Nautica to Celebrate World Oceans Day

NEW YORK, June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Nautica®, a leading global lifestyle brand, and Oceana, an ocean conservation organization dedicated to protecting the world's oceans, will join forces to raise awareness for "World Oceans Day" on June 8, 2011.  World Oceans Day pays homage to the world's oceans and the important role the oceans play in our lives.  As an official holiday, it aims to engage more people in the fight to reverse the declining health of marine ecosystems.  

To celebrate this official United Nations holiday, Nautica will show its commitment to water and to the mission of Oceana through a variety of activities taking place throughout the day in New York City and Washington, DC.  In New York, the activities will include a clean up in the Hudson River and in DC, the cleanup will be around the Potomac River.   Nautica will be rolling out a consumer education program in 20 Nautica outlet stores across the US to raise awareness for World Oceans Day and Oceana's vision to restore the precious ocean ecosystems and to identify practical solutions to save the world's oceans.  Nautica will also introduce its new World Oceans Day t-shirt, "A Deeper Understanding," which incorporates a coral reef theme, sold on Nautica.com.

Another component of the World Oceans Day celebration is the Ocean Hero contest.  The Ocean Hero Award was created by Oceana in 2009 to recognize an exceptional personal commitment to ocean conservation.  Each year since the contest was created, Oceana searches for an adult and youth contributor who are making a difference every day in the world's oceans.  This contest began in March 2011 and the winners will be announced on World Oceans Day.  

"The public doesn't often see it, but the key to saving our oceans is amassing policy victories, one by one, country by country, that lead to tremendous outcomes like ending shark finning in the U.S. or safeguarding millions of square miles of ocean floor from destructive fishing," says Oceana CEO Andrew Sharpless.  "So World Oceans Day presents this wonderful opportunity to shed light on those triumphs and inform the public about ways they can get involved. We're incredibly grateful to Nautica for helping spread this message, which we hope will help us earn more and more victories for our oceans."

Starting at 9:00 am, Nautica and Oceana employees will embark on an all day clean up of the Hudson and Potomac Rivers using nets to pick up and skim debris from the water.  Last year over 60 employees came out and collected over 300 lbs of trash in New York City.  

About Nautica:  

Founded in 1983, Nautica® is a leading global lifestyle brand ranging from men's, women's and children's apparel and accessories to a complete home collection.  Nautica® products are refined casual classics inspired and energized by the water that are always crisp, clean and distinct.  Today Nautica® is available in more than 60 countries with more than 200 Nautica® branded stores worldwide.  In 2003, the Company was acquired by VF Corporation, a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel with more than 30 brands, including Wrangler, The North Face,  Lee, Vans, Nautica,  7 For All Mankind, Eagle Creek, Eastpak, Ella Moss, JanSport, lucy, John Varvatos, Kipling, Majestic, Napapijri, Red Kap, Reef, Riders and Splendid.   For additional information, please go to www.nautica.com and www.vfc.com.

About Oceana:

Oceana is the largest international advocacy group working solely to protect the world's oceans. Oceana wins policy victories for the oceans using science-based campaigns. Since 2001, we have protected over 1.2 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea turtles, sharks, dolphins and other sea creatures. More than 500,000 supporters have already joined Oceana. Global in scope, Oceana has offices in North, South and Central America and Europe. To learn more, please visit www.oceana.org.

SOURCE Nautica