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BirdLife South Africa's Seabird Division  is once again making a call for photographs for its annual SOS Festival Photographic Competition.  The theme for this year is "Oceans of Life" and images of any aspect of marine biodiversity are welcome, including seabirds, cetaceans, fish and coastal species, not just in South Africa, but worldwide.

Photographs must be sent electronically to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  by 19 September 2011.  The images of the finalists will be enlarged, framed and placed on show at the Iziko South Africa Museum for the duration of the Save our Seabirds Festival 2011, to be held over 10-16 October in Cape Town.  The overall winner will be announced on Friday 14 October at the final talk and presentation at the Iziko South African Museum.  The event is free, but booking is essential.

First prize in the photographic competition is a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera and 100-400-mm L IS USM lens.  Click here to access the competition rules.

One of the three evening speakers at the SOS Festival in 2011 will be Professor John Croxall CBE FRS, Chair of BirdLife International's Global Seabird Programme and formerly of the British Antarctic Survey.  He will speak on the greatest island restoration programme ever undertaken.

Another South African initiative currently underway is the resuscitation of the African Seabird Group (click here).

Revival of the African Seabird Group will allow South Africa to contribute more fully to the World Seabird Union (WSU) whose mission is to place seabird research, management and conservation into a worldwide perspective.  Its vision is to aid in creating global partnerships that will continue into the future by sharing research, knowledge, and ideas on a global level.

John Cooper, ACAP Information Officer, 14 August 2011