In honor of International Coastal Cleanup Day, Carnival Cruise Line has unveiled a new art installation at Port Tampa Bay in Floridafeaturing the work of a local teenage artist and conservator.
Five sculptures are now on display at the port’s cruise terminal, all created from discarded coastal litter and highlighting the need for cleaner oceans.
New sculptures decorate the cruise terminal
Five new sea life sculptures by 15-year-old Tampa artist and conservationist Ryan Moralevitz now decorate the Port Tampa Bay cruise terminal, welcoming guests on their way to and from cruise vacations.
The sculptures depict various marine animals – a seahorse, octopus, shark, sea turtle and dolphin – and are all made from discarded items, including bottle caps, food cans and metal utensils, crafted together in surprising detail.
Moralevitz has been participating in beach cleanups since he was four years old, and today he sells his artwork to support the Ocean Conservancy and Tampa Bay Watch.
Carnival Cruise Line chose Moralevitz’s artwork for the port terminal to help raise awareness of the need to clean up the oceans and interact with marine environments in responsible ways, which is always the focus of International Coastal Cleanup Day. which is held annually every September.
“International Coastal Cleanup Day is a great opportunity to further our efforts towards a more sustainable future and we are grateful for Ryan’s commitment to conservation and for lending his talents to make these sculptures possible amazing.” said Richard Pruitt, Carnival’s Vice President of Environmental Operations.
“Art has the ability to transcend barriers and unite us, and by blending art and ocean sustainability, these sculptures will inspire and promote our mission to advance environmental stewardship while preserving the ocean for generations to come.”
Port Tampa Bay executives, leaders from the Chamber of Commerce and Visit Tampa Bay, and representatives from local conservation groups were all on hand for the unveiling and to honor Moralevitz’s work.
“I am incredibly grateful to Carnival and other like-minded companies that strive to make environmentally conscious decisions to keep the oceans clean and thriving.” Moralevitz said.
Moralevitz runs”Greetings of Pisces” project to sell his artwork and support ocean conservation causes, donating all of his profits to various conservation organizations. The trash he uses to create his sculptures comes from local cleanups in which Moralevitz himself participates.
His artwork has been featured in local Tampa restaurants, art galleries and Super Bowl LV. He has also written and illustrated children’s books to inspire other young people to help save the ocean.
Carnival Cruise Line Conservation Efforts
In addition to selecting Moralevitz’s sculptures to decorate the cruise terminal, Carnival Cruise Line also donated $5,000 (USD) to the teen conservation initiative through The Fishes Wishes project.
The cruise line is well known for taking steps to promote cleaner oceans, from onboard efforts to reduce food waste, single-use plastics and other litter, to building ships with cleaner liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel.for the towing and scrapping of ships in shipyards with more environmentally safe practices.
Carnival Cruise Line team members, both onboard and ashore, also celebrated International Coastal Cleanup Day by participating in a fleet-wide cleanup of the waterways surrounding home and destination ports.
International Coastal Cleanup Day has been observed annually in September since 1986, and by 2020, more than 1 million volunteers around the globe—including cruise line crew members—had removed at least 23 million pounds of trash and debris from beaches and coastlines.
Every cruise passenger can help these cleanup efforts by joining the cleanup at their favorite port, making sure any trash they have at a cruise port is properly disposed of, selecting recycling options whenever it is possible and taking other steps to keep the oceans we all share cleaner and healthier.
