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John,
Today is World Oceans Day, when people around the globe celebrate the seas and everything they give to us, while highlighting the urgent need to protect our oceans and marine life.
For a lot of people, going to the beach or seeing the ocean is a simple pleasure — but to those who are wrongly incarcerated, seeing, let alone touching, the ocean is not a possibility. Yet the ocean continued to be a symbol of hope to some wrongly convicted people. To recognize the day, we asked exonerees to tell us what the ocean represents to them and why we need to protect our oceans now more than ever.
Take a moment to read directly from exonerees what their experience with the ocean has been and why they want us all to join the fight to protect it.
(Left) Fernando Bermudez and Crystal at the Great Barrier Reef. (Righ) Fernando and his son. (Images: Courtesy of Fernando Bermudez).
“I love the energetic vibe of beaches and meeting and watching people while enjoying exercise and healthy nutrition of family and friends and our sun,” Fernando Bermudez, who was wrongfully incarcerated for 18 years in New York, told the Innocence Project.
Since he was exonerated in 2009, Fernando has traveled the world with his family, visiting beaches in Brazil, the Dominican Republic, California, and Australia.
He said the beauty of the ocean allows him to enjoy his love of swimming while examining the true vastness of the world, but he’s worried about the toll human activity and pollution are taking on the ocean. “Plastic and cigarette butts are major pollutants I’ve seen floating in oceans. Keeping our oceans clean is important to maintain a sound ecological balance,” he said.
Please, read from more exonerees like Fernando on why keeping our oceans clean and safe is so important to them.
Thanks,
— The Innocence Project Team
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