This Saturday 15 December we invite you, your family and friends to attend a special celebration of the Year of the Coast.

The efforts of Wellingtonians during this special year will be celebrated with a free outdoor screening of dramatic award-winning nature documentary Oceans at Waitangi Park on Wellington’s waterfront, starting at 8pm.

Filmed in over 50 different countries over four years, Oceans is a visual feast that uses cutting edge filming techniques to profile the creatures living in all five of the world’s oceans, in footage rarely seen on the big screen.

Thousands of volunteers across the Wellington region have been out in force looking after the coast this year. In just one hour, over 500 volunteers from Porirua, Hutt Valley and Wellington worked on International Coastal Clean-up Day in September to collect more than 100,000 pieces (over five tonnes) of waste from the region’s coastlines.

The ‘Educate to eliminate’ events have seen large numbers dedicated scuba divers – including the Mayor of Wellington, Celia Wade-Brown – remove huge amounts from the murky depths under city wharves and Sustainable Coastlines have worked with over 2,700 school students cleaning up the region around the region and learning about the issue of marine debris.

This Saturday’s screening promises a treat for the whole family, with a gold-coin organic barbecue feast kindly provided by Harmony Meats to accompany the movie.