25 Sep The Two Oceans Aquarium: A Window into the Ocean

Over the years Faithful to Nature has had the fortunate opportunity to partner and work with many eco-activists who look to serve Mother Nature and all her creatures in different ways.  However, it is in the partnering with Two Oceans Aquarium that we have seen a great deal of contention and upset with a group of our customers.

Image thanks to Dagny Warmerdam

We have chosen to partner with the Two Oceans Aquarium because we believe they are doing a lot of positive conservation and education. And this is true. They are. However, the fact remains that fish are kept in captivity. It is a grey area. Many of our customers feel this is a poor brand alignment and we have considered their point of view and the valid points raised. Ultimately all of this has raised important conversations between organisations, and that in itself is a positive outcome. We can only ever benefit from learning from one another.

Many things matter to us here at Faithful to Nature, but these recent events have brought two in particular to light. Firstly – we are passionate about being part of the solution that makes this world a better place and secondly – we always listen to our customers. It is only when one steps fully into the world of ethical consumerism that true understanding of the seldom static or black and white issues becomes clearer. Almost every issue and solution comes with grey areas. What matters most in finding the best solution is to always listen to all sides of the story. In all of this, we felt it was only fair to give the Two Oceans Aquarium an opportunity to talk openly about the positive work they are doing daily in ocean conservation. Helen Lockhart of the Two Oceans Aquarium shares her personal journey in coming to terms with this ethical question and why she believes The Two Oceans Aquarium is conservation in its truest sense.

“There is no guarantee that people will care if they know, but it is certain they cannot care if they do not know.” —Dr Sylvia Earle

Growing up in Zimbabwe, the sea was a distant place for me as a child, far removed from my everyday experience and only associated with holidays on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal. Memories of these times consist of exploring tidal pools, building sand castles and being tumbled by seemingly ‘gigantic’ waves.

The sea both frightened and intrigued me, but this was only in relation to what I saw and experienced at the surface – the infinite expanse of water with its crashing waves. It would be many years before I learned of and indeed saw just an inkling of the great diversity of life that exists beneath the waves.

While relocating to Cape Town in 1994 brought me closer to the ocean, my appreciation of its beauty and the life it supports was still largely from a terrestrial point of view. However, in 1995, I was offered an opportunity that would exert a powerful influence on my life and immerse me both literally and figuratively in another world. The Two Oceans Aquarium opened its doors

The Two Oceans Aquarium opened its doors and unveiled a realm of life that I would never have believed existed. The more I have learned about the animals from the ocean depths, the greater my intrigue and hunger for knowledge and the deeper my commitment to advocating for changes in attitudes and behaviour towards the oceans and our planet as a whole.

However, in spite of this life-changing experience and my dedication to the goals of the Two Oceans Aquarium, there are times when I question the existence and role of aquariums and zoos and the fact that these facilities hold animals in captivity. Having disliked zoos intensely as an adolescent, how can I work in an aquarium as an adult? Was I able to accept a position at the Aquarium because the majority of the animals are fish and somehow they don’t have quite the same appeal as tigers and elephants? What makes an aquarium any different to a zoo? These incongruities challenge me and I have taken some time to reflect on my principles regarding these issues.

Why is it that we apply different standards to different animals?

When is an animal not worthy of our ‘sympathy’? The Aquarium is home to more than 3 000 individual animals, yet we have only received comments or complaints about 26 of these creatures being kept on display. Why don’t animals such as anemones and crabs elicit a sympathetic or ‘they’re so cute’ response from us? It seems that we only identify with those animals whose physical qualities we find endearing and vaguely similar to our own. Perhaps we identify more with some animals simply because they are more familiar to us – knowledge of terrestrial life is far greater than that of oceanic life.

Sometimes our feelings are based purely on ignorance and lack of knowledge about the animal’s lifestyle and chosen natural habitat. For example, octopuses squeeze themselves into tiny rock crevices to protect themselves from predators, yet when they are displayed in an aquarium exhibit that replicates their natural habitat, people complain that it is cruel to keep an octopus in a confined space.

