To raise public awareness regarding the state of our oceans, the Iziko South African Museum invites both young and old to experience a walk through our "Rommel Tonnel" (Garbage Tunnel), to learn about how mankind has affected the oceans. Accompanying activities will highlight current mitigation and adaptation measures. Members of the public will be challenged to re-think their behaviour and encouraged to sign a "Think blue, what can you do?" pledge.
Marine Week also coincides with the annual Save our Seabirds (SOS) Festival - a Birdlife South Africa initiative in association with Iziko Museums of South Africa and the Department of Environmental Affairs. The festival includes an exhibition of images from finalists in the Oceans of Life Photographic Competition; the winner of which receives a trip for two to the Antarctic.
The exhibition will be on display at the Iziko South African Museum from 8 October until 20 November 2012. The Marine Conservation Lecture Series will also be hosted at the museum and will include talks by Peter Chadwick of WWF-SA, Venessa Strauss, CEO of the seabird rehabilitation centre SANCCOB, and an international guest speaker and best-selling author, Hadoram Shirihai.
"Iziko Museums of South Africa are proud to again be a partner and host for the SOS Festival. Museums must play a role in foregrounding issues of national and global importance. Iziko is specifically invested in ensuring that we provide a platform for engagement around environmental challenges such as the plight of our marine heritage and creating awareness of marine conservation," says CEO Rooksana Omar.
Iziko plans to celebrate African Penguin Awareness Day on Saturday, 13 October 2012 in collaboration with the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB). The 12th annual Simon's Town Penguin Festival takes place on the same day, beginning with a penguin release at Boulder's Beach in Simon's Town.
For those who cannot attend the penguin release, the Iziko South African Museum will be screening it live via Skype and a SANCCOB representative will be at hand to give a short presentation on how people can make small personal changes to improve the survival of critically endangered African penguins. As a bonus visitors will have an opportunity to meet SANCCOB's "ambassador" penguins throughout the week.
