SEAFRIENDS has changed.
For café, snorkel hire, school programmes go to Newseafriends.co.nz.
For learning about our seas and planet, begin at the home page of seafriends.org.nz

Seafriends - introduction

Where are we?		Find us on the world map and local maps. A few facts about New Zealand. (2 pages)
Why Seafriends?		Is marine conservation necessary in New Zealand, located so far from world population centres? (on this page)
Why this web site?		What is the aim of this web site? (on this page)
History		How Seafriends came about. (on this page)
About Floor Anthoni		Curriculum vitae of founder Dr Floor Anthoni, with photos. (on this page)
Making a start		The Seafriends philosophy. Opening windows to our sea. (on this page)
Seafriends organisation		The structure of the Seafriends organisation and the reasons behind it. (on this page)
Blueprint		The founding document with a vision of how to save our seas. (24 pages) Now rather dated and needs rewriting.
Field Centre Leigh		The field centre in Leigh is a marine education centre located close to the first marine reserve in NZ. It has a fully licensed cafe/ restaurant, aquariums and an extensive nature library. (7 pages)

where - snorkel/dive - hire prices - safety suits - sea conditions - Goat Island - café - aquariums - schools

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Why Seafriends?

It often takes just one person to say "Enough is enough" and start a movement to do something about a deteriorating situation. By doing the first step, in 1991, and by working on programmes for schools, the 'reason for being' of the Seafriends movement became more and more clear. In a nutshell, Seafriends was born from the following motivations:

Deterioration

The quality of coastal seawater is deteriorating almost everywhere
Species are disappearing from places where they have been known to abound
Nuisance blooms of plankton and jellyfish are occurring in densities never seen before
Shellfish are being poisoned to a degree that is dangerous to humans
Mass mortalities have been observed of fish species and lower animals, as never known before

Obviously something needs to be done even though the problems appear to be insurmountable.

Education

The sea is such an unknown environment that young and old do not know what lives there. It would be unreasonable to expect their support for conservation measures affecting creatures that they have never met or don't know that exist. So education is very important. Although we focused initially on school children, all New Zealanders should join in:

Our country is very unique in the world, being sited in a watery part of the world, the water hemisphere. Our terrestrial fauna and flora has no equivalent and almost equally unique is our sea life. It is a small country. Conservation to preserve the diversity of our wildlife is therefore more urgent than that of any other place on earth..
Because of our EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) we have more sea than almost any other nation. The sea furthermore plays an important role in the lives and aspirations of New Zealanders.
The sea is inaccessible to most people. Only by opening it up and showing what lives there, can we win support and win people's hearts for it.
People are not noticing how fast the sea is deteriorating.Even scientists remain unaware.
Information to learn about the environment, its ecology and conservation, is hard to find. Although much has been published, it is either scattered in many fragments, very superficial or not easily understood. Scientific journals are not freely accessible. The learning process just takes too much time, and there is so much to learn.

This Internet site is the start of an educational programme but much more needs to be done. It is our goal to accelerate learning on the topics presented in this web site, one hundred fold! So you won't be wasting your time.

Debate

As it stands, decisions are being made by governmental departments, local bodies and scientists. Laws are passed and decisions made that the public has no idea of. It may lead to resistance and resentment and it also leaves the door wide open to the making of bad decisions.

The public needs to be better informed
There must be more and informed debate

Public debate requires that people join the organisation to give it substance. Articles have to be written in newspapers and magazines. The actions of decisionmakers need to be monitored and valuable feedback given. But first of all, people need to understand the issues and know what they are talking about.

Why this web site?

In the time that I've been living in New Zealand, trying to understand the marine environment, I have learned enough to begin disseminating this information. I've found it hard to find information and to gather facts. Scientific publications are hard to understand, are difficult to obtain and are not suitable for the general public. Books are expensive to obtain.

I noticed that the world is awash in unfounded opinions of every kind, conflicting statements that block the progress of good decision making. I wondered if it were possible to create a web site that brings trustworthy logic, reliable facts and step by step learning amidst the swamp of nonsense that surrounds us. I like you to learn what I've learned, but in a fraction of the time it took me. In this web site I'm trying to achieve just that. It should become the complete and uptodate resource for step by step understanding of the facts, trends, natural laws, policies, history, biology and human nature, in order to conserve our environment by common sense. It should empower you to take part in the political processes, now dominated by stakeholders, scientists and armchair conservationists. It should also celebrate the amazing wonders of the sea and help you to enjoy conservation even more. And above all, it should make a difference to the future of our children.

