YSGOL BRO GWAUN was host to the Sea Trust Marine Mammal talk on Thursday January 28 which saw 500 students being educated about the marine life which surrounds the Pembrokeshire coastline.
Welcomed to the school by Head-teacher Mrs Nicholas Kindly, and opened by the Ysgol Bro Gwaun Jazz Band, Cliff Benson, Lolo Williams, and their team began by showing a series of videos including sharks, dolphins and whales filmed along the North Pembrokeshire coastline by Sea Trust.
Speaking to the Herald Cliff said: “Iolo and myself commented on and generally told the stories of the animals we showed”.
“The youngsters joined in from the start, they were a really enthusiastic and rewarding audience. We ended the show with a question and answer session and the hands came flying up, lots of good questions.”
Speaking about the television presenter Iolo Williams he said: “Iolo had a grueling schedule for the day, filming in Cardigan Bay the morning, with us in the afternoon, a teatime spot on “Heno” in Llanelli and then an epic drive to Cumbria. I don’t know how he does it! And yet at the end of the show he stayed on to sign autographs and photos, a real star and friend Diolch Iolo!”
Cliff also said how getting several hundred children in and out of the school within the strict schedule was “quite stressful”, but was worth it as the whole thing went “without a hitch.” He explained: “With the Christmas break in between and working with so many schools, coordination was down to our Sea Trust team and Mr Edmonds, the head of year eight.”
Despite receiving no outside funding the Ocean Lab in Goodwick is operated all year round by Sea Trust volunteers to deliver similar talks about marine wildlife and educate tourists, visitors and members of the community.
The Ocean Lab has recently enrolled as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Ambassadors, and over the coming months are planning to try to establish the site as a Coleg y Mor (Marine Academy) for local schools and the community.
Cliff said: “This event was an opportunity to reach out to our local schools and we hope its the start of an ongoing and exciting project, delivered from our base in the Ocean Lab, in Fishguard Harbour!”
He also wished to: “Thank the Sea Trust team and supporters who always come through for us, those from Ysgol Bro Gwaun who helped us put on the presentation, and of course all the kids and teachers who came to see us!”
Cliff concluded: “We see our Work as Marine conservationists being delivered in parallel with education, growing a reservoir of qualified local expertise that will help us to deal with the challenges of the future such as monitoring climate change and how our wildlife copes along with developing sustainable wildlife tourism.”
For more details on the Sea Trust and the exhibitions at the Ocean Lab visit: www.oceanlab.co.uk
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