OCEAN OASIS Receives PADI/SeaSpace Environmental Award

Written by: Summerhays Films
Date: June 2003

Producer/ Director Soames Summerhays was presented with the award by Karl Shreeves, Director of PADI, the international diving certification organization. The Environmental Awareness Award is presented to the individual or organization that has done the most in the past year for education and preservation of our vital marine environment. Previous recipients include Jacques Cousteau, Sylvia Earle, Houston Lighting & Power, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Dee Scarr, Lynn Funkhauser, the Gulf Reef Environmental Action Team, and Dr. Hillary Viders.

The audience of over 400 was told of the many positive effects that “Ocean Oasis” has had since the Premiere at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Among them is Mexico's President Fox promise to protect the islands in the Sea of Cortés as biosphere reserves after seeing "Ocean Oasis" in Mexico City. Earlier this year President Fox kept his promise and with the help of Mexican and US conservation organization placed the island of Espiritu Santos into the protection of the Commission on Natural Protected Areas, which oversees Mexico's park system. Ernesto Enkerlin, president of the commission praised public and private organizations that banded together to preserve the island complex and stated "What happened with Espiritu Santos is much more relevant than the money or the acreage, it sets a new precedent."

“Ocean Oasis” has now also become the cornerstone of environmental education curriculum for the state of Baja California Sur where it will reach 550 public schools, over 12,000 teachers and 720,000 students over the next 3 years.

For additional information contact:
Don Steele
Summerhays Films Distribution
Phone: 858 457-8652
Email: DESteele@OceanOasis.org