The underwater environment is a strange world. So strange in fact, that we cannot possibly understand it with the knowledge of terrestrial ecosystems. So there is much to learn about the oceans and its many environmental factors.
The world is changing. So fast in fact, that we have to reorientate ourselves at least once every ten years. New environmental problems arrive at an ever faster pace. In order to respond, we need to be on the ball and learn fast.
Problems do not just affect every one of us; our habits and customs are their very causes. If we wish to fix the problems, rather than to just fix the symptoms, we need to actively take part in environmental monitoring, the political process, changing our habits and attitudes and more. There is also much to learn.

It will take many years before this web site is complete and perhaps it will never be. As long as it contains the understanding necessary for managing our precious world, it will have served its purpose. Remember that your help is as important as your knowledge. Learn as much as you can, but also help to make this a better resource. Give your time to a better future for us all, and help us with donations. It can be done!

If you like to stay in touch with additions to this site, send us an e-mail.

History of Seafriends

1990

1991 - Building plans for an educational complex, which had to be abandoned through lack of finance

1992 - The actual conversion of the shearing shed took over a year.

1993 - The first summer season. Our focus was to get the restaurant going. Researched the kelpbed death.

1994 - Focus on school programmes. More wetsuits and special snorkelgear were needed.

1995 - Extending all facilities. Starting underwater photography to document the underwater world.

1996 - Consolidation as both tourism and the economy appeared to recede

1997 - Seafriends Foundation, a charitable trust, was created. Many other activities and setting up of Internet site.

1998 - Educational programmes on the Internet started; Sea monitoring; 0800SEAFRIENDS (later discontinued)

1999 - Many lectures completed and resources in the Leigh area developed for teaching.

2000 - Major additions to this web site. See What's New for the chronology of this web site.

2003 - Discovered a major ecological factor in the sea, which was overlooked. Formulated the Plankton Balance Hypothesis.

2005 - Invented the Dark Decay Assay to measure the health of aquatic ecosystems, discovering several overlooked ecological laws in the process. Published our first CD.

2006 - Began the seminars programme 'What is happening to our seas?' to spread awareness of NZ's rapidly degrading environment, but this was discontinued for lack of interest. Published our second CD. A beginning made with large educational posters.

2007 - Our third educational CD. Many more posters.

2008 - Summer exhibition 'Secrets of our seas - exposed'. Changes to the marine aquariums to let more light in from outside.

2011 - Regretfully, Diane Hughes departs and Dr Anthoni suffers a bad brainstroke causing partial paralysis. The time has come for a younger generation to take over.

2014 - Seafriends business sold to Belgium-born Mr Kwinten De Vos.But Dr Anthoni vows to complete this website.
Update June 2015: In a callous act of vandalism, the "new management team" gave most of the library books away to passing visitors, thereby effectively destroying this unique collection which was intended as a gift to future generations.

About Floor Anthoni

Here follows a concise summary of my life. I'd like to show you some photos how inside one generation one can move from a world without electricity or TV to one dominated by instant communication and computers for toys. Some of those photos would look funny indeed in today's world.

1941

1942-1945 Interned by the Japanese occupational forces in internment camps in Batavia (Jakarta) and Bandung. My earliest memories are that of transport in a Douglas Dakota military plane and my grandmother dying in camp.

1946 In Holland for my sick father to recover from the ravages and malnutrition of war.

1947 - 1958 Indonesia, West-Java, at various plantations, from Rubber to Tea. Two holiday visits to Holland. Finished college in Jakarta (Carpentier Alting Stichting CAS).

1958 - 1965 Delft Technological University, studying electronics, transistors and automation. MSc degree in Electronics (title ir=ingenieur)

1964 Married to Maria Hedwig Catharina Cecilia Liduina ten Berge. We didn't see much of each other during military service.

1965 - 1968 Military service with the army. Started work at the Defence Research Organisation TNO. Rank 1st Lieut.

1965 - 1975 National Defence Research Organisation (TNO-RVO) in Rijswijk. At the Medical Biological Laboratory I was responsible for the Electronics Department, serving all other departments. Early computers of the DIGITAL PDP8 family prompted me to study computer operating systems and to set down the design parameters for modular design.

