We are coming to the end of another busy year at IOI-SA! 

During 2005 IOI-SA staff have been involved in a range of activities, the highlights of which have been the organization and delivery of the two–week Managing Marine Pollution Course, organization of the international meeting of the SeaweedAfrica Database Project, attending the South African Marine Science Symposium in Durban and the Pacem in Maribus (PIM2005) conference in Australia, and hosting an intern from the Institut des Sciences de I’lngeneur de Toulon et du Var (France).  Continuing our contribution to the community, I have presented a talk to the Rotary Club of Claremont and received a further invitation to give presentations to other branches of the Cape Town Rotary Club.  Staff of IOI-SA have served on a number of committees including the steering committees of the South African Network for Coastal and Oceanic Research (SANCOR) and the South African Biodiversity Information Facility (SABIF), and the IOI OceanLearn Implementation Committee. 

These are only a few of the activities that staff of IOI-SA have been involved in during 2005 and continue to be, and more details and activities will be highlighted in our upcoming Annual Report.  Indeed a busy year! 

As 2005 comes to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff of IOI-SA for their hard work and diligence throughout the year.  This has been a particularly challenging year as we had to adjust to reduced team of only five staff in 2005.  The fact that the organization has continued to run smoothly and has maintained a high level of activity and enthusiasm is a tribute to the hard work of these five dedicated people.  To all the friends and supporters of IOI-SA, I thank you for your support during the year, and we look forward to working with you in 2006 again. 

From myself and the team at IOI-SA, we wish you all the best for a wonderful Christmas and prosperous New Year, 2006!

Kim Prochazka

In this issue:

• Message from the Director
• Managing Marine Pollution Course
• Clinid Ecosystematics
• Invasive Alien Species Information on a Global Interactive map
• Pacem in Maribus "down under"
• Upcoming Conferences & Workshops

Managing Marine Pollution Course

The Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) is subject to pollution inputs that affect its coastal and marine domains.  A failure to monitor the marine environment of the coastal zone and recognize and deal with the effects of marine pollution along the length of the BCLME will lead to negative impacts at all levels of economic activity.  Apart from the aesthetic benefits of maintaining a natural environment, it also makes sense from a financial point of view as there is a quantifiable cost and benefit attached to the marine environment. 

With this definition of the problem of marine pollution in the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem, the “Managing Marine Pollution” course was delivered from the 23^rd May until 3^rd June 2005, in Cape Town by the Train-Sea-Coast Benguela Current Course Development Unit, which is managed by the International Ocean Institute Southern Africa. 

The delivery of the course was made possible by funding from the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), sponsorship of participants by the Benguela Large Marine Ecosystem Programme, and contributions by the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the National Ports Authority of South Africa, the National Ports Authority of Namibia, Ministries, national organizations and private consultancies of Angola, Namibia and South Africa. 

The 10-day course  was attended by 18 participants coming from Angola, Namibia and South Africa. The opening ceremony took place on the morning of the 23rd May 2005 and was attended by invited dignitaries including members of the IOI-SA Advisory Board, the course lecturers and participants, the University of the Western Cape Rector and Chairman of the IOI-SA Advisory Board Prof Brian O’Connell, and other special guests.  

The course included modules on water quality guidelines, marine pollution control law, environmental economics, GIS, sampling and analytical methods of the water column and sediments, data presentation and statistical methods, reporting and presentation skills, and contingency planning for disaster management. The course was characterized by the enthusiastic nature of both the participants and lecturers.  Lecturers divided their day so that the theoretical work was completed during the morning sessions with groupwork taking up most of the afternoon sessions.  Participants actively took part in the groupwork, assisting each other wherever possible.  A number of modules needed participants to report back to the group.  As a result of a policy where no one participant was allowed to do a presentation more than once, almost all the participants managed to give a presentation. 

The fieldtrip took place on Wednesday 1 June 2005.  On this trip participants were taken to Cape Town Harbour and the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.  At the Caltex Tanker Berth participants were introduced to the procedure involved in transferring crude oil from the tanker to the berth.  Discussions at the berth included issues of safety procedures during transference of the oil, implications of bad weather conditions, distance and maintenance of the pipeline from the berth to the refinery, some distance away. 

From the Tanker Berth participants were taken to the Port Tower at the entrance to the harbour. All traffic into and out of the harbour is controlled from this building. Participants were introduced to the port procedures as well as to the computer software used to control the traffic. This was finally followed by an excursion to the Two Oceans Aquarium at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, which was kindly sponsored by the Two Oceans Aquarium. 

