Over a thousand people answer the ocean's call at Blue Expedition Cantabria

Surf & Nature Alliance is proud to have been part of a citizen mobilization that proves ocean awareness in Cantabria is more alive than ever. For four intense days at the Dique de Gamazo in Santander, more than a thousand Cantabrians — students, families, surfers, activists and maritime professionals — joined Blue Expedition. This European campaign arrived on our shores to highlight and fight against the invasion of marine plastics threatening the health of our oceans and, by extension, all of us.

An ocean community in action

The eco-active museum ship MATER, a former tuna vessel converted to a floating environmental education center, became the epicenter of a transformative experience. More than 400 students from eleven regional schools — Eloy Villanueva, Sardinero, María Torner, Bielva, Mayer, La Anunciación, El Salvador, Cisneros, Estela de Zurita, Compañía de María and Marina de Cudeyo — embarked on an educational journey that goes far beyond the classroom.

These young “guardamares” (ocean guardians) not only learned about the problem of marine plastics; they became agents of change, direct witnesses to how collective action can generate real solutions. Entire families participated in workshops themed “Somos guardamares” (“We are ocean guardians”), reinforcing the fundamental idea that protecting the ocean is a shared, intergenerational, and inescapable responsibility.

Blue Ambassadors: a network of real commitment

As members of the Blue Ambassadors network of the European Blue Point project, Surf & Nature Alliance joins 27 other Cantabrian entities who have stepped up. Not just to sign a symbolic document, but to collaborate as a network and encourage several of our volunteers to participate and raise awareness; being a Blue Ambassador means:

Being publicly recognized as a key agent in defending the sea: because the ocean needs voices that represent it with knowledge and passion.
Participating in a network alongside fishing guilds, NGOs, clubs and companies: cross-sector collaboration is the only way to create lasting impact.
Sharing best practices and generating alliances: collective knowledge multiplies solutions.
Promoting joint solutions to challenges like biodiversity loss and marine litter: because global problems require locally organized responses.

Among the Blue Ambassadors are organizations with whom we share vision and purpose: Asociación Vital Alsar, with whom we work closely to promote ocean culture; the Cantabrian Maritime Museum, the Cantabrian Royal Sailing Federation, MARE, the European Blue School Marina de Cudeyo, the Cantabrian Maritime Cluster, and many other entities demonstrating that when the ocean calls, Cantabria responds.

Direct action: from sea to beach

Theory without practice changes nothing. That’s why representatives of the Blue Ambassadors network organizations met on Friday to sail from Santander to the Ribamontán al Mar Surf Reserve, where they “fished” for plastic.

On Saturday, about thirty volunteers went to Los Peligros beach for a day of waste collection and characterization. Every container recovered, each cigarette butt documented, each fragment of net classified is an act of resistance against throwaway culture. It’s also an exercise in ocean literacy: knowing what lands on our shores helps us understand what needs to change in our consumption habits.

Actions that were more than mere sea or beach cleanup; they were political, educational, and community acts. “Surfsustainability” in action.

Blue Point: circular blue economy with a vision for the future

Blue Expedition is part of the European Blue Point project, in which the Cantabrian government participates through SODERCAN, alongside public and private entities from France, Ireland, Portugal, Gipuzkoa, Cantabria and Asturias. The aim is not just to clean the ocean — which is urgent — but to create a new value chain around recovered marine plastics: economic development, green jobs, sustainable entrepreneurship, and marine habitat protection.

This is where Surf & Nature Alliance’s vision fully connects: appreciating coastal and marine natural heritage is not just an environmental concern, but also a smart territorial development strategy. Waves, marine ecosystems and coastal areas are natural, sporting, sociocultural and economic resources that must be managed sustainably and with community participation.

SODERCAN’s role will be to advise and train regional entrepreneurs in this business niche, which also protects marine habitats and encourages sustainable blue economies. It’s a replicable model that can make Cantabria a reference in circular blue economy in the Atlantic.

Culture, art and commitment: ending with meaning

The Blue Expedition’s activities in Santander were not limited to technical talks. The interactive exhibition “Cuidando el mar para cuidar la vida” (“Caring for the sea to care for life”), the screening of Enrique Talledo’s short film “Un mar de plásticos” (“A Sea of Plastics”), the roundtable on preventive challenges facing plastic pollution, and artistic creation with marine plastics by painter Jose Antonio Quintana made up a program that appealed to both intellect and emotion.

Closing with the reading of the Blue Ambassadors Commitment and music from Pablo Burgués sealed four days of intense mobilization with a clear message: the ocean is not an infinite resource or a dump; it is life, culture, identity. And it’s in our hands.

Leadership driven by conviction

The participation of Javier Cantera (ES), al frente de un equipo de voluntarios de Surf & Nature Alliance pleading a team of Surf & Nature Alliance volunteers from California, New York and England, and also from Asociación Vital Alsar, at this event reinforces both organizations’ commitment to marine protection and building an informed, active and resilient ocean community. His presence alongside dozens of volunteers, educators and activists is a testament that change isn’t made by institutions alone: we build it together, from the grassroots, among the communities that live, enjoy and depend on the sea.

The sea calls, and Cantabria answers

Blue Expedition has left Santander, but its legacy remains. Seeds planted in those four days — in the minds of students, in ambassador conversations, in the hands of volunteers who cleaned Los Peligros beach — will grow into concrete actions, braver policies, and a deeper, more committed ocean culture.

Surf & Nature Alliance will continue to work so that Cantabria’s and the world’s coastal zones are protected, sustainably managed, and valued as the natural, cultural and economic heritage they are. Because we have the responsibility to care for this blue heritage we inherited for future generations.

The ocean won’t wait. Neither will we.

🌊 The Surf and Nature Alliance is dedicated to ocean conservation, with special attention to surfbreaks, their marine ecosystems, coastal communities and the development of scientific knowledge and ocean literacy. Join us!