Beachcombing in the digital age

Writer: Elaine Davie.

The question is, what treasures of the sea are beachcombers searching for in this digital age? The answer is simple: anything and everything that can be turned into data describing the state of health of our coastal environment.

At least, that is what 31 smartly-turned-out young interns from Hermanus Varsity (HV) will be doing for the next two months. You may come across them somewhere between Vermont and De Kelders in small teams of six any day of the week.

They have just completed a gruelling year-long theoretical course in Criminal Law Enforcement in the Marine Environment, presented by Nelson Mandela University. Since the course comprises a mix of face-to-face lectures, online input and tutorials, the experience during lockdown has been particularly stressful for the young students, most of them straight from school. Now the time has come for them to put some of their newly-acquired knowledge to work and they are fired up with enthusiasm.

Click below to read more. (The full article can be found on page 2)