When we anthropomorphise certain animals, we attribute human emotions and qualities to them. Thus, our feelings towards animals in captivity may actually say more about us than about them. Is it that we are confronted with our own fear of being confined? Are we reminded that we have the power to manipulate animals to our own benefit (including farming, fishing, domestication of animals, pets, etc.), which evokes guilt disguised as anger?

Perhaps it is simply sadness that human beings have necessitated the existence of zoos and aquariums in order to protect the environment and animals from further degradation and extinction by our own hands.

At times of such emotion and questioning, I have rationally considered the role of the Two Oceans Aquarium and thought deeply about the impact it has had on my life and others.

An educational impact on millions of children

Since the Aquarium opened in 1995, over 2 million children have visited it, mostly in school groups. Many of these children are historically and economically disadvantaged and some are from homes for the physically and mentally handicapped.

These children live in close proximity to the ocean, yet many of them have never even been to the beach. Many of them will never experience the joy of seeing underwater through a mask, let alone scuba diving or travelling to exotic destinations to see animals in the wild. Some people argue that it is possible to learn about the oceans and marine life through films and the Internet.

However, if this were indeed the case, then there is no basis for the hugely successful ’safari’ tourism industry in eastern and southern Africa. And many of the children who have come to the Aquarium do not have access to books, television or the Internet.

Do those of us who are privileged with a formal education and sufficient financial stability have the right to further impoverish these children by denying them the possibility to marvel at the wonder of nature in the Aquarium? Nothing can replace the incredible impact and sheer delight of interacting with living animals. It is these first-hand sensory experiences in childhood that are vital for the later formation of positive environmental attitudes and behaviours, which are essential if we are to protect the environment in years to come.

The Aquarium provides an opportunity for children, and indeed all visitors, to observe animals in ways that would never be possible in the wild. We all know that penguins live around the Cape coastline, but how often do we get to see these animals at such close range? It is only a handful of privileged divers who have witnessed the penguins as they swim underwater. Even Boulders, where one can view penguins in their natural habitat, is for the privileged few.

Incredible as it may seem, even though I have been fortunate to have both these opportunities, I would not fully appreciate these animals without the background of invaluable educational interactions that the Aquarium makes possible.

The true conservationist committed to animal care

However, in spite of the value of these unique experiences, I could not work at the Two Oceans Aquarium if I was not convinced that the interests of the animals are of paramount importance to the people who are responsible for their care. The staff demonstrate time and time again their passion and commitment to the animals. One such occasion occurred recently when the first rockhopper penguin hatched and needed hands-on care to ensure her survival. The Aquarium’s rescue and rehabilitation work with turtles also requires an enormous amount of time and care from the staff. But the efforts are worth it – seeing rehabilitated turtles being released back into the wild is a heartening experience for all of us.

Many people who have not visited the Aquarium assume that we keep dolphins, but the Aquarium chooses not to exhibit these animals because it could not construct a suitable environment for them within the limited, available space. There are many people working here, including myself, who draw the line at displaying cetaceans and would be against any move to include them in the Two Oceans Aquarium, even though some 74 per cent of visitors to the Aquarium have indicated in surveys that they would like to see dolphins on display.

Is the greater good really a grey area?

The role and obligation of the Two Oceans Aquarium as a public aquarium is to showcase the beauty of life in the oceans, to raise awareness of the current devastation of the oceans, and to instil a sense of custodianship in all our visitors so that they will conserve and protect the oceans. Despite the ethical questions, I firmly believe in what we stand for: sustainability through environmental education and conservation. I do not believe that we exist solely for entertainment purposes – in which case, I would not work here and neither would the majority of the staff. I do believe, however, that if we lived in an ideal world where humans lived in harmony with nature and did not pollute, exploit, overconsume, etc., we wouldn’t need aquariums. Sadly, that ideal world does not exist and therefore we need places such as aquariums where people can more easily learn about the marine world and hopefully appreciate it more fully.

