“What we’d love to achieve in 2013 is to build awareness of the importance of the marine environment, and to do that in in as many different ways as possible,” says SAAMBR (South AfricanAssociation for Marine Biological Research) CEO, Judy Mann.
This year SAAMBR will be highlighting its conservation, research and education work so that the work of the organisation becomes better known.
“We would like the work of our association, SAAMBR, to be better known. Through this we will be able to reach more people with our messages of marine conservation. We will also be able to share information about how others can also help in protecting our marine environment,” says Judy.
With this goal in mind they are considering a double-sided approach to marketing SAAMBR in 2013.
“Firstly, we plan to hold more educational events, such as presentations on interesting marine topics, as well as hosting experts in various fields who will enlighten the public about conservation and research.
“Secondly, one of our roles is to educate people about the importance of marine conservation, so we are looking at ways of developing our education programme to reach a more varied audience,” says Judy.
For years SAAMBR has hosted thousands of learners on school tours, teaching them about marine species and marine conservation. In 2013 the Education Centre team plans to take the initiative a step further by offering similar, more focused educational opportunities for adults.
“This year we also celebrate SAAMBR’s 20-year-old outreach programme, which continues to educate children at schools in the outlying areas of the eThekwini Metro. These children cannot get to uShaka Sea World, so we visit them. We are looking at new ways of generating funds to expand this important area of operations,” says Judy.
Outreach involves filling temperature-controlled tanks with hardy, live animals, packing them in a trailer behind an off-road vehicle and negotiating dirt roads to reach far-flung schools.
“We make the effort because our outreach visits might be the only exposure some children ever have to marine ecology,” explains Judy.
Rehabilitation of stranded animals is another important role played by SAAMBR. From injured turtles and sickly water monitors to stranded penguins, dozens of animals are treated, fed and cared for every year, before being released.
Penguins also feature in SAAMBR’s Penguin Promises project, a call to action that entails members of the public pledging a personal conservation action in the form of a promise to uShaka Sea World’s penguins.
“This year we want to introduce a feedback mechanism to track Penguin Promises and help people to follow through on their promises,” says Judy.
Penguin Promises is particularly special to SAAMBR since the project was initiated some years ago by Gabby Harris, the uShaka Sea World Mammal and Bird Curator.
At any given time the Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI) wing of SAAMBR is involved in ongoing research programmes. This year ORI researchers, working together with the animal care staff, will include fish breeding for conservation as one of their areas of research.
Commenting on SAAMBR’s online space, www.saambr.org.za, Judy says, “Our primary goal for 2012 was to modernise and run our website more efficiently, a goal that we’ve absolutely achieved, with Flow’s help.”
In 2013 SAAMBR will be exploring the advantages of social media and how uShaka Sea World and the Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI) can use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr to grow awareness of marine conservation.
“Now that we have a better understanding of what is required to make our social networks operate efficiently, we are looking forward to revisiting that option,” says Judy.
Visitors can also look forward to some exciting new developments in 2013. Watch the website for more information.
“SAAMBR’s role is to inspire people – through awareness, education and research – to care for our oceans. The operating divisions each bring a unique strength and are united to achieve this goal,” concludes Judy.
