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It's been a long five months, but it's finally the moment - the Two Oceans Aquarium is reopening! In line with the Alert Level 2 regulations that were recently announced, the Aquarium will be reopening its doors on 1 September 2020, but members will be able to enjoy exclusive early access.Active members of the Aquarium will have four exclusive days to rediscover the magic of the Aquarium and to say hello to all their favourite animals – Friday 28 August, Saturday 29 August, Sunday 30 August and Monday 31 August - ahead of its reopening to the general public on Tuesday 1 September.

The Two Oceans Aquarium is open again! Visitors are already returning to their favourite underwater experiences, so we thought we'd share a few "favourites" that you may have missed during lockdown:

Foundation Crew is for the loyal supporters of the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, who want to support the Foundation’s work in ocean conservation, awareness, research and education. By signing up to be part of the crew, you not only ensure that the Aquarium Foundation can do more, but you will also get access to exclusive content created by the Foundation’s team of teachers. For your monthly donation, you will get special access to the online Foundation Crew portal, where you will find weekly content.

Senior Aquarist Deen Hill is one of the Two Oceans Aquarium team members responsible for collecting and releasing plants and animals from the wild that are brought to the Aquarium. These routinely involve species like the giant sea bamboo in our Kelp Forest Exhibit and the sea star and urchins used in the classroom lessons of the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation.When Senior Aquarist Deen Hill collected mysids at a nearby marina, he didn't expect to come back with adorable, tiny bobtail squid hitchhikers!

The Two Oceans Aquarium has now been closed for 139 days – never in our wildest dreams did we ever think that our doors would be closed to you, our members, fans and supporters, for this long. I commented in a blog a while ago that I miss the noise of excited visitors in the foyer, eagerly waiting to get through the turnstiles and into a different world. It is very hard to save the oceans without any visitors! We have no doubt that you have missed us as much as we have missed you.

The Avenue at the Two Oceans Aquarium is once again available to host a variety of events for business purposes, such as corporate conferences and staff training workshops. The Two Oceans Aquarium's experienced functions and events team of 14 specialises in taking care of your safe event needs, from setup to sustainable catering. All that's needed is you! Our new conferencing packages start at R350 per person, and include everything you and your colleagues might need - from catering to audio-visual applications - to make your business event a success - just add fish!

The Two Oceans Aquarium is home to 23 African penguins and 13 rockhopper penguins, with each species living on its own beach. Animal keepers are always on the lookout for changes in the behaviour of the animals in their care. These changes, and the general overall behaviour of an animal, are signals to an animal keeper about what is going on with the animal and, in the case of the penguins at the Aquarium, the colony. Life on the penguin beach can be funny and sometimes even involves a bit of drama for our penguins. The Aquarium penguins have lots to tell through their personalities, behaviour and characteristics. Let’s meet a couple of the "characters" in the daily soap opera that takes place between these quirky animals.

We all know that children love to play. Play is vital for the healthy development of hand-eye coordination, creativity, imagination and even the moral and ethical compass. Back in the day, before plastic toys, plastic consoles and plastic EVERYTHING, we used to play with what we had on hand. We made up games and then adapted them to suit our circumstances. If you didn’t have a doll, you found something, perhaps a wooden spoon, to use as a doll. Scooting flat stones along the ground was a great way of playing “cars”. If we were bored, we were told to go outside and keep ourselves busy, sometimes only going home when the sun started to set. And we would fall into bed, exhausted from a day that was filled with adventurous play.But times have changed, and today things are very different. Toys are mass-produced and electronics are no longer seen as a luxury item, but something that every kid deems essential. And most unfortunately, it is also no longer safe to let children play outside without supervision. During Plastic Free July, let’s take a step back and imagine a time before plastic toys and gadgets. Let’s step back to a time of imagination and creativity and see how we can play and entertain our children without using any plastic.

One of our most iconic exhibits is the Kelp Forest Exhibit, one of only a small number of above-ground living kelp forests in the entire world, and the only one in the Southen Hemisphere. During the lockdown, in efforts to reduce the maintenance needed while we were closed, we made the decision to remove the kelp from this exhibit and install artificial hiding spaces for the fish instead. Now, it's time to reforest the Kelp Forest Exhibit!

On 12 June, Estelle, a Grotto Bay local was paying respects to her late husband near the sea when she spotted what she believed to be a dead sea turtle tangled in a discarded fishing net on the beach. When she approached, she saw that the turtle was, in fact, alive and moving weakly, and immediately contacted the Tracy, the Foundation's Turtle Rescue Network Coordinator who arranged transport to the sea turtle rehabilitation centre at the Two Oceans Aquarium.

The Two Oceans Aquarium is thrilled to announce its reopening to the public on Tuesday 1 September 2020. The Aquarium staff and animals will once again welcome members, supporters, fans and visitors daily between 09h30 and 18h00 on weekdays, and from 09h00 to 18h00 on weekends and public holidays.