Celebrating the Arrival of the Whales Festival
By Lloyd Edwards
Sunday, 16th June 2019The 2nd Celebrating the Arrival of the Whales Festival was held at Pine Lodge on the 16th June in perfect weather. The emphasis this year was on trying to reduce the amount of plastic waste that enters the marine environment. The stalls were split between this topic and marine education and research.
Ronelle’s presentation made everyone aware of the enormity of marine plastic pollution. She explained what was needed to ensure a drastic shift towards Zero Plastic Waste generation. Lloyd spoke on the humpback whale migration and the holding of festivals to celebrate this, at 17 localities all the way from Knysna to Kenya. A movie was then screened about this migration and the birth and journey of a humpback calf and its mother.
After the festival goers had been past the exhibition stalls, some went and did an intertidal walk and beach clean-up, while others went whale spotting from the old 2nd World War fort above Cape Recife. Numerous breaching whales were spotted. Some also enjoyed a discounted Raggy Charters cruise.
At lunch time the three SANDF whale floats arrived, which had been constructed by learners from three high schools in Port Elizabeth. They had made their way all along the Port Elizabeth beachfront from Kings Beach to the Beacon at the bottom of Admiralty Road. Their enthusiasm and energy shown was a fitting end to a great festival. Huge thanks to all our sponsors and friends for making this possible.
Thank you to all sponsors & exhibitors: Herald Live; Algoa FM; Bay FM; Kingfisher FM; Inkanyezi Events; Missing Link; Magnetic Storm; Willard Blue; Schotia Safaris; Shamwari; The PE Hotel Group; The Kelway Hotel; Pine Lodge Resort; SANDF; Alan Tours; Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism; Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality; Algoa Bay Hopespot; World Cetacean Alliance; Butt-Catt Boats; Suzuki Marine SA; Daltar Print & Copy; Katz Tech Lab; Bayworld; Enviro Quest; CSIR; SANCCOB; The Institute of Coastal and Marine Research at NMU; NMU Fine Art.
