Success Stories

The Washed Ashore Project and its traveling exhibit of Ocean Ambassadors leave a lasting impression on people. That impression leads to action.

Below are some individual success stories. To see more responses to the Washed Ashore Project's exhibit please visit the Tangible Outcomes page.

June Moroney, Napa, CA

Hi Angela,

As I mentioned to you when we met at the Marine Mammal Center as I was working on the Oil Spill, since seeing the Washed Ashore Exhibit I have been very careful to take in reusable bags with me to grocery and other stores. If I realize that I have forgotten my bag while I am in the store, I actually go back to my car to get the bags that I keep on the front seat.

In addition, I invited a community group, Napa Valley CanDo, to come to my church, the First United Methodist Church, to give a presentation on their project, the Better Bag Project, and their presentation on how to properly dispose of medications. I organized a group from our church to come to the center to see the exhibit. I am very sorry to see it go, and will miss it when I come into crew on Tuesdays.

I suspect that the exhibit inspired behavioral changes in me because I saw the exhibit every week as I was going in to take care of the animals in our care on our Tuesday Day Crew, and because I saw the painful results of entanglements and injuries to the animals.
~June

PCC Student Responses to the Exhibit

"I needed a dramatic intervention with my approach towards recycling and changing my lifestyle, thanks to Angela and her team — I am passing on the lessons to my children and people that have grown up in countries where pollution is just part of life. So I thank you... as it may help save life under the water, which in turn will prosper life out of the water."
~ Syed, PCC college student

"...it wasn't just random facts or astonishing numbers that I learned. While volunteering I saw what it was like for people to really believe in what they were doing. There were so many dedicated people putting their time and effort into a project that despite the bad connotations of garbage and morbidity, was actually really beautiful. The fact that so many people were involved in it made it seem even more sacred and special. The difference that it made to my life was huge. I won't even think the same way about plastic or recycling. Or even about art. Despite everything else I learned, this project reminded me that art can teach people. Art can give an important message. Art does have meaning."
~ Chadwick, PCC college student

"Not only is the art beautiful, it serves a trifold purpose, by teaching, by cleaning up, and by recycling. It 'teaches about environmental issues', as Ms. Pozzi puts it, specifically, by educating the public, including children, about how our garbage is ending up in the oceans, globally, and on our shores."
~ Abendigo, PCC college student