In South Africa, September is Heritage Month, a time to celebrate our diverse cultures, languages, foods, histories and our shared vision of the future. For Heritage Month 2019 we asked South Africans about their ocean heritage; how has the sea and its abundance shaped who they are today.

Scientists, youth activists, vloggers, security guards, Joburgers and Capetonians - all have had their lives touched by the ocean. These are their stories:

Verena Ras is a PhD Student at the University Of the Western Cape and a scientist and trainer with University of Cape Town and H3ABioNet. This academic journey started with humble beginnings, and Verena attributes her passion for all things marine to her heritage as a coloured Capetonian.

Radio personality, diver, YouTuber, scientist - you all know and love Mark Fitzgibbon. We caught up with Mark to ask how the ocean has influenced who he is as a person, and how the underwater world has shaped his heritage.

Pavs Pillay is the manager of SASSI and an Environmental Behaviour Change Practitioner with WWF South Africa, but her relationship with the ocean and conservation started at home, back in Gauteng. 

Ruby Sampson is a passionate young person. As a co-founder of the African Climate Alliance, Ruby and her fellow youths are working tirelessly to create positive change - asking the governments of 8 African nations to take accountability for the climate crisis by declaring a climate emergency. Ruby's drive to see this change comes from her experiences in African communities, seeing ecosystems at risk and by engaging with her peers. She also attributes part of who she is to her experiences with the ocean's beauty and the realisation that the ocean is part of each of us.

Cobus Joubert grew up with a family of farmers near Plettenberg Bay, where he got to experience the joys of the underwater world first-had while spear-fishing. Cobus would later grow up to become a surfer - and had a realisation: Surfboards are non-recyclable and contribute to ocean pollution. To protect the ocean he had come to love, Cobus put his passion into creating beautiful handcrafted wooden surfboards, bodyboards, handslides and other surf craft at WAWA Wooden Surfboards - using locally-sourced wood, discarded surfgear and recycled packaging materials.

Fikile Sizwenya grew up in a cattle-herding community in the Eastern Cape, but it wasn't until he began working as a security guard that Fikile realised how the lessons he'd learned when caring for cattle at home apply to the ocean, and how the ocean affected him too. Now Fikile teaches others to become passionate ocean ambassadors, just like he is.

Roxy Zunckel is a Masters student at the University of the Western Cape, where she works to unravel the mysteries of some of South Africa's most mysterious ocean animals - like compass jellyfish. But, Roxy's passion for science grew from a passion for the beauty of the ocean that she came to appreciate as a scuba instructor.

Meet Kirtanya Lutch. Kirtanya works for WWF South Africa SASSI, creating awareness about sustainable seafood. But, her link to the ocean goes back far beyond her career - to her education, culture and values as a South African Indian.

Just because Heritage Month is over, doesn't mean the ocean is any less a part of our heritage. We'd love to hear your stories - how as the ocean changed your life? Leave a comment below, or let us know on Facebook or Twitter.