The need to stop offshore explorations is at the forefront of stopping climate change, said prof Guy Midgley, acting director of the school for climate studies at Stellenbosch University (SU), at a recent collaborative film screening.
The film Becoming Visible by Janet Solomon was screened on 31 August at the Neelsie Cinema on the SU campus, said Skyla Thornton, a diver for Maties Underwater and a co-host at the event.
The screening was hosted by EcoMaties, the Maties Underwater club and the school for climate studies at SU and was attended by more than 45 people, according to Thornton.
EcoMaties is a society focused on sustainability at SU, Maties Underwater is a sports club that focuses on scuba diving, free diving and ocean-related education, while the school for climate studies is a faculty at SU that conducts climate-related research in Africa, said Thornton.
As a result of the documentary, the Oceans Not Oil campaign was established because the film “highlighted the issues with seismic surveys on the South African coastline”, added Thornton.
The climate change revolution is a humanitarian crisis, according to Sarah Robyn Farrell, an activist from the Fossil Free South Africa campaign. The movement needs more people collaborating, said Skyla Thornton (pictured behind the desk), a diver for Maties Underwater and a co-host of the recent film screening held to raise awareness around climate change and the impact seismic surveys have on natural environments. PHOTO: Mia van der Merwe
‘Becoming Visible’
Becoming Visible serves as a symbol that inspires the call for an “inclusive collective effort”, in advocating for fairness in human’s shared marine environments, she stated.
The documentary explores what happens to marine life after oil and gas extraction prospects off the South African coastline, she said. It ultimately illustrates how marine life and their migration patterns are negatively impacted by seismic blasting, said Thornton.
Humans need to look after the oceans and marine life because it plays a bigger role in the entire ecosystem, said Sarah Robyn Farrell, an activist from the Fossil Free South Africa campaign, at a recent screening of Becoming Visible by Janet Solomon and the Oceans Not Oil campaign, which was held to raise awareness around climate change and the impact seismic surveys have on natural environments. PHOTO: Mia van der Merwe
Environmental education
Stopping these harmful surveys can only happen when society is informed of the potential harm it could cause, and that can only happen through awareness, said Megan Farquhar, co-chair of EcoMaties.
“Our goal is to educate our fellow students on environmental topics, such as climate change, conservation and diversity,” she added.
Attendees of a recent film screening about the impact that oil and gas extraction expeditions could have on marine life, could scan a QR code to upload questions they might have for the director of Becoming Visible. This was according to Skyla Thornton, a diver for Maties Underwater and a co-host of the event. PHOTO: Mia van der Merwe