By Nangamso Mabindla

East London will be the setting of a major conference on ocean exploration in October this year, with researchers from as far a field as Indonesia, Japan and Germany attending.

The four-day Coastal and Ocean Exploration Conference, to be held in the East London City Hall from 28 October to 31 October 2003, will focus on coastal and ocean exploration in southern and eastern Africa, emphasising sustainability and conservation efforts within the oceans.

The city was chosen for this important event because of its links to the discovery of the coelacanth more than 70 years ago. Since then, East London has played a leading role in marine research.

Organised by the Coelacanth Programme, the October conference is set to host 120 delegates, including researchers, scientists, marine biologists, environmental educators, public aquarium managers and museum curators.

Topics covered will include:

• Environmental education
• Conservation and management
• Underwater exploration
• Genetics and genome resources
• Marine biology and ecology
• Eco-tourism

International speakers include Dr Mark Erdman from the USAID Natural Resources Management Programme in Indonesia, who will speak on the conservation and management of coelacanths in Indonesia; Professor Hans Fricke of the Max Plancke Institute in Germany, who will look at the coelacanths of Africa; Professor Axel Meyer of the University of Konstanz in Germany, who will talk on genetics and genomes; and Dr Yoshitaka Abe of Japan's Aquamarine Fukushima, who will cover the issues of museums and curation.

South African experts will discuss topics from bathymetry to marine biology. Some of the speakers will be Dr Peter Ramsay of Marine GeoSolutions, who will talk on Bathymetry; Mike Roberts, the chief oceanographer, marine and coastal management, who will cover Oceanography; and Professor Christopher McQuaid of the zoology department at Rhodes University, who will discuss marine biology.

The conference hopes to excite and entice school children to follow a scientific path once they leave school. "We have always included school children in our research programmes in an effort to arouse their interest in Science," said conference organiser Lisl Griffioen.

An educational play will be performed at the Guild Theatre daily during the conference. "We want to encourage school children and members of the public to attend," Griffioen added.

The Coastal and Ocean Exploration Conference is expected to give the scientists involved an opportunity to share findings, ideas and experiences.

For more information contact Melanie Darlow, the administrative co-ordinator of the Coelacanth Programme, on (046) 603-5830. or email her on m.darlow@ru.ac.za or coelacanth@ru.ac.za

Contact the Guild Theatre on (043) 743-0704 or email elguild@mweb.co.za

Sponsors can contact Creative Public Relations on (043) 748-4639.

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