1975 PhD in computer science (degree Dr) at the Technological University of Delft (the place with 7000 guys and 100 girls) 'A foreground/background real-time modular operating system'

1975 Emigrated to New Zealand with wife and two children, a boy and a girl.

1976 Settled in Leigh where we still live. Started to bring the 10Ha farmlet into production.

1975 - 1997 Own computer company (ACAC=Anthoni Computer Automations Consulting Ltd) for computer consulting and turn-key systems. Specialty applications concrete to fashion. Learning the land, the sea, the people and a new language.

1991 - 1997 Set up the Seafriends Marine Conservation and Education Centre (the Seafriends Field Centre)

1997 Gave Seafriends a formal structure: Foundation - Society - Corporation

1998 - 200? Developed teaching resources and this web site. Underwater photography.

2003 - Discovered a major ecological factor in the sea, which was overlooked. Formulated the Plankton Balance Hypothesis.

2005 - Invented the Dark Decay Assay to measure the health of aquatic ecosystems, discovering several basic ecological laws, like symbiotic decomposition.

The images below can be used for magazines who request a photo of the author. Click on the photo for a larger version.

Making a start - the Seafriends philosophy

Seafriends will eventually be an organisation backed by thousands of members and perhaps dozens of conservation groups. It is important to make the Seafriends philosophy and plans known at the very beginning, so that people know what they support and where they stand. See the blueprint for more details (now obsolete).

The organisation must remain agile and rely on the initiatives deployed by its various members. We therefore acknowledge people's own responsibilities and initiatives and we accept that in doing so, mistakes will be made.
We believe that lessons are to be learned from mistakes and as such they should be valuable.
Members and member organisations are not bound by rules and regulations imposed by the executive. There won't be any rules. But we will have a system in place that enables us to learn from our mistakes and in such a way that newcomers to the organisation can learn quickly.
We do want members and member organisations to accept the general direction so that people work synergistically rather than antagonistically. The members support the Seafriends goals and the Seafriends organisation represents its members.
We wish to focus on New Zealand's problems and will not tell other countries what to do.
We wish to focus on matters relating to the sea, although the land is often part of the problems.
In the process of debate, we wish to start doing something practical, because from the act of doing, follows insight.
Wherever possible, solutions will be piloted to establish their merits, before applying them wholesale.
We believe that decisions should be made rationally rather than emotionally or on religious grounds.
We believe that grass-root education is better than top-down regulation.
We uphold the truth and will fight distortions, false propaganda and misleading information.

The Seafriends Organisation

Seafriends: three entities, three purposes, one goal

The Seafriends organisation consists of three entities, the charitable foundation, the society and the corporation. It aims to bring together all sectors of society. In this manner, everyone has a job and the work gets done. The main sectors of the New Zealand society who should be making decisions about the sea are politicians, governmental departments (DoC, MoF,MoE), research establishments (NIWA, Universities), educational institutes, marine professions, marine recreation, business people and the general public. Seafriends aims to bring these groups closer together and particularly involve the public in the decision-making processes.

The Seafriends Foundation is a registered charitable foundation. Its board of trustees consists of representatives from the various sectors in society. They are respected members of society and influential in funding the organisation. By separating the Foundation's tasks from the rest of the organisation, the board of trustees will not be diverted by matters of minor importance. The Foundation's aims are:

to provide an appropriate vehicle to seek public and private funds and to attract sponsors
to manage these funds and assets in an accountable manner
to develop strategies and policies
to open a vision for the future
to oversee activities of the entire Seafriends organisation

The Seafriends Society is an incorporated society with a steering committee and paid membership. The society's purposes are:

to provide a forum to 'network' its members
to provide information, facts and data to members and the general public
to foster informed debate
to make and execute plans
to train, educate and engage members and the public
to keep members and the public informed on a regular basis

The structure of the society is one with regional chapters and a national committee.

Update 2015: The Seafriend Society has not yet been established and no major donations have been received by the Foundation. The Corporation, owned by Floor & Maria Anthoni, has been sold to Kwinten De Vos. Significant changes are expected

The Seafriends Corporation is a non-profit company that adds business skills to the organisation. The Corporation’s purposes are:

to earn funds that can be spent in accordance with good business practice
to earn profits that keep the business viable
to manage SF facilities and projects in a cost-effective and business-like manner
to execute plans and projects
to conduct the management, marketing and advertising functions of the organisation
to tender contracts and to select subcontractors from tenders

The Seafriends organisation is designed to operate at maximum efficiency with minimum overheads, using modern communication methods wherever possible. Most members donate time as a contribution to a better marine environment and future.

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