World Oceans Day at Scottish Seabird Centre

One of Scotland’s leading marine education and conservation charities is hosting a free community open day at its 5-star visitor attraction to celebrate World Oceans Day.

Taking place on Saturday 8 June (10am to 6pm), the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick recently reopened after a partial refurbishment and revealed exciting plans to transform their existing Discovery Centre with new exhibits and interactive displays later this year.

The fully refurbished visitor experience will be officially launched during Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters in 2020.

The community open day is being held on World Oceans Day, in association with North Berwick Rotary Club and Firth of Forth Lobster Hatchery, to showcase the work that the charity does to help conserve the world’s oceans. This event has been made possible thanks to funding support from North Berwick Trust.

In addition to giving free entry to their Discovery Centre, a range of free special events and activities will take place throughout the day including a community beach clean with support from North Berwick Rotary Club, an interactive science show, rock pooling, family craft workshops and a talk from the team at the Lobster Hatchery.

Susan Davies, CEO of the Scottish Seabird Centre, said: ‘Every year, World Oceans Day provides a valuable opportunity to raise awareness of the world’s oceans. We have a unique and special marine environment in Scotland which includes a third of the EU’s breeding seabird population but many of these seabirds are in decline.

The Scottish Seabird Centre is marking World Oceans Day (Photo: Phil Wilkinson)

‘We also depend on our oceans for food, energy and leisure. Despite their importance to society our oceans are under threat from climate change, over-fishing, pollution, invasive species and some marine industries.

‘We are holding this open day to help raise awareness of the importance of our oceans and to invite people to think about what they can do to help protect them for the future.

‘It’s also an opportunity to thank all those who have supported our work to date, from our members, neighbours and wider local community to visitors, donors and partners; and to show them how their continued support will help us to protect Scotland’s seas for generations to come.”

The day will include a performance of the Centre’s much-loved Live Science Show Oceanarific: children (age 6+) can join Professor Egghead to celebrate the wonders of Scotland’s seas and oceans in the hour long show. This is included as part of the day’s free activities, but due to capacity of the Discovery Centre theatre, spaces are limited and booking in advance is recommended to avoid disappointment. Booking is also required for the rock pooling session and tickets for the Lobster Hatchery afternoon talk.

For more information about the Scottish Seabird Centre or to book one of their World Ocean Day activities visit seabird.org or call 01620 890 202.