Living close to the sea, most of the school children have parents or family members who work for fishing companies. The children were encouraged to use their creative skills and express through any art medium what the sea means to them or what comes to mind when the sea is mentioned to them.

The closing date for the competition was 13 October 2008. Fifty winning art pieces were selected and the children were taken for an outing to the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. From progress reports from the schools, it was clear that the kids were working very hard on their art projects.

Great was the surprise of the judges on 14 October to see the effort and creativeness that emerged from the competition. Many children used the pollution of beaches as their main objective, while others used waste materials to create their art work. The response to the competition was overwhelming. It was quite difficult for the judges to make their decision and after judging over 80 entries, the spread of the 50 winners was made up as follows:

• 10 Pupils – Laingville Primary
• 10 Pupils – EL Malgarte
• 12 Pupils – HP Williams Primary
• 18 Pupils – Steenberg’s Cove Primary

Some of the winning children had never been to the Aquarium so there was great excitement when the excursion departed from St. Helena Bay at 08h00 on 21 October. The kids enjoyed sandwiches and fruit on the bus.

At the Aquarium a lesson was given to the pupils on the difference between the warm and cold oceans and this affects the biodiversity along the coasts. Needless to say that on questions asked about plantlike animals found in the cold ocean, almost all the hands went up. It was evident that if there is one thing our kids along the West Coast know about, then it is the sea. Learning about some sea animals common to the oceans, and hands–on examination of these animals, made the session one of the highlights of the day. The kids found it quite interesting and amusing to find out that sea bamboo (kelp) is used in toothpaste and ice creams.

Then it was off to see the Aquarium. The pupils gazed in awe at almost every exhibition and were amazed by the different shapes, sizes and colours of the underworld creatures. Surely it is quite natural that the I&J Shark exhibit should get the Wows, and the large crayfish should get the Mmm…

Each of the kids received a Kentucky Streetwise 2 and cold drink for lunch and on the return trip to St Helena Bay environmental DVD’s were played in the bus.

The competition was held as part of Oceana’s Environmental initiative programme, and the objective was to create awareness, and ensure that the message of sustainability of resources and the importance of environmental awareness reaches the next generation. Needless to say, the journey to the Aquarium was a great success and the desirable learning outcome was achieved.