“Ocean Bound” opens Saturday at the Academy of Natural Sciences; connects our local watershed to the sea – even when we’re not at the shore.

How do our actions in the city affect the ocean?

Ocean Bound, a new exhibit at the Academy of Natural Sciences, uses interactive activities to explore the multiple ways humans impact the seas – even if we don’t live at the Jersey Shore.

The exhibit features hands-on activities, aquatic life, and engaging videos to help guests understand the definition of a watershed, threats to our waterways, and identify solutions they can implement.

Exhibit displays show the vareity of how our human activities directly impact the ocean. For example, displays show how litter and pollutants settle in waterways and impact marine life. (Did you know that 80% of plastic in our waterways is washed out to sea FROM our watersheds? Litter on our streets makes the trip to local waterways and eventually to the ocean.)

Other displays show the importance of the oceans to our health and well-being, from recreation to the Earth’s oxygen; the 5 gyres of plastic pollution, how river otters were reintroduced in New York, and more.

Created by Sciencenter in Ithaca, Ocean Bound is a traveling exhibit that is relevant to everyone. For a local touch, the Academy added videos about its ongoing efforts including freshwater mussels in local waterways, eels in Crum Creek, and collecting macroinvertebrates in Cobbs Creek to assess the waterway’s health.

The exhibit fits into the Academy’s yearlong initiative to connect visitors to our water. The Academy of Natural Sciences and Drexel University have declared 2022 their Water Year to provide a fresh perspective on the water systems for clean and healthy communities.

“A healthy ocean is one of our greatest environmental challenges, and we all need to do our part to keep it vital by starting right in our own communities,” said Academy President and CEO Scott Cooper.

Ocean Bound opens Saturday, August 20th and runs through January 15, 2023, at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. Exhibit is open from 10 AM – 5 PM from Wednesday through Sunday.

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher