Blogs

I have always been an ambitious, passionate and inquisitive young lady who’s always keen to learn new things. Coming from a disadvantaged background sometimes limits one’s opportunities in life. However, being eager and having the potential to find anything interesting and innovative builds one’s knowledge. Back in my high school…

During the South African winter, the Shark Education Centre held a shark colouring competition that gave kids the chance to win some awesome prizes! The colouring pages for the competition were the stripped-down versions of artwork by British illustrator, Marc Dando. Marc’s shark artwork will be unveiled before the end…

It has been a long and lonely time since South Africa was placed in lock-down all the way back in March. During this time, everyone has had to adhere to strict rules in order to stem the spread of Covid-19. Our daily lives changed overnight. Many businesses had to change…

Starting a new job, at any normal time, is usually accompanied by an array of different emotions. These emotions can range from excitement to anxiousness, and they are perfectly normal experiences. There is normally a lot of information to absorb and it can be a little daunting, but a friendly…

  Working with children is fun. I love that no single day at work is the same.   I meet children of different ages from many schools and backgrounds and I learn many lessons from them.   The children motivate me to be a better person as I share information…

We all have to get along with people who live around us in our communities at home, in our neighbourhoods and at our places of work. Sometimes it may be difficult because of cultural and recreational differences. Most people cultivate special and regular relationships with other individuals (our family and…

Did you know that we have large underwater forests around the shores of Cape Town?   I am referring to the plants (known as seaweeds or algae) that grow in the sea.   The kelp weed or sea bamboo (Ecklonia maxima) is the largest algae and resembles a tree growing…

Yes, that’s how some people would describe the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus). Penguins are unable to fly and walk awkwardly on land but are superbly adapted for swimming and diving in the sea. Their wings are hard flippers enabling them to ‘fly’ through the water at speeds of up to…

To connect the public to the ocean through experiential education programmes focused on sharks and local marine ecosystems, in order to nurture awareness, encourage environmentally responsible actions and develop a healthy respect for sharks. The Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Education Centre in Kalk Bay, South Africa, comprises a small…

2019 has been a busy one for the Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Education Centre.  We have had many school groups visit us and learn about sharks and life on the rocky shores. These are some of the things we get up to with the school groups that visit us…

The Southern African Shark & Ray Symposium (SASRS) is a biennial meeting of the academic community of Southern Africa who are conducting research on sharks and rays. The 5th Symposium was held from 7 to 9 October 2019 at the Two Oceans Aquarium under the theme: Elasmobranchs in the blue…

Each session starts with a safety briefing. Learners wear green rash vests and instructors yellow. This way we can keep a good eye on everybody in the group. A run along the beach warms the blood on cold days. Can the learners keep up with the instructor? Correct stretching is…

This year on the 21st of September, the staff at the Shark Education Centre hosted a clean-up at Dalebrook beach as part of International Coastal Clean-up day.  It turned out to be a very rainy and windy day but we put on our ponchos and boots and got stuck in.…

The holiday club in September is always fun for us at the Shark Education Centre as the sun is out and we start to enjoy warmer weather.  This means exploring outside! Whenever possible we take the group outside to experience our beautiful coast and check out the things we learn…

Plastic is versatile, durable and (sometimes) recyclable. Each plastic product should have an international polymer identification code to identify the type of plastics used to create that product. Let’s have a look at the seven codes: 1: (PET) PET stands for Polyethylene terephthalate. PET is technically 100% recyclable.  Once recycled,…