World Oceans Day in most places is just one day. But in Beaufort County, it's been a whole month.

The countywide World Oceans Day celebration culminates with a full day of activities showcasing the importance of the Lowcountry on June 16 at ARTworks in Beaufort.

Marine experts will present on sea life, and conservation groups will host activities for kids. Beaufort artist Terry Brennan will be putting the finishing touches on "Locomocean," an art installation composed of recyclable objects. Most of what he's used has come from debris collected during river and beach cleanups.

The actual World Oceans Day, as recognized by the United Nations, was June 8. But when coming up with activities for the inaugural Beaufort County Oceans Day, organizers wanted to stretch it throughout June.

"We decided to bring these ideas together to complement each other," said Amber Von Harten, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium fisheries specialist. "We didn't want it to just be one day. We wanted to make it a monthlong celebration."

Spacing it out over a month allowed for more activity. Other groups such as the Coastal Discovery Museum and Friends of Hunting Island held events earlier this month. Plums Restaurant held a wine dinner highlighting sustainable seafood. The final event this month is a yoga session and a screening of the documentary "Bag It" on June 30 at Yoga Chandra Center in Beaufort.

Given how everything has gone so far this year, plans call for another World Oceans Day celebration next year, Von Harten said.

"We're hoping this can be an annual event for Beaufort County," she said.