The goal of the Ocean Awareness and Advocacy Initiative is to respond to issues that are immediately affecting the overall health of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the world’s oceans and are important to the local community on a campaign basis. 

Through this Initiative, SOS strives to be a community leader by activating specific community members to respond to issues, by coordinating local responses to issues, and by building leaders within our community. 

Building Leaders: Through our Sanctuary Steward Docent program, SOS trains marine conservation leaders in our community.

Advocacy Work: SOS works on a number of campaigns to ban particularly problematic plastic items. Currently, SOS is working on garnering support for a polystyrene (Styrofoam) take-out container ban for San Mateo County and the City of Salinas as well as a ban on single-use plastic bags for Santa Cruz County, San Mateo County and the City of Salinas.  For more information go to our plastic bag bans website or our Styrofoam ban website.