Every year on the 8th of June, the world comes together to celebrate World Oceans Day, a global event dedicated to honouring and protecting our vast marine environments. This special day serves as a reminder of the significant role oceans play in sustaining life on Earth and the urgent need to conserve and restore their health. With over 70% of our planet covered by oceans, it is crucial to recognise the immense value they hold and take action to safeguard their future.
World Oceans Day is a day to appreciate the abundant biodiversity that thrives in these waters and reflect on the numerous benefits oceans provide, such as climate regulation, food security, and economic resources.
The delicate marine ecosystems face numerous threats, including pollution, overfishing, habitat destruction, and climate change. World Oceans Day emphasises the need to protect and restore these ecosystems through sustainable practices.
Promoting conservation efforts
What can you do?
Individuals can participate by organising or joining local beach cleanups, where they can help remove litter and prevent it from reaching the oceans. By minimising the use of single-use plastics and making environmentally conscious choices, individuals can also contribute to reducing pollution in our oceans.
Recreational diving with a purpose. Cleaning the ocean one dive at a time. Image credit: Thando Mazomba.
Take-home message
World Oceans Day is an annual celebration that reminds us of the vital role oceans play in sustaining life on Earth. It urges us to recognise the urgent need to protect and restore marine ecosystems through sustainable practices, education, and policy changes. By coming together on this special day, we can create a collective voice for ocean conservation and work towards a future where our oceans thrive, benefiting both present and future generations. Let us celebrate World Oceans Day and commit to preserving the precious wonders of the deep blue.
On social media
The Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Ms Barbara Creecy will lead the #WorldOceans Day 2023 commemoration aboard the #SAAgulhasII on Thursday, 8 June 2023, in Cape Town under the theme “Planet Ocean: Tides are Changing” pic.twitter.com/XB0dWC2KZK
The South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) is a research platform funded by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and managed by the National Research Foundation (NRF).
SAEON is mandated to establish and manage long-term environmental observatories; maintain reliable long-term environmental data sets; promote access to data for research and/or informed decision making; and contribute to capacity building.
The SAEON Egagasini Node, based in Cape Town, Western Cape, requires the services of a:
Ocean and Polar Coordinator for day-to-day scientific, operational and logistical coordination.
N-Cycle team onboard the S.A. Agulhas II. Back (left to right) Letizia Tedesco, Christina Monteiro, Brishan Kalyan, Nkateko Maholobela, Mhlangabezi Mdutyana, Aldean Esau; (front) Lumi Haraguchi, Sizwekazi Yapi, Sadiyah Rawat, Amelia Deary, Venecia van Balla.
TEAM
N-CYCLE
Project name
Nitrogen cycle in the Southern Ocean
Principal Investigator 1
Sarah Fawcett
University of Cape Town (UCT)
Principal Investigator 2
David Walker
Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT)
Onboard N-CYCLE team members:
Team Member
Role
Affiliation
Mhlangabezi Mdutyana
Team Leader
UCT
Amelia Deary
MSc
UCT
Sizwekazi Yapi
MSc
UCT
Christina Monteiro
Honours
UCT
Sadiyah Rawat
Honours
UCT
Lumi Haraguchi
Postdoc
SYKE, Finland
Aldean Esau
Honours
CPUT
Venecia van Balla
Honours
CPUT
Nkateko Maholobela
Honours
CPUT
Brishan Kalyan
MSc
NMU
Letizia Tedesco
Researcher
SYKE, Finland
The project description as per the sailing orders for the SCALE Winter Cruise of 2022:
Thirty years ago, John Martin proposed that the high nitrate concentrations left unconsumed in Southern Ocean (SO) surface waters result from iron-limitation of phytoplankton growth. Extensive culture and (CPUT) fieldwork has since confirmed the central role of iron in photosynthesis and nitrate assimilation. Because of the implications for CO2, most studies of coupled iron and nitrogen (N) cycling have focused on nitrate assimilation, with little attention paid to the role of iron in mixed-layer N (re-)cycling. Our preliminary data suggest that iron availability exerts a strong control on N regeneration; if verified, this has implications for our mechanistic understanding of the N cycle, now and in the future when the iron supply to the surface SO is predicted to rise.
On this cruise, we plan to interrogate the role of iron in the upper SO N cycle at high resolution through extensive iron amendment experiments. We will also examine the composition and functioning of the associated planktonic (auto-, mixo- and heterotrophic) community. Diverse aspects of Southern Ocean physics and chemistry are already experiencing climate-induced changes; a major motivation for this work is to develop expectations for Southern Ocean fertility and ecology in response to such changes. This work is also relevant for the nutrient supply to the low-latitude ocean, which is controlled by both the extent of nutrient uptake in Southern Ocean surface waters and the ratios in which these nutrients are consumed; the latter is strongly affected by iron availability and plankton species composition.
Cape Peninsula University of Technology students, under the supervision of Dr David Walker, will be investigating chlorophyll-a concentrations and phytoplankton assemblages at all the CTD and process stations, as well as in ice core samples.
Follow Dr Fawcett on Twitter and check out the Marine Biogeochemistry Lab website (links below).
Text and images supplied by the N-Cycle team and Kurt Martin (SAPRI Trainee)
Anche Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 27 July 2022.
SCALE (Southern oCean seAsonaL Experiment) Winter 2022 Expedition (SCALE-WIN22) onboard the RV S.A. Agulhas II
This dedicated science cruise is funded by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) in support of the scientific community involved in Southern Ocean projects (South African National Antarctic Programme – SANAP and other fundings). The South African Polar Research Infrastructure (SAPRI) and the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) facilitated the coordination of logistics.
This is a continuation of the SCALE coordinated effort (Southern oCean seAsonaL Experiment) proposed by the South African scientific community as a bottom-up experiment.
“SCALE-WIN22 will be a 21 days cruise of intensive sampling of the ocean-atmosphere- sea ice processes in the Antarctic polar zone. Multidisciplinary measurements of physical and biogeochemical properties of the ocean and sea ice will be performed in a set of process stations in the outer and inner MIZ”.
Departure: 11 July 2022
ETA back in Cape Town: 31 July 2022
Area of operation: The S.A. Agulhas II will operate from Cape Town to the Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) along the Good Hope Line.
Provisional map of the track and stations.
Chief Scientists:
Prof Marcello Vichi (UCT, on board)
Dr Sarah Fawcett (UCT, on land)
This cruise involves 13 national and 4 international research projects:
These projects will be introduced throughout the course of the cruise.
The number of passengers onboard:
84 passengers onboard the vessel. This number includes the 8 South African Polar Research Infrastructure (SAPRI) trainees.
National and international scientific institutions involved:
1. South African Polar Research Infrastructure (SAPRI) and South African Environmental Network (SAEON)
2. University of Cape Town (UCT)
3. Stellenbosch University (SU)
4. South African Weather Service (SAWS)
5. Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT)
6. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (Southern Ocean Carbon-Climate Observatory – SOCCO)
7. Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE)
8. University of Pretoria (UP)
9. Nelson Mandela University (NMU)
10. Representatives from the University of South Africa (UNISA), Rhodes University (RU), University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN), University of the Free State (UFS), Walter Sisulu University (WSU)
11. University of Gothenburg, Sweden
12. British Antarctic Survey, UK
13. University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
14. The University of Melbourne, Australia
15. University of East Anglia, UK
16. Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO), France
17. CNR, Italy
18. University of Tasmania, Australian Antarctic Division, Australia
19. Aalto University, Finland
20. Finnish Meteorological Institute, Finland
21. SYKE, Finland
22. Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany
East Pier, Port of Cape Town. Cruise participants arriving from the quarantine facility. Only participants with negative Covid-19 test results will be allowed onboard.
The offical cruise hashtag to be followed: #SCALEwin2022
Anche Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 12 July 2022
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is “Break the Bias”.
This year we are featuring three inspiring women within the South African National Antarctic Programme. They are leaders in their fields and represent South Africa on an international level.
Prof Annie Bekker – Stellenbosch University
Professor in Engineering, Director of the Sound & Vibration Research Group, and currently on the international Endurance 22 expedition (Antarctica).
“My job is about applying maths and science to technology… discovering and searching for new things. It is sometimes difficult, it takes long hours, breakthroughs can be incremental… and many times the belief, momentum, and enthusiasm for success have to come from within myself… Today, I love my job and the hard work to this point is absolutely worth it. I could not get here without encouragement, love, and mentorship in key moments. I cannot continue without the support of my family, the example of my colleagues, or the curiosity of my students – their excellence and hunger for their own new frontiers of discovery.
