I come to you in the middle of a crazy hectic week at Save Our Seas… we have 100 primary school kids coming every day for about four hours of rock pool lessons, shark lessons, and shark videos. It has been absolutely nuts and totally exhausting, but so much fun at the same time! The kids are from all different schools around the area, and most of them are eager to learn and happy to just be down by the water. A few of them don’t know much about the sea beyond that it is home to “big, scary sharks that will eat you!” (direct quote from an adorable 6th grade boy this morning)
My role this week has been to teach alongside one of our educators, Michael, down at the rock pool out in front of our building. We have a protected area out front which is home to everything from African Black Oystercatchers to limpets, barnacles, sea anemones, urchins, and all kinds of other animals. We have been doing a 20 minute lecture about these animals’ adaptations to their unique environment, then the kids come down onto the rocks and we show them everything close up, and then we bring them over to some touch pools to touch and hold the animals while we finish up the lesson. A lot of them seem really interested in both the animals and the kelp, and it has been a lot of fun to hear them asking questions and getting excited about life in the ocean. Often there has been two or three kids in each group that are especially interested and will ask what kinds of programs they can join and how they can be a marine biologist. It always makes me smile ☺
They then move on to a shark lecture inside SOS with another educator, Paul, and their third “station” is a shark video showing footage of the White sharks that breach out near Seal Island. All of the teachers that have come along with the kids so far have seemed really happy with the trip, and a few of them scheduled follow-up days with us so we can go a little more in-depth with smaller groups of children. All in all, it’s been a good week so far and it has made me a lot more confident with the lecture material and the sea life living in this part of the world.
In addition to the school groups, I have continued working on projects for the main area of SOS, including a presentation board about Shark Threats and a powerpoint lecture about the importance of kelp and rock pool life. I have spoken to Alison Kock as well and should be getting out on the research boat with her within the next two weeks or so. Can’t wait!
Yesterday was one of the coolest days ever- the school group that was supposed to be here ended up cancelling, and since I had taken the train all the way down and didn’t have a pressing project or anything to get to right away, I decided to take advantage of the sun and calm seas and go surfing at Muizenberg (a few train stops away from Kalk Bay). I called up my friend Brocq, who works with Alison Kock’s husband, Morne, and since he also had the afternoon off he said he’d be happy to give me a surfing lesson. I grabbed my wetsuit and hopped off the train at Muizenberg, and of course on the first day I decide to surf in South Africa they spot a shark right off the beach. The Shark Spotters flag was red, which means a shark has recently been spotted and may still be in the area. Most of the surfers had gotten out of the water, but after 20 minutes or so people started swimming back out. We headed in and within about two minutes of paddling out I had completely forgotten about the shark. The waves were perfect for a relatively new surfer, and I managed to catch a good number of waves and stand up pretty well on most of them (although still a bit wobbly ☺. It was SUCH a blast and such an amazing workout (my arms are killing me today!) and I am pretty sure I’ve been bitten by the surfing bug. It’s so convenient for me if I bring my wetsuit to work, because Muizenberg is right on the way home, and I can just hop off there and meet up with people in the afternoons. I’m hoping the winds stay the way they are now for the next couple weeks so the waves don’t get too messy.
Aside from internship and surfing stuff, I have been enjoying the weekends with roommates and other interns by spending time at the beach, heading to the Old Biscuit Mill market on Saturday mornings (amazing local vendors with all sorts of food and other goods), and getting out to explore hiking and running trails. This past weekend I was able to go out on Animal Ocean once again with Steve, and we had an absolutely gorgeous day of sun, flat water, and clients who were very excited about diving with the Duiker Island seals. Steve, the Captain of the ship:
My favorite spot on the boat...
Of course there has been a night out here or there, and those are a great time as well ☺
I'm not sure if I included this in last week's blog, but last Friday I was able to take the day off from SOS and head to my roommate's primary school where she teaches and help her do some painting lessons with the younger grade. They were absolutely adorable and it was so much fun. Here are a few of the little painters :)
Alright, that is all for now! Miss everyone back home :)
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