Save Our Seas Shark Centre to Educate and Empower 3,000 Cape Town Youths in 2012

Today, the Save Our Seas Shark Centre in Kalk Bay announced plans to increase outreach to local youths for marine education workshops in 2012. “This is a remarkable local community in a very special marine environment” stated Heidi Thormählen, Shark Centre manager. “The Centre’s goals in 2012 are to give more of Cape Town’s youth access to educational resources and to build on the excellent science that has been a center-piece of our efforts.” A new scientific research project with the University of Cape Town will be announced shortly focusing on the study of sharks and other marine life in False Bay.

Last year 2,521 local Cape Town students participated in the Shark Centre’s free marine education workshops and programmes. Shark Centre Education Officer Paul Millar stated, “Our long term objective is to extend these programmes into schools and disadvantaged communities beyond the Southern Peninsula, and into the greater part of Cape Town.” Education programmes at the Centre currently include “Shark Talk 101” discussions given at schools, day trips to the Shark Centre with an exploration of rock pools, as well as overnight “Marine Camps” in collaboration with The South African Shark Conservancy (www.sharkconservancy.org).

In 2012, the Shark Centre is pleased to welcome Heidi Thormählen as the Centre Manager and Kim von Brandis as Public Relations Manager, joining Education Officer Paul Millar and Operations Officer Kevin Baker. In addition, the Centre is very proud to announce the promotion of Zanele Mayiya, who has worked at the Centre since it opened, and who will take on additional responsibilities assisting with the education and running of the Centre.

In addition, the summer months highlight the importance of beach safety and the Centre’s collaborations with Shark Spotters(www.sharkspotters.org.za). The Centre will continue to work with Shark Spotters, a Save Our Seas supported project since 2009,and other local non-governmental organizations to educate and empower the public to advance bather safety. For any queries about shark incidents, please contact Sarah Titley from Shark Spotters T: 021 783 3433.

The Shark Centre is open daily to the general public, Monday-Friday from 10am to 4pm and Saturdays from 10am until 3pm. Visitors to the Centre can expect to see small sharks and marine life in the aquarium, view marine documentaries and find out general shark and research information. For educational requests or enquiries, please contact Paul Miller Paul@staging.saveourseas.com or T:021 788 6694.

Like us on http://www.facebook.com/sharkcentre and follow us on https://twitter.com/saveourseas to keep up with the latest news.

The aim of the Shark Centre is to encourage the conservation and awareness of sharks and marine life in the False Bay area through public educational programmes and ongoing scientific research. More information is available at: https://saveourseas.com/