This is your life. Invest in your education. Believe in yourself, try, try again, never give up. Be hungry to learn. Sharpen your skills. Absorb all that is positive around you. Find mentors. Accept responsibility. Rebound from failure. Celebrate success. Be brave. Dream”.
Check out the Sound & Vibraton Research Group website: svrg.sun.ac.za.
Head of the Oceanography Department at UCT and mastermind behind South Africa’s first class afloat – SEAmester.
Isabelle Ansorge is an observational oceanographer, Professor, and first female Head of the Oceanography Department at the University of Cape Town. Having built an observational oceanography career both nationally and internationally, Prof. Ansorge’s interests lie in Indian, Atlantic, and Southern Ocean dynamics that include Southern Ocean eddy transports of heat and salt, frontal dynamics, and variability in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and its effects on Subantarctic Islands such as Marion Island. Another passion of Isabelle’s is the shipboard training of postgraduate students from all over South Africa and she is the mastermind behind the SEAmester Floating University programme. SEAmester provides an incredible teaching and research platform for South African early-career scientists and lecturers alike. Prof. Ansorge’s list of affiliations is a testament to her extensive experience in the field including being a committee member of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), as a member of the start-up committee for the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), as an Executive Bureau Member of the International Union for Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) and formally the vice-president of the International Association for Physical Sciences of the Oceans (IAPSO).
Prof Bettine van Vuuren – University of Johannesburg
Professor of Zoology, Director of the Centre for Ecological Genomics and Wildlife Conservation, and Chair of the South African Committee for the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SANC for SCAR).
“The first thing to say is that I believe there is nothing that any person can’t do if they apply their mind (and time) to it. We often set our own ceilings based on general beliefs that society or others impose on us, and it is crucial that we break through these (non-real) boundaries. STEM fields are a case in hand. This is especially true for women, who traditionally were seen as homemakers or child-carers. In STEM specifically, fields such as mathematics, physics, and engineering, and traditionally more field-based disciplines such as zoology, botany, or oceanography, are seen as more suited to men (either because women were not traditionally considered as analytically strong, capable to work in the field, or for that matter, be away from home for any period of time). It is critical that any person (both men and women) should carefully consider what they enjoy, what their specific strengths are (be that a STEM career for a woman, or as a childcarer/homemaker for a man), and then pursue that with all their strength and passion. Personally, I was initially directed into a field that I had no interest in (because I could not answer questions asked re where I would work if my husband lived in a small town), and from a personal perspective I strongly urge and support women that want to step out of the usual/ typical / what is expected from you by society and follow what they are passionate about”.
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has two Marine Scientists (Marc De Vos and Carla Ramjukadh) onboard the S.A. Agulhas II, during the Endurance 22 Expedition. They are responsible for weather forecasts and meteorological data requirements from the various groups onboard the vessel.
“The SA Agulhas II vessel is able to accurately measure atmospheric parameters throughout the Endurance22 expedition. These measurements are supplemented with visual observations (such as weather, clouds, and sea-ice) done manually by the onboard meteorologist, giving a more complete picture of current weather conditions.” (www.endurance 22.org)
Read more about the responsibilities of SAWS onboard this cruise – Click here.
Also, check out the video below – Interview with Marc De Vos and Carla Ramjukadh. These live interviews give an insight into what is currently happening onboard the vessel. Schools all over the world are able to register and take part in live interaction with the various science and other groups onboard. Read more here.
The SAWS team will also contribute to the ARGO research programme, which involves collecting and sharing data from inside the ocean by deploying technologically advanced buoys.
For more information on the role of SAWS (and the various instruments that are used during this cruise) and how schools in South Africa are impacted and involved in scientific cruises, check out the video below: Interview with Dr. Tamaryn Morris, a physical oceanographer and Senior Manager for Marine (South African Weather Service), and Thomas Mtontsi, the Science Engagement Officer at the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON).
Anche Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 16 February 2022
Prof Annie Bekker – Stellenbosch University
Prof Isabelle Ansorge – University of Cape Town
