able to connect to the reserves and appreciate the values reserves are capable of providing. In addition to interpretive signs, the partnership is working with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry to create a traveling exhibit as well as a backlit display at the Oregon Zoo in Portland.
Social media – No, we’re not doing simultaneous tweets, with Instagram and Facebook and . . . well, you know the drill. Yes, we realize it’s the hip thing to do, blasting, and re-blasting and tweeting and re-tweeting . . . But we believe that every message we send, every step we take, needs to be carefully considered in an effort to build a relationship with individuals and improve our understanding about how and why people connect with the ocean. We started slow with Facebook and are enjoying our journey with “Fun Factoid Fridays” and posts from our members that elicit interest from the recreational, cultural, spiritual, economic, social, and other aspects of marine reserves. Will we get to a place where we implement a “full-blown” social media strategy? Maybe. But not at the expense of keeping it real – to us and to Oregonians.
Public events – The Oregon Marine Reserves Partnership has provided funding to support an annual Land-Sea Symposium annually, and the group supports Redfish Rocks on the Docks and other events that bring people together to talk about the status of Oregon’s marine reserves, what we’ve learning, and why it’s important. These types of events create opportunities for people to interact one-on-one with biologists, managers, cheerleaders, and others.
The ocean environment poses significant challenges to those that seek to create opportunities for people to truly “connect” with these special places. People that don’t live on the coast are one step further removed from connecting on a regular basis. But that shouldn’t discourage us. If anything, it should encourage us to be more creative, inspiring people to connect with and understand how ocean health equates to human health, and how quality of life is achieved through an enhanced connection with our marine environment.
SEVENSEAS - 43