The closing ceremony took place on the afternoon of Friday, 3 June 2005 where participants were then handed their certificates.

Clinid Ecosystematics: Klipfish research 

Most people have, at some time in their lives, walked along the seashore and seen small fish darting around in the rockpools.  In South Africa, most of these fish belong to a group called the klipfishes (Family Clinidae).  Although members of this family are found in most temperate areas around the world, South Africa is home to 40 species of these fishes, which occur nowhere else on our planet.  These South African fishes are of special interest for a two major reasons.  Firstly, there are so many of them.  Nowhere else in the world have so many species of klipfishes evolved together in one place, and South Africa is home to 77% of all the species known in this family.  Secondly, they are unique in their family in being the only representatives to give birth to live young.  No non-South African members of the family have evolved this mode of reproduction. 

The klipfishes are not restricted to living in the rockpool environment, but the different species have made their homes on rocky reefs, sandy beaches, in estuaries, and some can even be found completely out of water sheltering under boulders during the low tide.  Each of these habitats has moulded the biology of the klipfishes so that they display a vast and fascinating array of adaptations to coping with the particular demands of these environments.  But one thing remains constant in all species – they are always intricately patterned and perfectly camouflaged to blend in with their environment. 

Dr Kim Prochazka of IOI-SA, together with Dr Rauri Bowie of the University of Stellenbosch and Mr Wouter Holleman of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), are currently engaged in research into the evolutionary history of this intriguing group of fishes, made possible by a grant from South Africa’s National Research Foundation.  This research stretches over the full 3000km of the South African coastline, and uses molecular genetics to answer a number of fundamental questions regarding the evolutionary biology of these fishes.  Important components of the research include fine-scale investigation of biogeographic structuring around the South African coast using klipfishes as a model for shore organisms, investigating mechanisms involved in the evolutionary radiation of this group of fishes, determining links between evolutionary processes and ecological processes, testing land-derived evolutionary theories in a marine system, describing species previously unknown to science, and investigating the inter-relationships between the different species of South African klipfishes.

Contribution by: Kim Prochazka

Invasive Alien Species information on a Global Interactive Map 

An exciting opportunity for the IOI-SA during 2004 has been the possibility to work with the Global Invasive Species Programme or GISP to develop their new interactive web-portal, which includes an exciting Global Interactive Map of Alien Invasive Species (IAS) information for the whole world. You can visit the site at www.gisp.org. 

GISP is a partnership network of organizations and programmes from around the world that are involved in the study and control of Invasive Alien Species (IAS). GISP was established in 1997 to provide support for the implementation of those aspects of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that deal with IAS. GISP strives to develop cooperation between national and international organizations dealing with IAS and to promote the sharing of information thereby reducing or hopefully eliminating the duplication of effort. 

GISP considers the Internet a very important means of sharing information with its target audience, which includes governments, organizations and individuals. The new GISP web portal has become a global clearing-house mechanism for all information related to IAS as envisioned by the CBD Conference of Parties 6 or COP 6. Visitors to the clearing-house are encouraged to notify the IOI-SA web development team of gaps in the information and provide information and resources to fill the gaps so that true sharing of information can take place rather than simple one-sided information retrieval. 

An effective as well as interesting mechanism to distribute the clearing-house information had to be found. A Global Interactive Map was decided upon. In the map users can use a graphical interface to find the country or region in which they are interested. By clicking on their country or region of choice they can find more information about it. Those users who want direct access to the information without having to use the graphical interface can access the information from simple dropdown lists. The regions used on the map roughly follow the regions used by Bionet, a GISP partner organization. 

A wide a range of information is being collected for the Global Interactive Map. This information is added to a series of sophisticated databases in which each item is linked to one or several countries or regions. The databased information available through the map includes: 

1. News items involving IAS from various news sources around the world.
2. Internet links to websites dealing with IAS issues in particular online databases are given prominence.
3. Experts in the field of IAS research and control
4. Government departments, institutes and organizations working in the IAS field
5. Programmes and initiatives focusing on the IAS issues.
6. Conferences, workshops and events dealing with IAS
7. References to a broad range on documents including journal articles, books, presentations, and brochures dealing with IAS some of which are available for download.

Although seemingly obvious, lists of IAS have not been developed in database as these are a very specialized field and numerous online databases already specialize in species lists for various regions The links to these databases are, however included in the global interactive map. . In the future simple example lists will be provided through the map. The map is a world first as few databases available on the Internet concentrate on the information that is being added to the map’s databases. 

