Naomi McIntosh’s escape from the hubbub of everyday life is just five minutes from her home in windward Oahu.

“I’m a local girl, born and raised in Kailua, and Kailua Beach is my healing place,” she said. “It’s where I go when I’m sad. It’s where I go when I’m happy. When I travel, I go to the ocean the day before I leave, and it’s the first place I want to be when I return.

“I spend a lot of time there playing with my 7-year-old son; it’s such a great feeling to see him develop the same strong connection to the ocean that I have.”

McIntosh is the senior advisor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, one of four co-trustees that manage the 582,578-square-mile Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (papahanaumokuakea.gov), the largest contiguous fully protected conservation area in the United States.

NOAA declared 2017 the Year of the Monk Seal to raise awareness about Hawaii’s endangered native seal and encourage ocean stewardship. To that end, it partnered with, among others, the Polynesian Voyaging Society (hokulea.com), the Marine Mammal Center (marinemammalcenter.org) and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (marinesanctuary.org) to launch an annual event at Ko Olina Resort for World Oceans Day.

“Various Hawaii organizations have celebrated World Oceans Day in the past, but last year was special because there was so much excitement about what was happening to promote the importance of our oceans, including NOAA’s Year of the Monk Seal and the conclusion of Hokulea’s Malama Honua Worldwide Voyage,” McIntosh said. “We’re carrying on the momentum at this year’s event with expanded activities.”

One of the highlights will be the world premiere of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Moana” in the Hawaiian language. The University of Hawaii’s Academy for Creative Media System funded and coordinated the project with the intent of using it for educational purposes in Hawaii and beyond. Kamehameha Schools graduate Auli‘i Cravalho, who reprises the title role, will appear at World Oceans Day to perform two songs from the animated blockbuster, which was originally released in 2016.

“Considering the movie’s storyline about a Hawaiian girl’s love for the ocean, having the premiere at our event in Hawaii, right beside the sea, is so fitting,” McIntosh said.

New this year is a “career corner” where teens can interact with scientists, researchers and conservationists to learn about the work they’re doing; the hope is youngsters will be inspired to follow in their footsteps.

On hand, for example, will be a NOAA biologist who studies Hawaii’s whales, turtles and monk seals. NOAA divers will demonstrate how to operate a scuba rebreather.

Other NOAA representatives will explain how drones are facilitating research of marine habitats and animals, and how practical items such as magnets and hair clips can be fashioned from recycled plastic. Members of the Polynesian Voyaging Society will show kids how to use a star compass, tie nautical knots and build canoe models.

Attendees can also look forward to performances by Halau Mapuna Leo, a hula school hailing from nearby Waianae, and Na Hoku ­Hanohano Award winners Kapena and Kalani Pe‘a, who also won the Grammy Award for best regional roots album.

World Oceans Day’s global theme for 2018 is plastic pollution prevention and cleaning litter from the ocean.

“Seabirds, turtles and fish die from eating marine debris, which they mistake for food,” McIntosh said. “These include bits broken down from larger plastics such as bottles, which the marine animals can’t digest properly. More than 300,000 whales and dolphins worldwide die each year from being entangled in lost and discarded fishing gear. They starve or drown due to restricted movement, physical trauma or infection.

“Despite the huge challenges, I believe if people do their part, we can have healthy oceans that sustain humans, plants and animals.”

That hope is capsulized in the logo designed by Kahi Fujii, a graphic artist with NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. It depicts Papahanaumokuakea’s abundant bird and marine life in the shape of a sailing canoe.

“The motto ‘He wa‘a he moku, he moku he wa‘a’ means ‘a canoe is an island, an island is a canoe,’” McIntosh said. “World Oceans Day brings mankind together as one ohana to celebrate our oceans and the life-sustaining resources they provide.

“As Kahi’s striking illustration shows, the goal is for all of us to be on one canoe, of one mind, united in purpose to protect Earth’s beautiful, fragile oceans.”

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WORLD OCEANS DAY

In June 1992, the government of Canada proposed the concept of World Oceans Day at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (informally known as the Earth Summit) in Rio de Janeiro. With support from hundreds of ocean conservation organizations and tens of thousands of people worldwide over the ensuing years, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution in December 2008, officially recognizing World Oceans Day as June 8 each year.

On that day and during the week before and after it, people around the globe celebrate and honor the oceans via events ranging from symposiums, art exhibits and film screenings to beach cleanups, paddling and sailing tours, and festivals at aquariums and marine attractions.

The Ocean Project, a strategic communications organization focused on conservation and sustainability projects, spearheads the coordination and promotion of World Oceans Day observances in more than 120 countries from its headquarters in Providence, R.I. Among its partners are some 2,000 zoos, aquariums, museums, universities, businesses, government agencies and sailing, diving and other recreational interest groups. A complete calendar of this year’s events is posted on worldoceansday.org.

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.