Each year some 350,000 people worldwide invest a precious day of their time to clean the beaches, banks of rivers and lakes in their local communities. Ocean Conservancy is a Washington based organization with the mission to restore the health of the water bodies around the world. Over the past 25 years, Ocean Conservancy’s initiative International Coastal Cleanup has become the world’s largest volunteer effort for ocean health. Nearly nine million volunteers from 152 countries and locations have cleaned close to 70,000 tonnes of trash from the shores of lakes, streams, rivers, and the ocean on just one day each year.

The ICC is the cornerstone to raise awareness about the seriousness of marine debris and by its cleanup to leave behind cleaner, healthier waters. It inspires ordinary people to volunteer and give their time to make a difference to our environment.

The Indian Maritime Foundation joined the ICC programme in 2003 and has been conducting the event throughout India on the third Saturday of September every year ever since Cmde R Vir assumed the responsibilites of the country coordinator. It is the endeavor of the IMF to identify new community leaders among the young people to lead and organize the cleanup in their areas and to thereby continue to expand the ambit of the ICC in India.

IMF is partnered with SOAP (Social Outreach Accreditation Program) sponsored by Ms. Gul Panag. Volunteers wishing to register for ICC2011 can do so by visiting http://www.soaponline.in

It is also possible for volunteers to register on the Ocean Conservancy website http://www.signuptocleanup.org. However, it is easier to register through IMF.

Volunteers who wish to participate in ICC2011 and wish to organize the cleanup in their areas anywhere in India, please do contact the IMF by email at imf.icc@gmail.com or indmarfdn@eth.net.

The oceans form the largest natural habitat on earth. They dominate the surface of our planet, covering most of it in a swathe of blue. To many of us they are mysterious environments and indeed many parts of them remain unexplored. Yet now at last, their greatest mysteries are beginning to unravel, as scientists and explorers scan their surfaces and plumb their darkest depths. In the past few years new light has been shed on this previously alien world and in the process many marvels have been discovered.

Written by a respected natural history author, this book gathers together all that we know about the oceans and the incredible variety of life they contain. In its pages Daniel Gilpin takes the readers on a journey from the familiar waters of the coastline to the open ocean, polar waters, and the depths of the sea. Each step of the way is illustrated with stunning photography, capturing the true beauty of the ocean environment and introducing its most charismatic and spectacular inhabitants.

Life on our planets began in the oceans. Every living thing on earth - ourselves included - can trace its ancestry back to living organisms that once lived in the sea. Today the oceans are home to a dazzling host of creatures. Some of them are relatively recent additions to the tree of life, while others have barely changed since they first evolved hundreds of million years ago. All of them have one thing in common - they are survivors, each perfectly adapted for life in the sea.

To the casual observer, the oceans might seem homogenous, a vast expanse of water stretching endlessly across the globe. This book however shows them to be anything but. From the poles to the tropics they contain almost endless variety, posing challenges to life in some places while in others offering it tremendous opportunities to flourish and thrive. As you read you will begin to see this normally hidden world with new eyes and again a new understanding and appreciation of the environment any naturalists consider to be the planet’s best kept secret.