Edible, exploited, endemic alikreukel
Edible, exploited, endemic alikreukel The South African marine resources have been exploited for subsistence purposes for thousands of years, but recently with rapid population growth, and a high concentration of people moving into coastal areas, the exploitation has intensified. Many subsistence fisheries are focused on intertidal and estuarine invertebrates, with the alikreukel Turbo sarmaticus being […]
White Steenbras
White steenbras The white steenbras Lithognathus lithognathus is a slow-growing, long-lived, late maturing, and estuarine-dependent species endemic to South Africa. White steenbras is an important recreational and subsistence shore and estuarine fishery species, particularly in the southern and south-eastern coastal regions of South Africa. They can attain 25-30 years of age, and grow over 130cm […]
Endangered Species Day
Endangered Species Day International Endangered Species Day is celebrated every third Friday in May, and this year it fell on 19th May. Endangered Species Day is a chance for us to recognize and appreciate the conservation efforts being put in by a number of organisations, men, and women around the world working to protect our […]
May research blog!
May research blog: The elasmobranch egg case project continues to progress smoothly. Despite having dropped our surveys to only once a month, we still haven’t been able to totally process through our backlog, though we are steadily moving through it. There will be a big celebration once we have conquered the mountain of egg cases! […]
Robberg – a window to the past
Robberg – a window to the past Southern Africa contains a wealth of archaeological sites, ranging from some of the earliest evidence of human origins to more recent occupation; thousands of sites that record the way of life and history of humans for nearly 2 million years. South Africa has a long history of coastal […]
Twists and turns of the swift tern
Twists and turns of the swift tern Terns are beautiful, elegant seabirds, closely related to the gulls, skimmers, and skuas. Here in Plettenberg Bay we are fortunate to be able to see a few different species, but by far the most common is the coastal and pelagic swift tern Thalasseus bergii.Swift terns, or greater crested […]
Rainforests of the Ocean
Rainforests of the ocean Coral reefs are estimated to cover only 0.1-0.5% of the ocean floor, yet coral reefs are among the most productive and biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth. Almost one third of all marine fish are found on coral reefs, and approximately 10% of fish consumed by humans are caught on coral reefs, […]
An expert fisher
An expert fisher While the African fish eagle Haliaeetus vocifer is one of the more iconic bird species associated with water bodies, the Western osprey Pandion haliaetus is a species not to be overlooked. Luckily for us, here in Plettenberg Bay on the Keurbooms River we have both of these magnificent species! The Western osprey […]
The world’s largest ling fish
The world’s largest living fish We had an interesting visitor into the Knysna lagoon recently, a whale shark Rhincodon typus. Whale sharks are very large, slow-moving filter-feeders which have a circumpolar distribution through all tropical and warm water, between 30°N and 35°S. The distribution of whale sharks is temperature dependent, and they are rarely sighted […]