{"id":51178,"date":"2023-05-22T19:25:08","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T17:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/?p=51178"},"modified":"2023-05-22T19:25:08","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T17:25:08","slug":"join-the-wave-of-change-by-celebrating-the-big-blue-at-the-global-ocean-festival-in-scottburgh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/more-sport\/join-the-wave-of-change-by-celebrating-the-big-blue-at-the-global-ocean-festival-in-scottburgh\/","title":{"rendered":"Join the wave of change by celebrating the \u2018big blue\u2019 at the global Ocean Festival in Scottburgh"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt’s the blue heart of the planet \u2014 we should take care of our heart. It’s what makes life possible for us. We still have a really good chance to make things better than they are. They won’t get better unless we take action and inspire others to do the same thing. No one is without power. Everybody has the capacity to do something.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013 Sylvia Earle, veteran oceanographer<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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The ocean is Earth\u2019s life source, supporting every living organism residing on land and water. Yet despite being central to life, many people are unaware of the devastation being wreaked on our oceans. To change the tide, Ocean Festivals are being around across the globe, with Scottburgh on the KZN South Coast one of the participating locations for the festival from 5 to 11 June 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

Organised to celebrate World Oceans Day on 8 June, themed Planet Ocean: Tides are Changing<\/em>, the Ocean Festival includes a series of global events that aim to engage with communities, educate about the importance of conservation, and inspire people to take action to protect the world’s oceans.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cWe are super excited to be organising some positive events in celebration of World Oceans Day, with our goal to encourage as many people as possible to acknowledge and understand the importance of the oceans,\u201d explained Russel Symcox, The Oceans Festival Founder. \u201cAs Sylvia Earle succinctly put it: \u2018No water. No life. No blue, no green.\u2019 There\u2019s a lot of amazing work already being done in ocean conservation, but we all have a role to play. Through the Ocean Festival, we hope to ignite a collective movement that preserves this life-giving force.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Fast facts about ocean conservation<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>The ocean covers over 70% of the planet<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 The ocean produces at least 50% of the planet\u2019s oxygen<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>The ocean is home to most of Earth\u2019s biodiversity<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0The ocean is the main source of protein for more than a billion people<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>The ocean is key to the economy with an estimated 40 million employed by ocean-based industries by 2030<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>90% of big fish populations in the ocean are depleted<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\u00a050% of coral reefs have been destroyed<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: www.un.org<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Ocean Festival activities and events<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Attendees to this year\u2019s Ocean Festival can look forward to several engaging outdoor events and activities suited to all ages. The central goal of the Ocean Festival activities is to celebrate the human connection with the ocean, and raise awareness about the importance of its health and protection.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Thursday 8 June (World Oceans Day)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Beach Clean-up at Scottburgh Main Beach from 2pm to 4pm<\/span><\/p>\n

Mahlongwa River Clean-up from 4:30pm to 5:30pm<\/span><\/p>\n

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Friday 9 June<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ocean Festival conservation talks at Cutty Sark Hotel from 12:30pm to 2pm<\/span><\/p>\n

MTB ride from Cutty Sark Hotel \/ Renishaw Trails from 2:30pm to 4:30pm\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Saturday 10 June<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cutty Sark Pro Surf Contest at Scottburgh Beach from 7:30am to 4pm<\/span><\/p>\n

Beach Clean-Up Run\/Walk at Scottburgh Main Beach from 10am to 12pm<\/span><\/p>\n

Ocean Festival Event at Cutty Sark from 5pm\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sunday 11 June<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cutty Sark Pro Surf Contest at Scottburgh Beach from 7:30am to 4pm<\/span><\/p>\n

Leatherback Surfski Challenge at Scottburgh Beach and Aliwal Shoal from 8am to 1pm \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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World champions Hank McGregor, Kenny Rice, and Michelle Burn have already signed up for the Leatherback Rum Surfski Challenge and, with prize money of R50\u00a0000, this is the most lucrative surfski event in the province! It\u2019s also the first surfski event to include Aliwal Shoal, one of 41 Marine Protected Areas in South Africa and named by Jacques Cousteau as one of the world\u2019s top 10 dive sites. For more information on the Leatherback Rum Surfski Challenge, visit <\/span>@aliwalshoalsurfski<\/span><\/a><\/span> on Instagram and <\/span>Leatherback Rum Aliwal Shoal Surfski Challenge<\/span><\/a><\/span> on Facebook.<\/span><\/p>\n

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*Please note the programme is subject to change. Please check @theoceanfestival on Instagram and Facebook, and <\/span>www.oceanfestival.co.za<\/span><\/a><\/span> website for the most updated Ocean Festival programme details.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt’s the blue heart of the planet \u2014 we should take care of our heart. It’s what makes life possible for us. We still have a really good chance to make things better than they are. They won’t get better unless we take action and inspire others to do the same thing. No one is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4415],"class_list":["post-51178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-more-sport","tag-olivia-jones-communications"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}