National Marine Day is celebrated in the third week of October, at the start of the summer season when large numbers of South Africans visit coastal areas and interact with the marine environment.

This day originated in South Africa in 1988. Its purpose is to create awareness on the marine and coastal environment, the promotion of sustainable use and conservation of these resources, for the benefit of all both present and future generations.

As custodian of the marine resources in South Africa, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is the lead driver for National Marine Week.

Celebrate Our Seas Festival

The annual SOS Festival has changed format this year and BirdLife South Africa has entered into partnerships with a broad range of marine conservation organisations. To reflect the broader focus of the Festival, it has been renamed the Celebrate Our Seas Festival. The Festival is still a part of National Marine Week, this year taking place from 6 -12 October.

There are a lot of exciting events taking place during the week, organised by various partner organisations, so please visit www.celebrateourseas.co.za to take a look.

Bookings are open three of the events that BirdLife South Africa is holding as part of the Festival:

• Monday 6 October: Opening of the Oceans of Life Photographic exhibition
• Thursday 9 October: Birds of the Southwestern Cape and Karoo talk by Keith Valentine
• Friday 10 October: Changing fortunes: Preventing extinctions of iconic seabirds talk by Ross Wanless

See the website for more details or book for the events here.

There will also be an auction evening on Wednesday 8 October. Contact daria@truenorthevents.co.za for more information.

#OCEANS 70/20 : Decoding Mysteries, Optimising Opportunities!

1. # (hashtag)

It is a symbol that is used before a keyword or phrase in social media platforms to categorize / classify. This allows for searching or identifying other messages in the same category.

2. Oceans

This is a word that represents the entire marine environment, from the coast to far offshore, including and beyond our ocean borders or EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone). However, in this context, the word OCEANS is derived from the first letters of the phrase ‘Opportunities for Community and Economy: Advantages from Natural Services’

3. 70/20

These two numbers have been combined together as a “curiosity factor”, to create questions and dialogue, relevant to the marine environment and South Africa

• More than 70% of earth’s surface is covered by ocean
• South Africa is currently celebrating 20 years of freedom, as a democratic country. It marks what government has achieved in the last 20 years but also what is planned over the next 20.

4. Decoding Mysteries

The oceans are a mysterious place, unexplored and full of wonder. There are many discoveries waiting to be made – benefits and influences, scientific discoveries and innovations. These mysteries need to be deciphered and uncovered, in order to show ordinary citizens how oceans play a role in their daily lives.

5. Optimising Opportunities

The oceans have the potential of being a major driver towards the betterment of South Africans. It is a vast natural resource and as a developing country we need to utilise these resources sustainably to ensure it builds a better South Africa, therefore the word optimising instead of maximising. It also points to the fact that optimising the use of the oceans for economic development happens in a balanced and environmentally sustainable way.