Timothy Ray

(Photo taken from his Memorial page.)

I’d like to suggest that we dedicate this year’s World Oceans Day to Timothy Ray, the passionate young ocean sciences student who passed away last month (as previously mentioned in this blog).

If life had continued according to the normal order of things, Tim would have had about another fifty years on this Earth, and would no doubt have dedicated much of his life to the preservation of the oceans. So with his premature loss we have a shortfall of about 18,250 ocean days that we need to somehow make up for. We could start by everybody reading this blog observing World Oceans Day 2011 on 8th June. I know that most of you never met him, but take it from me, he was one of the good guys. So I hope this is okay with you.

If you’re short of ideas on what to do for Oceans Day, here are a few suggestions:

1. Get informed – maybe watch one or more of the TED Mission Blue talks. If you want the bad news, check out Jeremy Jackson. If you’d prefer something more upbeat, Brian Skerry is very good, and has some superb photographs. But there are lots more there too – you’ll be spoiled for choice.

2. Make a donation – to Oceana, Blue Frontier Campaign, or one of the other nonprofits working for the future of the oceans. See also Marine Conservation Society UK.

3. Have your own mini beach clean-up, or if you don’t live near the coast, clean up along the banks of a river or stream. All rivers lead to the ocean – and take rubbish along with them.

I’ve been trying to think what I can do to mark the day. It seems odd, given that I am in the middle of an ocean, that I’m short of ideas that go above and beyond what I am doing every day anyway. I could refrain from swearing at the ocean for 24 hours, no matter how provoked, but that seems a bit lame. Let me know if you have any better suggestions!

Other Stuff:

Photo: my Hawaiian turtle, positioned above the hatch to the sleeping cabin, just in front of my rowing position. The turtle is my favourite of all sea creatures. I bought this sticker when I was in Hawaii for the 5th International Marine Debris Conference this March.

Ocean life goes on. A few more miles under the hull today. My hands are almost impossibly crusty, with calluses and flaking skin, but otherwise the bod is bearing up okay.

Sponsored Miles: Grateful thanks to Sindy Davis, Kathleen Detseye and Kathy Dervin

Latest News: Keith Whelan, mentioned by Roz in yesterday’s blog:

Irishman Keith Whelan has been rescued off the Australian coast overnight after suffering a minor injury while at sea.
Keith’s rowing boat was hit by a large wave last night while he slept. The force of the wave threw him across the boat’s inner cabin and resulted in a laceration to the head. Keith was able to stop the bleeding himself and with that in mind, decided to seek help at first light.
At approx. 7am local time Keith alerted a member of his team based in the UK via sat phone, who in turn alerted the Australian authorities.
Contact was made with the local radio operator in Geraldton and once it was established that there were no fishing boats in the area, contact was made with Kalbarri search and rescue.
Keith was too far offshore for Kalbarri search and rescue, so the matter was handed to Perth Water Police. Perth Water Police issued a Pan Pan and a passing container ship diverted and has now recovered Keith.
The ship is now en route to land with Keith on board.
Once he reaches land, Keith will be assessed and if necessary, will receive medical treatment.
An update will be issued on his condition at this stage.
Keith initially departed Geraldton on his challenge on May 7th. Since then, bad weather has hampered his progress and forced him to spend some time on the Abrohlos Islands, off the Western Australian coast, from where he departed on June 4th.

32 Comments

  • Hey Roz, We are on the same wavelength – no pun intended… I mentioned a community beach rake, starting a community compost, and circling the neighborhood collecting plastic bags to return them to the market for recycling – before they reach our Oceans – in your blog yesterday…

    Anyway, Great idea about dedicating some work to Tim… “…So with his premature loss we have a shortfall of about 18,250 ocean days that we need to somehow make up for…” Folks, Roz has AT LEAST 100 ACTIVE Rozlings here – Let alone the millions following her according to Google… But lets just take the “100 Active Rozlings”… If each of us does something good for our oceans, rivers, lakes, streams and other waterways that lead to them, Daily, for the next 6 months (Not very long, Eh), Together we will have made up for this “shortfall” IN SOME WAYS! That is Not very much for each of us 100 to do… Now if only we can get Roz’ 2 Million followers to do this “Daily”, Then the world would change Tomorrow – and be unrecognizable in those same 6 months…

