Dear Editor:
Ceph Rogen’s Vancouver home is two months away from bankruptcy.
Ceph Rogen is the Vancouver Aquarium’s octopus, named after Vancouver’s hometown boy, comedic actor Seth Rogen.
Now that COVID-19 has shut the aquarium, the community is coming together to show their support for Ocean Wise, the conservation association that runs the aquarium but with social distancing in place, traditional campaign approaches can't be used.
To celebrate Earth Day, a new campaign has been launched by North Shore residents around the iconic Pacific giant octopus. Normally we would take the campaign to the streets but with today's restrictions we have to mobilize people from home. It's a new way of campaigning linking web-based tools with social and digital media to make an impact while distancing.
We don't have time to wait for the COVID-19 crisis to pass to resort to traditional community outreach strategies. Plans are already underway to rehome Ceph and all of the other Vancouver Aquarium residents elsewhere in North America. Beyond our own sadness at losing Ceph Rogen, moving will cause all of the animals undue stress. For Ceph, intra-mantle inking (basically shooting ink then holding it in) is a real danger that can lead to death.
Ocean Wise relies on earnings from the aquarium to fund animal care, conservation, and public services, and with COVID-19 closures, it's missing out on $3 million a month in revenue. Yesterday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a fund to help Canadian NGOs but it's only serving organizations providing direct community services - conservation and animal rescue organizations are losing out.
Here's what else Vancouver will lose unless funds can be raised:
· Canada's only dedicated marine mammal rescue facility - and the team that saves over 150 animals every year,
· education facilities for 20,000 budding marine biologists and future champions of the Earth,
· the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, the Ocean Wise Sustainable Seafood program, the Cetacean Sightings Network,
· the Aqua Van and its mobile AquaZone.
Jaime Webbe
West Vancouver
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