A team of part-time data collectors Ashok Bali, Jason Ely, Peter Mortimer and Gené Guthrie have been working hard searching the Internet for links and information to be added to the databases. The information attached to the map is growing daily. If you have an interest in IAS please visit the Global Interactive Map at www.GISP.org click on the Interactive Map link. Send us your comments or any useful information to GISP@uwc.ac.za.

Contribution by: Martin Cocks

Pacem in Maribus “down under”

G’day, Mate!  I recently attended the 31^st Pacem in Maribus Conference in Townsville, Australia (31^st October – 3^rd November 2005).  A joint conference of the International Ocean Institute (IOI) and the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMAREST), the conference explored the overall theme of “Building bridges towards integrated oceans governance: Linking ocean science, engineering, technology and policy”.  Presentations and discussions revolved around six major topics:

• Regional security: environmental, economic and social implications

• Coastal & marine activities: environmental, economic and social implications

• Technology, surveillance and enforcement of maritime activities

• Global marine assessments and models for alternatives

• Arafura and Timor Seas: research co-operation, knowledge sharing and integrated management

• Marine biotechnology: challenges and prospects

Two papers were presented which highlighted some of the work currently underway at IOI-SA.  Martin Cocks presented a paper entitled “Bridging the public and the government through a web-based coastal information centre”, and Richard Knight gave a paper on “Fast-tracking e-learning to mainstream marine studies at tertiary institutions”.  Both presentations received much interest from those present at the session.

A special session on Marine Natural Hazards was held on Tuesday 1^st November, at which presentations were given by speakers such as Dr Salvano Briceno, Director of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction of the United Nations, Dr Viacheslav Gusiakov, Head of the Tsunami Laboratory at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof Tad Murty of the University of Ottawa, Mr Kartlos Edilashvili, Senior Technical Advisor of the World Agency for Planetary, Monitoring and Earthquake Risk Reduction (WAPMER), and Dr Clive Wilkinson of the Australian Institute of Marine Science.  A number of Directors of IOI Operational Centres also gave presentations which covered subjects such as the destruction of coral reefs caused by the December 2004 Tsunami, and establishment of marine natural hazard warning systems in Thailand, Central America and Brazil.

The Elisabeth Mann-Borgese Memorial Lecture was presented on the evening of 31^st October by Caryn Anderson, Manager of Environmental Services with Townsville Port Authority.  Caryn’s talk “Ocean governance theory – the practical realities” presented her experience of the practical difficulties of implementing good ocean governance and clean environmental practices in the real-world situation of a commercial port.

One of the highlights of the conference for me was the Arvid Pardo Memorial Lecture presented on the evening of 2^nd November by Peter Batson of the University of Otago in New Zealand.  Peter’s highly entertaining public lecture “Spare a thought for your local Abyss” had everyone awed with incredible photography and images, and called on the international oceans community to explore ways of ensuring long-term protection for these abyssal ecosystems.

The closing ceremony of the conference included a presentation by two youth ambassadors who put forward the declaration from the Schools Ocean Forum held in Townsville the week prior to the conference.  This moving presentation appealed to the assembled audience and the international community to work harder and to do more to address the continuing decline in the state of our oceans and coasts.

The conference was rounded-off with a poolside banquet on the evening of Thursday 3^rd November.  After a wonderful dinner, one of the IOI Alumni sang a song to the banquet, during which I fulfilled my life-long ambition of being a go-go girl as other the IOI alumni present, the IOI President and myself stood together holding hands behind her in support.

After the conference I was fortunate to be able to take two weeks vacation, and I headed north of Cairns with my backpack to where the rainforest meets the reef, spending a fabulous two weeks at Cape Tribulation (shortened to Cape Trib if you wish to sound hip).  I spent much time walking in the rainforest, spotting wildlife including the famous cassowaries, swimming in croc-free creeks, and doing some amazing diving on the Great Barrier Reef.  They don’t call it ‘Great’ for nothing, and I was awed by the amazing diversity and busy-ness of the reef.  So much so, in fact, that I largely forgot my roots as a marine fish biologist and instead of identifying fish, observing their interactions and generally ‘biologising’, I simply swam around pointing a lot and bubbling “pretty fish” every few seconds!

Contribution by Kim Prochazka

UPCOMING CONFERENCES & WORKSHOPS 

• The Third Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands, 23-28 January 2006, Paris, France (www.globaloceans.org)

• VI International Abalone Symposium, 19-24 February 2006, Peurto Varas, Chile (www.abalone2006.cl)

• The Second International Symposium on Geo-Information for Disaster Management, 25-26 September 2006, Goa, India (www.commission4.isprs.org)