    • P.S. Roz, You got 40,000 more “Results” on Google JUST SINCE YESTERDAY – 2,010,000 yesterday to 2,050,000 today – Amazing! Seems like my calculations yesterday, One “Result” for every 3 or 4 Oar Strokes across all these oceans, was wrong… Because 40,000 in one day would suggest that you made 120,000 – 160,000 Oar Strokes yesterday, and even I find that a little hard to believe (Chuckle)… The “Results” must be growing “Geometrically” rather than “Arithmetically” per stroke – which is great…

      • A wonderful, humorous, cartoon-ish image of Roz – hair streaming behind her – as she hydroplanes across the Indian Ocean paddling 120,000 – 160,000 Oar Strokes a day just popped to mind… Might be a good single-fold “Note Card” for one of Roz’ “Artistic-type” Rozlings to create and sell for a portion of the proceeds to go to her causes???

  • Wonderful sentiments about Tim Ray, and some excellent ideas about things that can be done for the earth and oceans in his memory.  I recently got my local book discussion group to read Sylvia Earle’s “The World is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean’s Are One”, and the response was wonderful.  I strongly encourage that everyone, if you are members of a book club or book discussion group, consider reading this excellent book, which shows the interconnectivity between the health of the oceans and the health of humankind.  Or any other similar book.

    And I have a question, and today’s image of your Hawaiian turtle brought it back to mind.  Back on April 30, as you were making your initial launch, you showed a picture of you and June together in front of that hatch, and the turtle was visible on the top of the hatch.  My question is about the plaque that is just to the right of the hatch.  In that photo, the only words that were visible (the plaque was partially obscured by June’s dress) were “When I grow up … wanna be like ….”  For those of us who haven’t seen Sedna in person, can you tell us what the rest of the plaque says?

    Happy World Oceans Day, Roz.  You are a shining example of someone really caring about the health of the oceans, the health of the planet, and the health of humankind.

  • @Rico that must be a new plaque, it was not there in 2008 in Hawaii.
    @92d64cc7e43b3cddd6b9150cdf602d0f:disqus
    Roz, maybe you can put together a small catchment on a line like Anna does to see if you could trap anything in the water by dragging it behind you. Any bit of cloth that can be made into a sort of a pot shape – Anna used a pair of pants with boots attached and the line attached at the waist – that can be dragged for a few miles behind you. The pants would be too big, but a small piece of cloth attached to a ring of some kind might be better (might you have a short piece of 6″ plastic pipe or something that could be formed into a 6″ ring?). That way you can remove from the ocean any plastic or foreign objects you find – your part for World Oceans Day!

  • I heard an interview with the Captain of the ship that picked up Keith Whelan & he said that they did bring the row boat on board & that it sustained some damage as they were doing so. It sounds like Keith is OK, so thats the main thing.
    Thanks for the reminder about World Oceans Day, Roz. I’ll have a walk along the Swan River at lunch time tomorrow & do my bit.
    Nice turtle.

    • Thanks Pippa for the information about Keith’s boat.
      Rico – how on earth can you read what is on that plaque! I can’t make it out at all. 

      • Rita – When I click on the picture, it gives me that same picture again on a separate screen.  But when I then click on “that”, it blows it up into a hugely magnified picture, and the plaque appears about two inches (5cm) across on my screen.  The writing is very legible.  I first noticed the plaque at the time of the launch, but then forgot about it until Roz mentioned the Hawaiian turtle today.  I’m using Internet Explorer, so maybe that has something to do with the way the photos are displayed on my screen, and on the ability to magnify?

        • Rico, I got to step 2, but did not go to step 3 … Like Rita, I thought it was simply too small to read and you had some secret stash of private pix … here is the large photo
          http://bit.ly/JRLaunchDeux and the attached snapshot is of the plaque.  I too am interested to learn more …

        • Yes,  Rico, I tried it and, it works using IE, but not Chrome. But as you found, it is not possible to read the rest, and June won’t move out of the way.

  • Thank you is a small gesture I can say for you suggesting to dedicate World Ocean day to Tim Ray. He was my cousin & he was an amazing man. Thank you for honoring him in this way.
    Kim Popovic

  • Here’s a suggestion for you, Roz, for what to do for World Oceans Day. Visualize!  Maybe play some spacey, oceany music.

