There is nothing we love more here at The Great Projects than receiving updates from our trips detailing how well things have been going and what volunteers can watch out for in the future. This week we have been in contact with the staff at The Great White Shark Project over in South Africa and they have told us some updates about the project.
This project is an incredible chance for volunteers to come face to face with, and aid in the conservation of one of the world’s most misunderstood animals, the Great White Shark, so let’s take a look at what’s been going on!
Volunteers have been getting their hands dirty as usual, but they have still been loving life on the shark project! Everything has been running as it normally does with volunteers taking part in amazing activities like Great White cage diving and basic seamanship and boat skills, but there have been a few exciting extras happening too. The South African Shark Conservancy (SASC) has been hosting marine evening which volunteers have been attending. These evenings are themed and they usually consist of some thought-provoking films followed by panel discussions which are chaired by local marine experts. These films and discussions give volunteers a deeper insight into the conservation issues which are a problem in the area, and this is something that they may otherwise never have been able to do without this local knowledge.
Volunteers have been helping at the “Swop-Shop” initiative since it opened, but over the last couple of month’s things have stepped up a gear! The idea behind the Swop-Shop is to encourage local children to gather together different pieces of litter which can be recycled. When the children bring their bags (or sometimes even wheelbarrows!) of recycling to the shop they can exchange it for points, which they can in turn use to purchase items such as school supplies and a few fun bits and pieces. On a single day last month, the children managed to bring a staggering 480kg of recycling in so it is clear that this initiative is working. Volunteers get the chance to help out at the Swop-Shop every Tuesday, handing out a cup of warm soup to the children so they get to see first-hand just how much it is helping.
Also worth noting is that there are two new lectures that volunteers will get to enjoy whilst out at the project site. Alongside the two newest additions of “The Marine Big Five” and “Gansbaai and the Area”, there are four of the regular lectures for volunteers to learn from so the list of lectures now reads:
- The Marine Big 5
- Gansbaai and the Area
- Shark Biology
- Shark Conservation
- Shark Evolution
- Shark Behaviour
As you can see there is an awful lot going on at the Great White Shark Project and there is even more to come in the soon as their 21 Days for the Ocean awareness campaign starts in September! There is a lot to do and this means that a lot of volunteers are needed to help out, so if this sounds like something you want to do then why not take a look at this amazing project here to find out more? You won’t regret volunteering, and who knows, maybe we’ll be writing about what you’ve done in our next update!
