Save The Waves App Newsletter #4

Hey there fellow ocean advocates! Welcome to the first Save The Waves App blog of 2024!

The first quarter of the year has been very active and I’m stoked to share some updates with you from the UN Ocean Decade Conference in Barcelona.

Before diving into the updates, I wanted to remind all of you that April is Citizen Science Month! Our friends at SciStarter are pushing to get to 1 million acts of science during this month and - you guessed it - every single report on the Save The Waves App counts as a contribution.

Help us better steward our global coastlines and further our understanding of their complex dynamics by regularly reporting on the App!

Now, onto exciting updates!

As you might remember, we held an Apple watch giveaway with Dawn Patrol at the end of 2023. It was a huge success, not only by the dozens of App reports we received, but by the opportunity to connect them to local partners on the ground.

We had a stoked giveaway winner from Australia who resides near the Gold Coast World Surfing Reserve. His reports were connected to our local partners at the WSR and City Council, where efforts are underway to solve the water quality issues reported. You can read all about this in Dawn Patrol’s blog.

This week (April 8-12), I am also writing to you from Barcelona, Spain, where the United Nations Ocean Decade Conference is bringing together ocean advocates from all over the world.

As a UN Ocean Decade Endorsed Action, the Save The Waves App will have this poster displayed throughout the conference highlighting our work and that of our partners, as well as opportunities for individuals to get involved. It’s a great platform to reach a greater number of ocean advocates and engage with new partners!

Additionally, I will be participating in a round table about citizen science with several other Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs) on Friday April 12th. A link to the recording will come in future updates!

Our friends at the Northeast Pacific Decade Collaborative Center recently published this piece in their “People of the Ocean Decade” blog, highlighting what we do and how it supports the UN Ocean Decade goals.

It’s a great summary of an engaging conversation I had with them a few months ago and showcases the power of connecting people, projects, and organizations to work together. 

To wrap up, I wanted to give a shout out to all of our partners who continue to report on the App and work on addressing App reports.

We recently gained a new partner, Georgian Bay Forever, a Canadian charity dedicated to safeguarding and restoring the health of Georgian Bay waters. They will be using the App to engage individuals in their region and respond to issues they report, including the brave Great Lakes surfing community! Hats off to all of you frigid water surfers!

That’s it for now! Remember to keep the Save The Waves App ready to go on your phone, and we’ll continue to provide updates from all of our efforts and partners as the year goes on.

Cheers,
Diego Sancho