In honor of International Coastal Cleanup Day, Carnival Cruise Line has unveiled a new art installation at Port Tampa Bay in Florida, featuring a local teen artist and conservationist’s work.
Five sculptures are now showcased at the port’s cruise terminal, all created from discarded coastal trash and highlighting the need for cleaner oceans.
New Sculptures Decorate 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 of discarded items, including bottle caps, food cans, and metal utensils, crafted together with surprising detail.
Moralevitz has been participating in beach cleanups since he was four years old, and today he sells his artwork to support Ocean Conservancy and Tampa Bay Watch.
Carnival Cruise Line selected Moralevitz’s artwork for the port terminal to help raise awareness for 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, 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 talent to make these amazing sculptures possible,” said Richard Pruitt, Carnival Vice President of Environmental Operations.
“Art has the ability to cross barriers and unite us, and by blending art and ocean sustainability, these sculptures will inspire and promote our mission of advancing environmental stewardship while preserving the ocean for generations to come.”
Port Tampa Bay executives, leaders from the Tampa Bay 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 extremely appreciative to Carnival and other likeminded companies that strive to make environmentally conscious decisions to keep the oceans clean and thriving,” said Moralevitz.
Moralevitz runs “The Fishes Wishes” project to sell his artwork and support ocean conservation causes, donating all his profits to various conservation organizations. The trash he uses to create his sculptures all comes from local cleanups Moralevitz himself participates in.
His artwork has been displayed at local Tampa restaurants, art galleries, and Super Bowl LV. He has also written and illustrated children’s books to inspire other youth to help with ocean conservation.
Carnival Cruise Line Conservation Efforts
In addition to choosing Moralevitz’s sculptures to decorate the cruise terminal, Carnival Cruise Line also donated $5,000 (USD) to the teen’s conservation initiative through The Fishes Wishes project.
The cruise line is well known for making strides to promote cleaner oceans, from onboard efforts to reduce food waste, single use plastics, and other trash, to the construction of ships with cleaner liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuels, to retiring and scrapping ships at scrapyards with more environmentally safe practices.
Carnival Cruise Line team members, both shipboard and shoreside, also celebrated International Coastal Cleanup Day by participating in a fleetwide cleanup of 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 team 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 a cleanup at their favorite homeport, taking care that any trash they have at a port of call is properly discarded, choosing recycling options whenever possible, and taking other steps to keep the oceans we all share cleaner and healthier.
