All hands on deck!

Dr Juliet Hermes, Manager of the SAEON Egagasini Node (left) at the official launch of National Marine Week 2008 (Picture © SAEON Egagasini) Thomas Mtontsi, the Egagasini Node’s Education Officer explains the importance of long-term stewardship of our biodiversity hotspots to the learners (Picture © SAEON Egagasini) Learners waiting to board South Africa’s largest research and logistics vessel — the SA Agulhas (Picture © SAEON Egagasini) One of the crew members of the SA Agulhas tells learners about the ship’s role in marine research (Picture © SAEON Egagasini)

- By Thomas Mtontsi, Education Outreach Officer, SAEON Egagasini Node

SAEON formed part of a task team headed by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism to celebrate National Marine Week 2008 in the Western Cape.

Other role-players included the South African Network for Coastal and Oceanic Research (SANCOR), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Wildlife & Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) and the City of Cape Town.

National Marine Week — an initiative of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism — is celebrated every year during the third week of October. Its purpose is to create awareness of the marine and coastal environment and promote the sustainable use and conservation of these resources for the benefit of present and future generations.

The theme for this year was “Changing Climate, Changing Oceans and Coasts, Changing Lives – All hands on deck!”

SAEON was one of the exhibitors at the official launch function, and conducted information sessions for school groups throughout the week. This comprised 821 learners accompanied by 24 teachers. Learners who visited the Antarctica and sub Antarctic Islands Directorate where the celebration took place, were given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tour South Africa’s largest research and logistics vessel, the SA Agulhas.

Each of the role-players submitted a question to be part of a questionnaire that the learners had to complete to assist them in gaining a better understanding of the marine environment. SAEON asked the question ‘Why is it important to conduct long-term monitoring in our oceans?’

It was indeed a pleasant experience guiding learners to an understanding of the vital processes that inform our society, to equip them to be better prepared in their response to global change.