Our oceans are dying. Beset by pollution and demolition by industrial fishing, the magical and bountiful deep blue is turning into a barren desert. But in the next 72 hours, governments are considering a new rescue plan - and we can help push it through.
When having a relaxing day at the beach, it's always saddening to see dead birds and animals trapped in old fishing line. Luckily, an innovative solution is now being launched to rid our oceans of this problem.
On Monday 26 March 2012, Conn Bertish took a dip in the Two Oceans Aquarium’s I&J Predator Exhibit. People take the plunge here all the time, but this time it was different; Conn wasn’t wearing flippers, goggles, weights or scuba equipment.
Oh behalf of Sustainable Seas Trust I'd like to invite you be a to part of the SEA Pledge Action Day! SEA Pledge is a project of SST that will be launched at COP17 in Durban to promote awareness and investment in marine research and conservation.
Seafood restaurants are a commodity all over the world. No matter the country you’re in, it is always a treat to sit in a restaurant by the water, in which a row of colourful fishing boats are anchored, enjoying a seafood platter and a glass of wine.
The AfriOceans Conservation Alliance (AOCA), a non-profit organisation at the forefront of marine education and shark conservation in South Africa, was delighted to announce that they have been allocated a total grant of R 5, 691 000 (five million six hundred and ninety one thousand rand) from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF). The funding has been granted for their exciting and innovative AfriOceans Warriors Environmental Education Programme.
Spring is in the air and South Africans are starting to emerge from their homes after a long and cold winter.
Each year, three times as much rubbish is dumped into the world's oceans as the weight of fish caught. In 1996 120 million tons of fish were caught, meaning around 400 million tons of rubbish is dumped in the oceans annually.
Researchers here at Stellenbosch University are compiling an electronic database cum archive of the diaries, photographs and personal anecdotes of South Africans' time in the Antarctic region (Marion Island, Gough Island and Antarctica).
Children from various schools around the Cape Peninsula demonstrated their global commitment to sustainable packaging, water stewardship and ocean conservation when they gathered to pick up litter at Strandfontein Beach on Saturday, 12 September 2009. It was part of the 24th annual International Coastal Clean Up (ICC) which takes place globally on 19 September.
In 2004 Sir Robert Swan lead a team to the Antarctic, supported by Coca-Cola, where over 1000 tons of waste was collected from the icy landscape. Five years later, Peninsula Beverages, the Bottler of the Coca-Cola products in the Western Cape, continues to actively support projects that help clean up our planet. PenBev have partnered with the Environmental Action Group and put their efforts behind the Our School Cares Programme, an environmental clean up programme where school children are motivated and rewarded for cleaning up their own schools and communities.
My mind was racing back to that first plastic sample we found in the ocean. Clear navy blue water filled with small coloured pieces of plastic. I stood in line at the supermarket, bursting with excitement because I had finally remembered to bring along my own shopping bag.
An exciting research initiative is underway at the University of Cape Town. The research is running under the brand of Aqua d'UCT, which seeks to enhance water research by promoting integration and interdisciplinary study. The study is being driven my MSc candidate Raymond Siebrits from the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science as part of his thesis.
While you are enjoying a yoghurt snack from a plastic tub at home, there are a group of people embarking on an arduous cruise on our oceans to monitor how plasticly polluted it is.
Plastic bottle caps are the most collected items at beach clean-ups throughout the year, with increased food wrappers, plastic cutlery and drinking straws the other big monsters we need to fight.
With floods causing havoc in several South African provinces earlier this year, it may be hard to believe that the looming water crisis that was debated in Parliament in 2008 remains an issue. Engineering Council of SA vice-president Thoko Majozi warns: 'the maximum consumption that SA's water resources can sustain will be reached in about five years'.
Millions of people living along the coast and elsewhere in rural Africa are dependent upon natural resources from which they harvest unsustainably. Some coastal communities are amongst the poorest in the world and are extremely vulnerable to the potential negative effects of climate change. They have no choice but to conÂtinue to use the diminishing resources upon which they depend, or face starvation.
Milnerton beach is where you want to be with your kids and others from 11 Western Cape schools on the world's largest single-day volunteer effort to eradicate litter and debris from beaches, inland waterways and oceans.
South Africans of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to do their share to keep our country beautiful during Clean Up South Africa week which will take place from the 13th to the 18th of September 2010.
Fertilizing the oceans to boost the growth of tiny plants that soak up greenhouse gases is unlikely to work as a way to slow climate change, a U.N.-backed study showed on Monday.
