During September 2011, the Aquarium ran a joint marketing, education and awareness campaign known as the People’s Campaign. It’s aim was to raise awareness about the Aquarium in general, as well as our education and conservation efforts in Khayelitsha.
The campaign included articles in City Vision newspaper, bi-weekly slots on Radio Zibonele and an amazing day promoting the Aquarium at the Khayelitsha Mall. Staff from the curatorial, education, finance and visitor services departments, as well as from Shoreline Café, featured in articles in City Vision.
Two members of our finance department, Johannes Jacobs and Nobakhe Promise Mbem, featured in such an article:
The Two Oceans Aquarium in the V&A Waterfront is a place where visitors can discover some of the wonderful sea life that is found around the southern African coast. The Aquarium has beautiful exhibits with a variety of fish, animals and plants on display. These include endangered Knysna seahorses, giant spider crabs, penguins, sea fans and sea plants, to name but a few.
The I&J Predator Exhibit, which is the largest exhibit in the Aquarium, holds 2-million litres of water, ragged-tooth sharks and shoals of fish. Each year, approximately 400 000 people (local and international) visit the Aquarium and get to experience a world that is often only accessible to people with a dive qualification.
The Two Oceans Aquarium is also a business, and like any business it has supporting departments that ensure its smooth running. One of these departments is the finance department.
The Two Oceans Aquarium’s finance department is made up of two divisions. The first is the one that Aquarium visitors encounter: the ticket office. Here, visitors purchase their entrance tickets and start their visit.
The second is the behind-the-scenes division. This is the part that takes care of debtors, creditors, accounts and so on. The finance department’s staff members work closely together to ensure that everything runs smoothly when it comes to the Aquarium’s finances.
Johannes Jacobs is one of the people that visitors might meet when purchasing their entrance tickets at the ticket office. Johannes, better known to his colleagues as Uncle Hannes, started at the Aquarium in 1995, a week after the opening. He worked at the Visitor Services Desk for about four years, after which he moved to the ticket office.
As a ticket office assistant, he takes care of ticket sales and cash-ups as well as payments for school and group visits. Each day, Hannes encounters and interacts with hundreds of visitors, young and old.
Even after all the years of working at the Aquarium, Hannes is unable to pick one animal as his favourite. He does however like the warm coral display and enjoys watching all the different animals living together in harmony.
The Aquarium attracts its share of celebrities and one of Hannes’ highlights is when Michael Jackson visited in October 1997.
Hannes believes that the Aquarium provides an opportunity for everyone to learn about the sea. “The Aquarium can teach people so much about the oceans and how we are linked to them. Just look at the Rethink the Bag campaign. Everyone should know about plastic bags and how badly they impact our environment. What’s more, we can make a difference by just using and reusing our own bags and not buying them from the shops!”
Working behind the scenes at the Aquarium is certainly as interesting as working with the visitors and the public. Nobakhe Promise Mbem came to Cape Town in 2005 and in June 2010 started at the Two Oceans Aquarium as an accounts clerk. In the time that she has been with the Aquarium, she has had the opportunity to discover many new things. “I feel like I am part of a family here at the Aquarium. We work together and also look out for one another. I’ve also learned a lot about fish, the sea and all the animals in it. I don’t think people realise how incredible the sea is. Here at the Aquarium, they can experience some of it.”
Nobakhe’s message to the people of Cape Town is to come and visit the Aquarium and to get a glimpse of what is hidden from our view when we stand on the beach and look at the ocean. “The Aquarium is not just for tourists, but for everyone. I think every child should have the opportunity to come to the Aquarium. That is why we have programmes like the Oceans in Motion: Outreach (sponsored by GrandWest) and Adopt-a-School. Through these programmes, children from disadvantaged schools can either come to the Aquarium, or the Outreach van can go to them,” says Nobakhe.
Other City Vision articles
Xolela Batayi: Swimming with sharks is all in a day’s work
Two Oceans Aquarium Teacher works his magic
Stay in touch: For daily Aquarium updates, follow us on Twitter (@2OceansAquarium) and become a fan on Facebook.
