​ ONE WORLD ONE OCEAN The Adventures of Ed the Bear
Why do we use a teddy bear?
​Using a teddy bear means that the character can actually visit and interact with locations, wildlife and people in real-time. Ed the Bear is photographed at the various locations and is able to interacts with the location, the wildlife and people he meets.
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Being a ‘fictional character’ Ed can share and present the topics in a unique way as seen through the eyes of the character.
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How is the story created?
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'One World One Ocean - The Adventures of Ed the Bear' brings together the three main dimensions of my work, as a biologist, environmental educator and natural history author. Each of these different dimensions of my work has its own application but also its own limitations. The aim of this project was to bring together the best from all three disciplines in one project.
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One World One Ocean.
The One World One Ocean Project explores the fascinating global travels of Ed the Bear through literacy, science ad sustainability. Follow his oceanic journey from the Sussex Coast to the Atlantic, Pacific Ocean and Antarctica. Locations visited include Shoreham Beach Nature Reserve (UK), 14 NOAA Marine Reserves (USA), the Hawaiian Islands and South Africa so far.
The programme celebrates marine biodiversity and the importance of oceans while raising awareness of a variety of ocean conservation issues. It can be best summed up as a factual story seen through the eyes of a fictional character. 
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Aims of the project.
Show how we are all linked by one global ocean.
Raise awareness of global marine biodiversity.
Show how UK waters and coastline are just as fascinating, biodiverse
and important as the global location visited.
Demonstrate how we rely on the oceans everyday.
Raise awareness of how we are all impacting the oceans
Raise awareness of how we will be affected by this impact on the ocean.
Demonstrate how we can all help the oceans and the planet (and ultimately
ourselves) by living more sustainably and reducing our impact.​
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ADVENTURES OF ED THE BEAR EXPLAINED
Ed the Bear is a fictional character (based around a real teddy bear) who is travelling the world to find out more about the impact humans are having on the oceans and also visiting beautiful places and observing fascinating wildlife.
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He reports on his experiences through a journal weblog. Ed returns to the UK periodically to visit schools and events to share his experiences and pass on his unique message.
Who is Ed the Bear?
Ed the Bear is not an expert and so can ask the sort of questions a child might ask, explain things in a simplified manner, stimulate interest and speak with his own passion. He can be as naive or intelligent as required to get that particular message across.
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I also choose a bear because many UK schools have a school or class bear which they use in a similar way.
There is is a broad long term story line that I am working to which influences the locations and general themes. When Ed is sent to a location I include a brief of what we want Ed to experience and what extra knowledge we want him to gain. The exciting part is that it is down to the people I send him to to decide how they will do this and any extra experiences they might include. I then write up the weblog entries based on the experiences and images from each location and also entwined with things Ed has already learned.
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There are various story threads within project. For example, Ed the Bear's undestanding of climate change related issues are built up of visits to many locations, each that add another part of the picture. The same is true for marine debris.
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Other threads include heritage and culture ranging from our own marine heritage, wreck diving, Hawaiian culture and Ed has also visted three native american indian reserves.
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People have also added some wonderful side stories that have helped to develop the character as a real entitiy. During Ed's first visit to the Hawaiian Islands he was taught to surf by a Hawaiian Boy. Other sites have then built upon the surfing story line. This goes further than just adding a fun element. Surfing is a great way to teach an understanding of the science of ocean waves and the cultural significants of surfing to the Hawaiian population.
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Ed the Bear has also learned some Hawaiian words and phrases. 'Malama i Ke Kai' means 'Care for the Oceans' and 'Kuleana' means 'responsibility'.
Ed the Bear has been travelling since 2009 and the places he visits and the things he experiences are real and everything that happens that is good, bad and sometimes funny are true accounts. This provides both a powerful and also uplifting message