    Imagine first of all, all your Rozlings around the world holding hands (no matter the physical distance apart), and imagine from their hearts streams of pink (love) and green (healing) light flowing towards you in your little Sedna on the ocean. Imagine your heart opening to receive all these streams of pink and green light. Imagine your entire body being a giant heart pulsing those streams of light, pink, and green, and now gold (spirit) as well, out into the ocean around you, and then imagine those streams of light flowing across the ocean, penetrating the depths, spreading out to join the other oceans you have rowed, and the rivers that flow to them, until the light has spread through every body of water on the planet. Imagine all other (non-Rozling) ocean lovers drawn to bodies of water closest to them, joining hands and opening hearts and streaming pink and gold light into those bodies of water to join with the streams of light you have poured into the ocean around you and sent around the planet.

    Take some deep breaths and know you are making a greater difference than you sometimes realize!

  • Thought of you as I read about this Ocean & Neuroscience Conference in San Francisco this week:  http://www.mercurynews.com/central-coast/ci_18213980?nclick_check=1 I wonder if you agree with their hypotheses: “Goldin,
    the Stanford neuroscientist with expertise in the effect of meditation
    on the body, said the ocean induces a mild meditative state. Rather than
    simply relaxing people, the meditative state heightens awareness of the
    surroundings and one’s own emotions.The “whoosh” sound of the ocean “brings up feelings of relaxation and tranquillity,” she said. Harnessing the power of neuroscience can hone advocacy for the ocean, Nichols said. “People
    get really tired and bummed out from relentless bad news. This effort
    has to do with reminding people how good the ocean can make them feel,”
    he said.Hoping that you are having a peaceful, tranquil, reflective, relaxing World Oceans Day Roz…. Thinking of you everyday friend!

  • Thought of you as I read about this Ocean & Neuroscience Conference in San Francisco this week:  http://www.mercurynews.com/central-coast/ci_18213980?nclick_check=1 I wonder if you agree with their hypotheses: “Goldin,
    the Stanford neuroscientist with expertise in the effect of meditation
    on the body, said the ocean induces a mild meditative state. Rather than
    simply relaxing people, the meditative state heightens awareness of the
    surroundings and one’s own emotions.The “whoosh” sound of the ocean “brings up feelings of relaxation and tranquillity,” she said. Harnessing the power of neuroscience can hone advocacy for the ocean, Nichols said. “People
    get really tired and bummed out from relentless bad news. This effort
    has to do with reminding people how good the ocean can make them feel,”
    he said.Hoping that you are having a peaceful, tranquil, reflective, relaxing World Oceans Day Roz…. Thinking of you everyday friend!

  • Tim’s ashes were scattered at sea. I imagine, now he is exploring all the wonders of the oceans. He is swimming under the polar ice cap, diving to the the ocean floor. He’s discovering all the secrets of the ocean.

    It’s impossible to think that one day can make up for what would have been a lifetime of contributions. Maybe, that’s the point, people should consider what they can be in their lifetime, not just in one day.

    I wonder what Tim would suggest we do on World Ocean Day. I think
    he would encourage us to DO right for our planet earth.

    Julie Jackson-Ray, Tim’s mom.

    • Hey Julie: Just what has come up here on Roz’ blog a lot the last few days… Throwing money at a problem unfortunately is needed when the problem is this big… BUT, BUT, There have to be people there to DO what has to be done too… Talk is great, Discussion is great, Making a statement regarding the problem is great, Planning is very important, But then things have to be Done – not just talked about more – and the money has to be there too… But, If we keep talking, and just keep throwing more money at the problem, then those throwing the most money at the problem may expect the biggest say – and that is NOT always best… They may have ulterior motives, goals, plans and desires that they hope their money will “Buy” them…

    • You are courageous and beautiful! I mourn for your loss… I will say hi to your son every time I go surfing and will wish him well.

      Thank you for posting. 

