National Marine Month - From Oceans to Climate to Flora and Fauna

Thomas Mtontsi, Education Outreach Officer, SAEON Egagasini Node

South Africa has a unique geographical location. Its landmass is flanked by two oceans of contrast – the warm Indian Ocean and the cold Atlantic Ocean. According to the International Hydrographical Organisation, these mighty oceans meet around Cape Agulhas at the southernmost tip of Africa.

Research has shown that both coastal and inland ecosystems in South Africa are influenced by these two oceans.

Professor George Philander¹ describes it as follows: “The Cape is unique because of its unusual plants, mainly the fynbos, one of the planet’s six plant kingdoms which the Cape has to itself. This is understandable, as the Cape is positioned between the cold Atlantic Ocean and the warm Indian Ocean.”

This phenomenon provided the basis for the decision to include inland areas in National Marine Month celebrations under the theme From Oceans to Climate to Flora and Fauna. Another interesting aspect is that the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs  extended the celebration period from the traditional Marine Week to National Marine Month this year.

National Marine Month celebrations are aimed at acknowledging the crucial role played by our oceans and sharing this, as well as an appreciation of our marine environments with as many communities as possible.

Outreach programme on marine and coastal environments

The SAEON Egagasini² Node’s Education Outreach section rose to the challenge. Thomas Mtontsi of the Egagasini Node teamed up with Arno Munro of DEA’s Marine and Coastal Management (MCM) to develop an outreach programme on marine and coastal environments aimed at raising awareness among learners.  

The first National Marine Month event in which they participated was held at the Simon’s Town Museum where they contributed to 360 learners’ understanding of ocean-related phenomena.

The next stop for the SAEON/MCM team was the only island on the SA coast that can be reached on foot - Bird Island at Lamberts Bay, home to thousands of seabirds such as gannets and penguins. Teaming up with CapeNature, they presented a programme aimed at inspiring a group of 250 secondary school learners.

Finally, thanks to funding from MCM’s Research and Communications sections, SAEON Egagasini’s cluster of schools enjoyed a visit to South Africa’s largest research vessel, the SA Agulhas. Learners were able to tour the ship, interact with the ship’s crew and scientists, and learn more about navigation and science at sea. Exhibitions of the scientists’ work provided further inspiration for the young minds. Altogether 360 learners and 20 educators from six schools - from Hout Bay to Ocean View, Mitchell’s Plain and Khayelitsha - attended this event.

Custodians for our oceans

The programmes were all aimed at enhancing the learners’ understanding of ocean systems and, in the process, inspiring the next generation of custodians for our planet’s oceans. 

In the words of Prof George Philander: “Our species’ advances over the past century have been nothing short of impressive, and have made us so powerful that we are now geologic agents capable of interfering with the processes that make Earth a habitable planet. We are now changing the composition of the atmosphere, and consequently starting to induce global warming. Now we have become its custodians, giving us a responsibility to understand all of its intricate systems and interrelationships. Now more that ever we must remember that we call ourselves Homo sapiens (wise man).”

Having been blessed with such a unique location, it is our responsibility as educators to make sure that the custodianship is continued beyond generations, and that South Africa stays at the forefront of international environmental research.

¹  Prof George Philander is the South African Research Chair Holder in Modelling of the Coupled Ocean-Land-Atmosphere

² Egagasini means place of waves