REBECCA HARPER Seaweek, the annual celebration of our marine environment, began on Sunday. The week-long festival is an opportunity for everyday New Zealanders to get involved with projects that help protect and enhance the local marine environment. The theme this year is 'one ocean - it starts here' and it runs until SundayMarch 11. Regional event co-ordinator Barbara Curtis said Seaweek should not be missed. "It is a great time to celebrate our marine and coastal heritage and to think about the role we all play in looking after it." She said New Zealand's marine protected areas and reserves provided protection for marine biodiversity and by managing human activities, provided opportunities for eco-tourism, recreation and education, as well as the protection of our social and cultural values. She said this year's theme was another way of saying "think global, act local". It was also a call to take action and clean up our act. "Everyone in New Zealand lives within 200km of the sea," Ms Curtis said. "We love swimming, sailing and visiting the beach. It is part of who we are and need to be responsible for looking after what belongs to all of us." She encouraged anyone to join in the celebrations, or just take the time to go down to the beach with family and friends and enjoy. LOCAL EVENTS: * Seaweek lecture on March 7, 7.30pm featuring Peter Batson talking on deep-sea life at the National Aquarium. * Hawke's Bay Live Poets Seaweek poetry evening on March 8, 7pm at the National Aquarium * Waka rides on Saturday March 10 from 12.30pm to 4pm at Pandora Pond, Ahuriri. * Westshore and Tutira schools are both holding beach clean-ups as part of the Seaweek celebrations. Westshore Beach 2.15pm Thursday March 8 and Tutira at Whirinaki Beach on Friday March 9. * Seaweek Sunday on March 11, 10am to 3pm at the reserve next to the Marine Parade playground. Marine education and family fun day, get up close and personal with some of the animals from the National Aquarium and Marineland. SEA FACTS * New Zealand's marine environment covers 430m ha, more than 15 times our land area, and more than one percent of the earth's surface. * New Zealand's coastline stretches over 15,000km and all New Zealanders live within 140km of the sea.
