Change Islands teenager named 'hero' by World Oceans Day committee
Newfoundland and Labrador celebrated World Oceans Day this weekend, and the celebration committee named a new hero to mark it.
Brody King, 14, of Change Islands spotted a strange species of crab while walking near the coast in his hometown, and correctly identified it as the invasive European green crab.
"[It] looked different than the normal ones we were used to seeing," King told CBC News at a World Oceans Day celebration at the Marine Institute in St. John's on Saturday.
With that in mind, he said he and his cousin brought a few of the crabs home and sent them to Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
A DFO coordinator called up the World Oceans Day Newfoundland and Labrador committee to commend King for his effort.
"Here we are, I'm ocean hero of the year," he said.
King said people in his community now know how to recognize the invasive crab by its unusual colour and back markings.
He said he's going to take his award home with pride.
"I've been on the ocean since I was a little kid, since I could walk," he said. "It means a lot to me that we could help the ocean and protect it."
WATCH | This teen flagged invasive green crab to the DFO — and earned the title of N.L.'s first Ocean Hero of the Year:
14-year-old from Change Islands named N.L.'s first Ocean Hero of the Year
2 days ago
Duration 1:50
World Oceans Day committee chair Dawn Mercer said many people in the province feel that same connection to the water, which is one of the reasons why it's important to conserve it.
It also makes for a successful awareness event.
"This has been a phenomenal, phenomenal outreach in terms of World Oceans Day," said Mercer. "The reason why we do it is because it's a celebration. It's a celebration of our oceans, but it's also a celebration of us as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians."
Educational activities are a big help, said Mercer, who is also a senior oceans biologist with the DFO. The Marine Institute featured touch tanks with different underwater creatures, story readings and other family-friendly activities.
Mercer said the day also reminds people of the tangible ways to help.
"If you're at the grocery store, maybe buy something that's not in plastic packaging," Mercer said.
"It's just the little everyday things that we can tell people while they're at our events that they can take home and start implementing in their everyday lives," she added.
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