You could operate a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), witness how sharks see underwater, guess how many Legos made up a Gortons fisherman, learn ways to protect the blue planet, and enjoy a free cup of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

The seventh annual World Oceans Day Festival, held Sunday in the back tent and South Terrace behind the New England Aquarium, featured all of these activities and many more.

The goal of the day was to celebrate and connect people to the vibrant community of ocean protectors. The festival, a platform to share the work and collaborative spirit of the Aquarium and the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium in protecting the blue planet, included exhibits on shark tagging and right whales, sustainable seafood demonstrations and tastings, and many others.

In addition to the great topics and activities of our internal groups, 28 of our external partners were in attendance to highlight the variety of people it takes to protect the ocean.

Support from the Lowell Institute assured the festival was free of charge, and Fresh Market supplied the seafood for the cooking demonstrations.

See more photos from the festival at Twitter #oceansdayneaq.

 See photos from the event:

Oh, Snap! Contest Winners

Anyone who snapped and shared pictures from the festival using the #OceansDayNEAQ hashtag were entered to win Boston Duck Tour/New England Aquarium combo passes. All the images were “winners,” but we randomly selected one person from Twitter and Instagram to win tickets. Here are the lucky snappers!