"OUR SEAS, OUR LIFE" EXTENDED UNTIL MARCH 8

"Our Seas, Our Life", the exhibit on our coastal resources and their importance to us will have an extended run at the SM City Cebu. The exhibit will close on March 8, instead of February 28, 1998.

"Our Seas, Our Life" is mounted in observance of the International Year of the Ocean 1998, as declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 1994.

The extension, says Catherine Courtney, Chief of Party of the Coastal Resource Management Project (CRMP), "was requested by schools, individuals and organizations who wanted to view the displays."

The Coastal Resource Management Project (CRMP), an initiative of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is undertaking the activities related to the Philippine celebration of the IYO in partnership with the National Committee on Marine Sciences (NCMS), the national focal point of the UNESCO for all ocean-related activities.

Courtney said over 7,000 individuals have viewed the exhibits since opening day on February 15. Another 4,000 more are expected to visit the venue for educational purposes.

Drawing the crowds at the show are museum specimens and artifacts of sea animals such as the Bryde’s whale, the melon-headed whale, leatherback turtles, puffer fish and coral samples, all painstakingly packed and shipped to Cebu from the Silliman University Marine Laboratory and Biology Museum.

The "I Love the Ocean" movement, a membership campaign aimed at increasing public consciousness for sustainable marine development, is also fast counting its new members. Over 700 have enlisted with the movement which is accepting membership applications at the "Our Seas, Our Life" venue.

Enlistment with "I Love the Ocean" at SM City Cebu is also to continue until March 8. Interested individuals may visit the exhibit site to apply for "I Love the Ocean" membership. Inquiries by phone are also entertained through telephone numbers 232-1821, 232-1822, 4120487, 4120489 at the CRMP Offices, 5/F, CIFC Towers, Humabon cor. J. Luna Ave., North Reclamation Area, Cebu City.