SAAMBR (uShaka Sea World Education) was not about to let Covid 19 hold them back from conducting the annual UNISA Nature Conservation Marine and Coastal Management Programme. As the students could not come to Durban, we took the program to them via an online platform. Last week from the 24th to the 27th of August our Education team and specialist scientists joined the students online to conduct a number of 2-hour live question and answer sessions, guidings and practical’s. Leading up to this week, the team prepared several lectures that the students could view in their own time in preparation for the course. While this method could never replace the real natural experience, it was certainly a second best for the students, many of whom had never been to these ecosystems. The students experienced a strong learning curve with the online platform, data challenges and not being able to see each other face to face, and the hosts had to focus on describing situations through the camera lens. Despite all of that it was another successful programme with a few more marine environmental champions being ignited.
