Slide Night

Nandipha Masango is Media Coordinator for The Green Connection, an important NPO holding the old and gas industry to account. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) Degree in Environmental Management from the University of South Africa. Along with a Bachelor of Social Science in Environmental Management Degree, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Nandipha has been involved in youth focused eco-tourism, environmental education, enviropreneur and conservation programmes.

Born and raised in South Africa, Simon Elwen has been studying whales and dolphins in this area for over 20 years. In 2008 he started the Namibian Dolphin Project, and in 2014 Sea Search, based in Cape Town with Tess Gridley. His interests are broad and Elwen has worked on most marine mammals in the region to some extent but with a general focus on coastal dolphins and humpback whales. He is particularly interested in the behavioural adaptations that marine mammals make to different environmental conditions, especially the changes that have occurred in the marine realm from human impacts.

David Bristow grew up on the Highveld pulling dubbeltjies out his bare feet before Witkoppen became Sandton. One afternoon at the Brass Bell, quaffing ale and listening to The Blues Brus, convinced him he’d been born in the wrong place, so he relocated – eventually – to Muizenberg. Somehow along the way he became a travel photojournalist and also had a large pile of books published. When he was younger he liked to climb mountains but now finds it much easier navigating a longboard, staring at things underwater, and piloting a mountain bike: he says he has the scars to prove it – mostly mental.

Blind surfer Michele, who was diagnosed with deteriorating retinitis pigmentosa in 2005, is a purpose-led athlete and advocate for differently abled athletes through various media where she plies her trade as a public speaker, writer and influencer. A former national judo medallist, as the years took away more of her sight, Michele took to parasurfing, representing South Africa at the world championships in California in 2022. She is a keen advocate of surfing as therapy, and plans to compete at the Paralympics in 2028 for her 60th. She shares life's journey with a vibrant core of compatriots who see themselves worlds apart from how others see them.

Cormac is the director of the Wild Law Institute, which advances and defends the rights of Nature. He is a leading environmental lawyer – one of the team that stopped Shell’s seismic survey – and a leader of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature. After his book Wild Law: A Manifesto for Earth Justice in 2002 he began to build the global movement that now campaigns for ocean rights and the recognition of Antarctica as an autonomous entity.

Koebraa is a child of the ocean. Her love for the ocean was instilled by her dad. Today, she lives her dream as a marine biologist, with a background in Conservation Biology, teaching others about the sea, while researching marine bioinvasions. She examines the threat of marine alien and invasive species that settle or grow on artificial structures submerged in the marine environment. These include harbour and marina infrastructure as well as recreational vessels. She also looks at alien species within Marine Protected Areas and invertebrate communities on the walls of manmade tidal pools.

Veteran kneeboarder and surf shop owner Gigs Cilliers, son of the 1980s cartoonist Lencil, is four times World Kneeboarding Champion. A larger than life character, Gigs is the consumate waterman. He is adept at running safety on PWC (Personal Water Craft), as well as towing various big wave surfers into giant waves. Gigs is well known in the international community as a commentator on the World Surf League Championship Tour.

Justine, Logan and Wade are educators from the Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Education Centre. The Centre works with school groups to teach lessons about the wonder and importance of the ocean, our connection to it, and the future of this resource. Recently, we have been exploring the power of storytelling as a tool. By reflecting on the stories that impacted us personally as children, learning from our rich cultural heritage and considering the current science, we are developing our own ocean stories that we hope will resonate with our communities.