Mermaids and Sea Monsters and Clean Oceans

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I recently returned from the Copper River Wild Salmon Festival in Cordova, Alaska.  I had a wonderful time, especially since the weekend was graced with a gloriously sunny day and a not-too-rainy day.  There was plenty of fun to be had, from fish-printing to dancing.  For Children of the Spills, it was a chance to share updates of the project with the community where this project really took shape (the first interviews I did were in Cordova), meet some new people, touch base with other oil spill & coastal educators and bring the project to lots of kids. Erika and I had so much fun doing drawings with kids at Celebrate the Gulf in Pass Christian, MS, I decided to do something similar.  The biggest hit at Celebrate the Gulf was when we let kids draw on the tablecloth, so I got a big piece of white cloth and a pack of markers.

During the "Small Fry" activities at the Copper River Wild Festival, kids drew their hopes for a healthy River, Sound, and Ocean. 

The result was a striking menagerie, including all sorts of sea creatures: barnacles, salmon, orcas, humpback whales, dolphins, sea jellies and more.  There were even piles of salmon eggs ensuring more fish into the future!  People appeared in the drawings too -- swimming, fishing, riding the ferry. 

And, there were lots of . . . 

mermaids and sea monsters! 

These magical creatures were more popular than even orcas and salmon. I see this as a poignant sign of healing. If young kids can dream of an ocean filled with mermaids and sea monsters, that means that their reality is not filled with worries of dead whales and missed fishing seasons and sick salmon.  23 years ago, kids hopes were simply that "My family can fish again," "The animals can live in clean water," and "Boat captains should rather drink milk" (as opposed to the alcohol Captain Hazelwood was suspected of consuming before the Exxon Valdez ran aground).  The ecosystem is healing, as is the community of Cordova, and kids are able to dream once again of the magical and the wonderful.   

But as Prince William Sound and the other areas affected by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill continue to demonstrate astounding resilience in the face of such an environmental disaster, it becomes easier to forget the whole awful mess.  This spring and summer, I've met a lot of kids in towns and villages that were hit hard by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.  Some of the kids knew that an oil spill had affected their homes twenty-some years ago; some didn't.  Only a few knew more than the fact that it had happened a while ago. I fear that without the memory of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, the coming generation will be less attentive to oil spill prevention and clean-up preparation.  Crucial lessons were learned in an incredibly hard way during and after the oil spill. As the healing continues, it is imperative that these lessons are not lost.  People my age have a unique perspective on this.  We experienced the oil spill and it's aftermath, but our experience of place is not entirely defined by it.  We know the wonder of this healing ocean, but we also know it's vulnerability.  As a new generation comes of age in coastal Alaska, we must foster their love and wise stewardship of the ocean and all that inhabits it.  Because what could be more magical than an ecosystem teeming with diverse and unique life? 

With the help of this younger generation, our coast will continue to heal into the future, will continue to be a magical place.  A place where orcas spout and dolphins splash.  A place where delicate "sea butterflies" (pteropods) fly through the water and snatch phytoplankton from the currents.  A place where salmon swim hundreds, even thousands of miles to return to their home river.  A place where humpbacks use bubble nets to capture multitudes of sand lance.  A place that people can live, and can love, can fish and kayak and hunt and hike and berry pick.  A place special enough for sea monsters and mermaids to call home. Maybe it will even once again be a place where diminutive Pigeon Guillemots and giant Stellar's Sea Lions abound, feasting on plentiful herring.