Our ongoing efforts to inspire action for the future

The Aquarium’s mission is to inspire action for the future well-being of our oceans and this we do through various initiatives and campaigns such as:

• Rethink the Bag
• Beach cleanups
• Rehabilitation and release efforts with endangered sea turtles
• Showcasing renewable energy alternatives such as solar panels
• Rescuing seals from life-threatening nooses
• Rescuing sunfish from draining docks

Making access to the Aquarium even more available

We grant free entry to a wide range of groups including:

• Children suffering from terminal diseases through Reach for a Dream,
• Handicapped people and their essential helpers
• COSATU pensioners organised in partnership with COSATU
• Staff who work at other conservation-oriented facilities.
• Allocation of 300 complimentary tickets every year to other organisations to use as prizes for their fund-raising efforts.

Educational efforts outside the Aquarium

In terms of environmental education, over and above the two discovery centres, which host in excess of 65 000 school children a year, the Aquarium runs two outreach programmes – Oceans in Motion and Smart Living.

The Oceans in Motion
The Oceans in Motion outreach transports live marine animals such as starfish, sea urchins and sea anemones to under-resourced schools free of charge. Last year it visited nearly 17 000 children in 132 schools.

Free education courses
The Aquarium also runs free education courses for school children ranging from Sea Fans, to Junior Biologists, Young Biologists and Matric Revision.

Research funding
In addition, the Aquarium has also contributed funding for research on sevengill sharks (also known as cowsharks, these are large – up to 3m coastal-associated apex predators found in temperate waters around the world) and acoustic telemetry on leervis migrations (leervis or garrick are large silvery fish), has entered into a partnership with the Khayelitsha-based Mdzananda Animal Clinic and is assisting a young entrepreneur, Mzu Lembeni, with his township tour business.

Environmental considerations throughout
Finally, like Faithful to Nature, the Two Oceans Aquarium is on a journey, trying in every possible way to reduce its environmental footprint and to do things in an environmentally responsible way. The Aquarium is a certified Platinum member of the Heritage Environmental Rating Programme. Platinum status is the highest level of achievement in this internationally recognised eco-labelling programme indicating that a facility is continually striving to reduce the impact of its operations on the environment and on local communities. The Aquarium is currently one of only three Platinum-status facilities in the Western Cape.

The Two Oceans Aquarium has left an indelible impression on my life and has changed forever my perception of the role of modern aquariums. Without the influence of the Aquarium, it is probable that, together with the majority of people, I would have remained oblivious of the incredible life the oceans support and would be significantly deprived in knowledge and experience as a result. I believe that aquariums are vital if we have any hope of saving the diversity of life on this planet.

Knowledge really is our only hope

I fully agree with the sentiments expressed by American oceanographer, Sylvia Earle and Senegalese conservationist Baba Dioum who, although originating from diverse backgrounds and experience, hold the same philosophy regarding the educational importance of the living animal. Their message is simple: without learning and understanding as much as we can about the natural world, we cannot possibly care enough to ensure its survival.

I firmly believe the real and living animals we are able to see and come to know in aquariums are ambassadors for their species. They are messengers and teachers and, because of them, I have become an ambassador for the environment, caring deeply about the future of natural populations and delighting in seeing their kind in the wild.

As Baba Dioum so eloquently says

“In the end, we will conserve only what we love,
We will love only what we understand,
We will understand only what we are taught.”

Thank you to Helen Lockhart of the Two Oceans Aquarium for providing us with this in-depth feedback piece and to the Two Oceans Aquarium for all the images.

For further reading on the Aquarium’s conservation efforts check out these articles:

• May the force be with you
• Rethink the bag campaign
• Watch the Aquarium rescue a trapped sunfish
• Another successful seal rescue by the aquarium team
• Imzu tours are o-fish-ally awesome
• Sustainable practices landing