World Oceans Day 8 June 2025
One Ocean, One Climate, One Future – Together
On 8 June 2025, the SANAP community celebrates World Oceans Day under the powerful theme: One Ocean, One Climate, One Future – Together. At the heart of this theme lies a call to protect our blue planet through collective research, and deepened understanding of the critical role our oceans play in shaping the Earth’s climate and supporting life.
For the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP), this is more than a celebration—it’s a reaffirmation of our mission – Understand, Develop and Conserve. Our Southern Ocean research efforts are driven by the urgent need to understand the links between ocean health, climate change, and the wellbeing of future generations. South Africa, as a gateway to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, plays a key scientific and logistical role in advancing global knowledge of polar and marine systems.
Sometimes called the lungs of the planet, the Southern Ocean absorbs vast amounts of carbon dioxide and heat, making it one of the most crucial regulators of Earth’s climate. It drives ocean circulation, supports unique ecosystems, and connects all major ocean basins. However, it is also one of the fastest-changing regions due to climate change—warming waters, shifting ice dynamics, and altered ecosystems pose challenges that demand urgent scientific attention.
SANAP’s Research Footprint
Through SANAP, South African researchers from various institutions are contributing world-class science to understand and protect the Southern Ocean:
- The University of Cape Town (UCT) leads long-term monitoring programs on carbon fluxes, ocean-atmosphere interactions, and ecosystem responses to warming. MARiS includes the Antarctic MIZ Observations: Interdisciplinary approaches to resolve seasonal sea-ice variability. The SEAmester floating classroom initiative also trains young scientists at sea, combining education with real-time research.
- Stellenbosch University contributes cutting-edge work in marine microbiology and ocean biogeochemistry, studying the role of microscopic life in global carbon cycling and nutrient dynamics.
- Nelson Mandela University focuses on marine top predators, such as seals and penguins, to track ecosystem health and food web shifts in response to
- South African Weather Service project includes the decoding the mercury cycle in the Southern Ocean: in situ observations and advanced modelling
- CSIR – Smart Places – SOCCO has two projects focusing on the Southern Ocean Carbon-Heat Nexus: mixed-layer processes & feedback for improved climate projections and emergent constraints on Southern Ocean phytoplankton physiology (ECOSOPHY)
Gough Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies over 2,500 km from South Africa and is known for its rugged beauty, unique wildlife, and critical role in weather and climate observation. The island is uninhabited apart from the small overwintering team stationed at Gough Base, which plays a vital role in supporting South Africa’s meteorological and environmental research.
High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) virus is suspected to have reached Marion Island, one of South Africa’s two sub-Antarctic islands in the southern Indian Ocean and is possibly responsible for causing mortalities in at least three breeding seabird species.
The situation is being closely monitored by the 11-field personnel overwintering on the island, who have been trained to recognise possible HPAI signs in birds and seals, and in the necessary monitoring and mitigation methods. They will be taking all precautions to ensure they do not spread the virus, and they are collecting information to assist with decisions about the appropriate response.
Gough 69 Overwintering team newsletter now available. A bumper issue, you’ll get a glimpse of what life on Gough is like—the team’s unforgettable experiences, their personal growth, and the bonds they formed. 
A word form the leader: “it’s my pleasure to reflect on the incredible journey we’ve shared over the past months, experiencing both the beauty and the challenges of this remote island. Overwintering on Gough Island has been an extraordinary adventure. Each of us came to this island with our own motivations and expectations, but we’ve grown together into a cohesive team—a family, really.” – Matshediso Meshack Mogorosi
Well done to all that represented South Africa at 
The
The mid-term goal of SEAmester is to attract and establish a cohort of proficient marine and atmospheric science graduates who will contribute to filling the capacity needs of South African marine science. Furthermore, by involving researchers from across all the relevant disciplines and tertiary institutions in South Africa, SEAmester provides an opportunity to continue building a network of collaborative teaching within the marine field. In doing so, these researchers will foster and strengthen new and current collaborations between historically white and black universities. A core aim of SEAmester will be to transform the number of numerate postgraduate students entering the marine sciences. Within South Africa there continues to be an urgent need to redress the demography of scientists involved in oceanographic research, which remains skewed towards white South Africans. SEAmester has already proven to be extremely effective in responding to these challenges. Since its inception in 2016, over 120 male and 140 female students from 26 tertiary institutes, have been trained onboard the SA Agulhas II. With 64% of the enrolled students being black South African and from previously disadvantaged universities . Greater awareness of the ocean’s physical, biogeochemical and ecological response to climate change, highlighted through ship-board experiences, has already started to inspire and attract students into the marine sciences. This is a critical step if a new generation of marine scientists with a far higher calibre in the sciences are to be trained. Most importantly, SEAmester has already created opportunities for students from all social backgrounds to experience working life at sea. By achieving a more quantitative and experienced input into our postgraduate pipeline, we will, as a scientific community, greatly improve our long-term capabilities to accurately measure, model and predict the impacts of current climate change scenarios. We fully expect this to continue and to ensure that students who excel in numeracy, despite diverse economic, educational, ethnic and social backgrounds, are aware, have equal access to the benefits and opportunities afforded through this programme.