    • I would like to add that our family has been in contact with Oceana, and they have provided for us a donation page where you can make donations to Oceana in Tim’s name. https://act.oceana.org/donate/d-donate-tr/

      Steve Ray, Tim’s brother

  • See what 6,300 L.A. school kids did for Ocean Day 2011! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E-KSmzd6fw

    This video was shared on world oceans day facebook page. The lyrics are so fitting for Roz that I was compelled to share it far and wide in honor. I think Roz will beam once she gets a chance to see it! Happy Oceans Day. Other links including Roz’s have been cut off in the past. So a youtube search of “18th Annual Kids Ocean Day 2011 – Los Angeles, CA” should get you there! Cheers all! Have a wonderful day!~Jay

    • Give a little bit

      Give a little bit of your love to me

      Give a little bit

      I’ll give a little bit of my love to you

      There’s so much that we need to share

      Send a smile and show you care

      I’ll give a little bit

      I’ll give a little bit of my love to you

      So give a little bit

      Give a little bit of your time to me

      See the rower with the lonely eyes

      Take her hand, you’ll be surprised

      Give a little bit

      Give a little bit of your love to me

      I’ll give a little bit of my love for you

      Now’s the time that we need to share

      So find yourself, we’re on our way back home

      Going home

      Don’t you need to feel at home?

      Oh yeah, we gotta sing

      some liberties taken 🙂
      Row Roz Row!

      • Thanks Jay for adding this to the comments page. That looked like a beautiful clean beach, an ideal setting for the event. I hope it will always look that way! 

  • Hi Roz,

    Max loves your turtle sticker. I don’t know if he’s ever told you (or shown you his fluffy collection – if not, he definitely will when you visit us in SF), but turtles are his absolute favourite creatures on the whole planet. He knows the names of most of them in Latin (not bad for a 9-year-old) and is so concerned about their conservation that whenever he sees rubbish on the ground he picks it up and puts it in a bin rather than have it blow into the oceans (again, slightly unusual for a 9-year-old). When I told him that it’s World Oceans Day tomorrow and asked what we could do to make a difference, he immediately declared that he’s going to time our showers in the morning and count how many pieces of rubbish we collect during the day. He’s making posters to stick at school to tell all the other kids to do the same! I do believe you have another Ocean Warrior on your side.

    Incidentally, he thinks that your turtle sticker is chelonia agassizii,a type of green sea turtle. Or something like that.

  • Roz,
    Thank you for making such a wonderful proposal that honors my son Tim. World Ocean Day is a world wide event and Tim’s perspective was of the world and it’s oceans. Tim was a modest person that wanted to lead by example and bringing notoriety to himself was not important to him, unless that could be used to further greater good. Preserving the oceans is such a greater good and he would be pleased that he could contribute to that purpose.

    I will miss him everyday and while his passing is a loss to the ocean environment, I feel the loss in much more personal ways. He was a light in my life and that honoring him during Ocean Day helps keep that light flickering for a little while.

    • @4b8438a160d5a608440f6e3f49a35c5e:disqus , Roz, @fcbbffebe60a5c6930cac95107469af4:disqus  Rita, @de174ef08bbf42b4a751b6eb18f68ea9:disqus and the rest of the Rozlings, One of the Rozlings here awhile back, I think with the news of Tim’s passing, repeated an ancient story – “The Magic Memory Box” story… A Beautiful, Small Box that has unlimited space to store the happiest of memories in life, and no space for sad or unpleasant ones… The “Box” can be opened at our most difficult times in life, when we are struggling “just to make it through another day”, the contents can then be scanned – reminding us of all the great times we have had in spite of our current struggles – for the boost that we need to “make it through another day”… Then, once rejuvenated a bit, the box is closed, to protect its precious contents, until we have more wondrous memories to add to it – Seeing Tim’s legacy being carried-on will add lots of wonderful memories to that little magic box – until we need to open it again for a “boost” when needed… Best wishes to all!

  • For World Oceans Day, Max made posters for school. He got fifty-two 2nd and 3rd Grade children and teachers involved in his campaign to collect rubbish that might otherwise have polluted the oceans, and taught them about using less water. 

    The challenge you issued in yesterday’s blog resulted in one more person’s action, which triggered 52 more people to take their own action. Every stroke you take, every challenge you issue, every speech you give, takes the world a step closer to the tipping point. 

    You’re doing a grand job.  xxx

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