Events highlight danger of marine pollution
MARINE ecology and pollution will be hot topics with the build up to the annual International Coastal Clean-Up initiative on Saturday.
Algoa Bay Hope Spot, the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (Wessa) and Nelson Mandela University’s (NMU) Institute for Coastal and Marine Research will host events and activities this week, highlighting plastic pollution and its impact on marine ecology.
Wessa committee member Tim Douglas-Jones said: “The general lack of knowledge [about marine pollution] and education of the dangers of plastic pollution is a problem.”
Algoa Bay Hope Spot chairwoman and research fellow in the Institute for Coastal and Marine Research at NMU, Dr Lorien Pichegru, said coastal pollution was a major concern and needed urgent attention.
“Last year, we collected about eight tons of rubbish around Port Elizabeth,” she said.
Highlighting Algoa Bay’s coastal worth, Pichegru said the next Know Your Bay event would take place at Bayworld tomorrow.
Internationally renowned specialist in beach ecology, Professor Anton McLachlan, will be presenting a talk on how human activities impact on and influence beach physical and ecological features.
This will be followed by a presentation by underwater photographer, Dr Neal Brunton, who will share some of the marvels that can be found in the waters surrounding Nelson Mandela Bay.
On Thursday, the Waves of Change event will be hosted at the NMU south campus from noon to 2pm which, according to Pichegru, will “offer an exciting sneak into what [the new Ocean Sciences] campus will mean for all of us”.
Beach clean-ups organised for Saturday are:
Kings Beach: Meet at 9.30am on the beach next to the Surf Life Saving Club;
Sardinia Bay: Meet from 8am at the Sardinia Bay Beach parking lot;
Bluewater Bay: Meet at 9am at the BWB swimming beach, at the bottom of Weinronk way;
Blue Horizon Bay: Meet at 9am at the car park;
Cape Recife: Meet at 9.30am at the Cape Recife lighthouse;
Seaview: Meet at 9.30am at the taxi terminus, as you come to Seaview from Kini Bay, in front of the first houses; and
Maitlands Beach: Meet at 9.30am at the car park.