Ocean News

Mike Nortje, the owner and hands on operator of Pisces Divers in Glencairn, Cape Town, has very kindly gone out of his way to give up his time, allow staff members off and donate his 8 metre Superduck boat, his tow-vehicle and his skippering talents for the release of "Elle"…

For as long as I can remember the Indian Ocean has captivated me. As a child its seemingly endless expanse of blue wilderness held a life full of adventure and of places even more mystical than those in Enid Blyton’s Magic Far Away Tree. Growing up in Kenya I often…

Recently Lesley managed to escape us and the mayhem at The Save Our Seas Shark Centre in Kalk Bay and headed off to Durban for meetings related to future education and awareness projects. She joined Blue Wilderness Diving Expeditions in Durban who focus on shark ecotourism. Lesley had absolutely wonderful…

Jannie Wessels, Managing Director of The Rainmaker Group of Companies which manufactures BRIGHTWEIGHTS scuba diver weighting systems, has kindly stepped up to the plate and sponsored Lesley with her very own full set of diving weights. This includes the newly developed soft ankle weight system, the internationally acclaimed cylinder weight…

… But I will be going there from here (Cape Town) for five weeks as part of a small team of scientists and cameramen from the Save Our Seas Foundation (SOSF) to assess and document Aldabra’s unique marine life. The countdown is on and together with the BBC Wildlife award-winning…

An incredible amount of change is taking place at 28 Main Road, Kalk Bay. The Save Our Seas Shark Centre is taking shape, some aspects very fast, others seem to drag a little. All in all progress is slightly ahead of schedule. Yesterday, Lesley met with a remarkable artist, who…

On Tuesday morning, Lesley kindly invited the SOSSC staff to join her at the Two Oceans Aquarium to watch while "Elle" the raggedtooth shark was taken out of the I&J Predator Exhibit and placed into her holding pool on the roof of the aquarium, awaiting her release back into the…

Claire and Bruce of Phase 2 Interiors, above, working in synergy with Adam and Lesley, are starting to get very close to the final ‘look’ of the decor, with colours and textures now into the ‘final selection’ phase. We are looking forward to showing you what beautiful decor is lying…

Construction continues against the clock to have the centre ready for the launch, the edit suite is now being seperated from the office (above) which will become the home of White Shark Field-Researcher Alison Kock., and the progress continues on the shop. (top) The team of divers from SOSSC (Alison…

With the massive amount of construction that is going on around us at the moment, the constant rattling of power-drills, hammers and cutting tools, it starts to get very hard on both the hearing and the nerves. The beauty of the location however, is that if we take a 10…

Builders have just removed the double glass doors which divided the entrance foyer from the back patio, and work is underway to enclose the far end of the patio to form the shop. The shop will run on donations, and will house Save Our Seas merchandise, including books and educational…

Boardroom area before, and current – above. Apart from the edit suite and shop area downstairs, the work is now well underway on the upstairs area, and boardroom. The area will also house the camera-crew and staff of the International Save Our Seas Foundation offices during their trips to Cape…

The new edite suite will form part of the centre, and will be boasting the latest in Apple Mac and Final Cut Pro technology! For the moment, the layout remains on paper, with the builders clearing the way for the new equipment. The edit suite before the builders got stuck…

Lesley Rochat’s sister and PA Verona Smith his been running the accounts and admin in the middle of a construction site for the past week, using her laptop and ‘sans’ internet for most of the time. Happily however, Jan ‘The Brain’ has now hooked her up with her new PC,…

The biggest asset to date in the early stages of the SOSSC has been our ‘man of mystery’, who goes by the name of Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo has thrown himself into all aspects of the house with tireless enthusiasm, arranging men and woman for volunteer work, giving advice on the…