Nearly 1,500 students from San Diego County and Tijuana came together on Thursday to share one message: "Unite Por El Mar," which translates to "Unite for the Sea."
The children stood to form the words at Border Field State Park and Playas de Tijuana near the U.S-Mexico border after picking up trash on the beaches.
Students from seven South County elementary schools participated in the event: Emory and Howard Pence in San Diego; Parkview, Leonardo de Vinci Charter and Halecrest in Chula Vista; Bayside in Imperial Beach; and Silver Strand in Coronado.
"This is a great way to have local children learn about the importance of protecting our coastal waters," said county Supervisor Greg Cox, who represents the region on the California Coastal Commission. "With this unique art project, they are sending out the message that we have only one ocean and we must each do our part to protect and take care of it."
Morgan Black, the director of development for the nonprofit, said the positive feedback from the message has been overwhelming.
"People have been commenting in English and in Spanish, which is rare but it's encouraging and it really shows that we have sort of a seamless bi-national region," Black said. "We're not really cut off just because of that border."
The event, organized by the nonprofit I Love A Clean San Diego, coincided with Kids Ocean Day and was prefaced by environmental lessons for the students.
