Marketing slogan needs some work

Sea them before we kill them.”

“Here today gone tomorrow. Really. No. REALLY.”

“See shame by the seashore.”

Those are just a few of the slogans for zoos and public aquariums like The Living Coast Discovery Center (nee The Nature Center) I’ve come up with lately.

Admittedly they don’t have the pizazz and jubilance that can build a catchy and successful marketing campaign.

They do, however, capture a certain urgency while only hinting at inevitability. Granted, I don’t know that instilling panic and guilt in a visitor inspires them to purchase branded merchandise but I do believe that it prompts some introspection, even if only fleeting.

These are the days when children, tourists and visiting friends and families flock to attractions like The Nature Center, the San Diego Zoo and Birch Aquarium.

They gasp, ooh and ahh over the animals on exhibit. They—we—marvel at how cool they are. We may even reflect for a moment on what it means when we see a particular species of animal is endangered.

Then we move on to the next exhibit and gawk at the display while half-heartedly listening to the zookeeper explain the delicate balance in the ecosystem and the role we play in affecting the globe’s oceans and forests and deserts and wildlands. And then we move on. I don’t know how much of that information sinks in and inspires significant changes in behavior.
For years the sewage at the U.S.-Mexico border has created problems and health hazards for marine life and people.

For years plastics have been creating islands of trash in the middle of the ocean while detritus rises up on our shorelines.
For years ocean temperatures have risen beyond normal ranges, killing sea life and laying the groundwork for atmospheric rivers to rain down destructively on land.

We visit these zoos and aquariums and nature centers and see the exhibits and perhaps take for granted that the animals and plants on display will always be with us. That the world as we know it is indestructible. It’s not.

“See world. It’s almost too late.” How would that look on a hoodie?