Flock At Sea Again! in April 2017 will have some special guests. The team from the Ocean View Association for People with Disabilities (OVAPD) centre that makes our bird-scaring lines will be joining us on board, thanks to holding albithe generous sponsorship of Rand Merchant Bank.
The OVAPD centre runs the Tori Line project as part of BirdLife South Africa’s Albatross Task Force (ATF) programme (see above). While attending the Rand Merchant Bank Environment Programme Disability Workshop in May 2016, ATF instructor Bokamoso Lebepe realised how seldom people with disabilities get to experience life to the full. After consulting with Deborah Gonsalves, the manager of the OVAPD centre, we approached the managers of Rand Merchant Bank’s Environmental Fund with the idea of offering this team of seabird champions the experience of a lifetime.
How better to reward this amazing team than to take them out to see the birds they are so instrumental in protecting? The Tori Line project is currently supported through the generous sponsorship of the Rand Merchant Bank Environmental Fund, which provides materials for the production of bird-scaring lines. So it was with great joy that we received the news recently that the fund would support this incredible adventure. For Deborah it is a dream come true. ‘I have never seen an albatross,’ she said, her eyes full of smiles. Hardly able to contain her excitement, she couldn’t wait to let the team know.
Flock At Sea is a five-day cruise along the continental shelf off Cape Town. It has been tailored by BirdLife South Africa for optimal seabird watching and is a unique opportunity to see some of the rarest seabirds in our waters. The cruise in April promises to be an unforgettable trip for all, not least for our friends from Ocean View!
For more information about the ATF programme or the OVAPD centre, e-mail andrea.angel@birdlife.org.za
Now for the real thing! Members of the Ocean View team who make bird-scaring lines
are looking forward to seeing an albatross in the flesh.
ANDREA ANGEL, LEADER: ALBATROSS TASK FORCE
