Marine & Coastal Educators

The year started off on a very inspirational note for us, as the Education Team here at the SOSF Shark Education Centre, when we attended the annual Marine and Coastal Educators Network conference in early January. This year the conference was held in the beautiful seaside town of Hermanus, in the Western Cape.

Over the course of 5 days, we were introduced to many wonderful educators working in all spheres of education, from government, to school, to parastatal, to non-profit. They shared their work with us, and also took us through some of the activities that they have developed for use in and out of the classroom. It was truly inspirational to see how much amazing work is happening around the country, to be recharged with some new ideas, and to think about the year ahead.  

Participants in the 2016 MCEN conference teamed up for a “fish braai” competition.

In addition, we were taken on excursions to places that left us in awe of our natural environment and how lucky we are to live here, such as Fernkloof Nature Reserve – and also to very interesting science centres, the South African Space Agency, and an abalone farm – a real smorgasbord of marine experiences.

A visit to a recycling station.

As always, we returned refreshed and ready for the year ahead and with some new and exciting activities up our sleeves to try out on our planned events!