“The Struisbaai-Agulhas area is unique. Some species occurring here cannot be found anywhere else in the world.” - UWC Marine Biologist, Prof Gavin W. Maneveldt
The coastal rocky shores around the SANParks Agulhas National Park are so uniquely endowed with natural assets that they merit designation as a Marine Protected Area.
This is according to Professor Gavin W. Maneveldt, a distinguished Marine Biology and Biodiversity Studies expert at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), who conducts ongoing research in this area.
He emphasised this message during the National Marine Week this year, celebrated annually in the second week of October.
Each year around National Marine Week Prof Maneveldt enjoys trading his lab and lab coat for rock booties and shorts or a wetsuit on the rocky beachfront at Stinkbaai in the Agulhas region.
His goal has been to support SANParks staff in advocating for a Marine Protected Area in the Agulhas vicinity.
In this endeavor, he regularly visits the area with his research students and a colleague, Dr Martin Hendricks, to educate the surrounding communities about the marine and coastal environment, attempting to promote the sustainable use and conservation of the local marine resources.
As has been the case in the last three years, this past Saturday, 14 October, was a highlight on the community calendar for the surrounding areas of Gansbaai, Napier, Struisbaai, Bredasdorp, and Arniston. Year after year, regardless of the weather, approximately 70 people eagerly gather at 8 am to await Prof Maneveldt and his team’s outdoor lecture during Marine Week.
This event has become synonymous with education sessions and activities for young and old.
Prof Maneveldt, who serves as the vice-chair of the CapeNature Board, enjoys engaging the community in marine education sessions.
“The field lecture takes place during a spring low tide event and consists of a general introductory talk where we explain why certain organisms distribute themselves along the intertidal zone and why the intertidal zone - the area where the ocean meets the land between high and low tides - is considered a harsh environment.
We explain the factors at play since the intertidal zone is neither truly marine nor terrestrial.
“We hope that participants leave the day’s event understanding how organisms interact, what causes them to be there, and how they survive in those harsh parts of the shore.
The field lecture ends on the low shore where we encourage participants to turn over boulders in a rock pool while always being careful to put them back exactly how they were.”
“Whenever learners attend we let them find exciting things, which always results in fascinating fact sessions. They come running with cushion stars, feather stars or rock suckers.
It is as if a whole new world unfolds for them and the beauty of it all is when the parents join in.”
Prof Maneveldt, also chairperson of the CapeNature Conservation Committee, continued: “The learners would bring me organisms or algae that even researchers like me have never seen. So to us, this means more subjects to study and research. Sometimes, even campers join the treasure hunt and hear about the do’s and don’ts.”
According to Prof Maneveldt, since the area around the caravan park in Stinkbaai is not a marine protected area, visitors still collect anything from octopus to all kinds of shellfish. It’s an opportunity to talk about conservation issues. “We emphasize that some species found here are unique to the area. Guarding against overharvesting undersized things, is a message we share consistently”.
He said the community involvement and the representation by SANParks (junior, senior and honorary rangers) members was heart-warming. He recalls that the relationship started around 2010.
“Since then, we regularly started seeing interest in our research from SANParks staff, local scholars, their parents and members of the surrounding communities. They started attending the SANParks managed in-house public lectures and from that point the community had a clear yearning for a more practical experience of their local rocky shore, which, since 2014, resulted in the annual Marine Week rocky shore encounter.”
Since then, Prof Maneveldt and his team have been invited regularly to present in-house public lectures and field talks at the Southern Tip Day celebrations in May and the Agulhas Heritage celebrations in October during Marine Week each year.
To encourage interest in the region, Prof Maneveldt has written 32 popular articles in the AgulhasNpark eBulletin over these past several years.
Nadier Roos, a UWC alumnus and a teacher involved with the Overberg Eco Rangers in Bredasdorp, spoke highly of the work the UWC team has been doing in the area. “Prof Maneveldt has established a good connection and relationship with our organisation. We have been attending his programme for the past three years, and we have seen a change in attitudes in our learners.
“They have developed a love for conservation; the more they understand an animal’s role, the more you would hear them encouraging their peers not to kill animals or organisms because they now understand its role in their environment. They enjoy the learning experience, and we find an appreciation of what they have in their environment.”
Facts about Marine Life:
The coastal rocky shores around the SANParks Agulhas National Park are so uniquely endowed with natural assets that they merit designation as a Marine Protected Area.
This is according to Professor Gavin W. Maneveldt, a distinguished Marine Biology and Biodiversity Studies expert at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), who conducts ongoing research in this area.
He emphasised this message during the National Marine Week this year, celebrated annually in the second week of October.
His goal has been to support SANParks staff in advocating for a Marine Protected Area in the Agulhas vicinity.
In this endeavor, he regularly visits the area with his research students and a colleague, Dr Martin Hendricks, to educate the surrounding communities about the marine and coastal environment, attempting to promote the sustainable use and conservation of the local marine resources.
As has been the case in the last three years, this past Saturday, 14 October, was a highlight on the community calendar for the surrounding areas of Gansbaai, Napier, Struisbaai, Bredasdorp, and Arniston. Year after year, regardless of the weather, approximately 70 people eagerly gather at 8 am to await Prof Maneveldt and his team’s outdoor lecture during Marine Week.
This event has become synonymous with education sessions and activities for young and old.
Prof Maneveldt, who serves as the vice-chair of the CapeNature Board, enjoys engaging the community in marine education sessions.
“The field lecture takes place during a spring low tide event and consists of a general introductory talk where we explain why certain organisms distribute themselves along the intertidal zone and why the intertidal zone - the area where the ocean meets the land between high and low tides - is considered a harsh environment.
We explain the factors at play since the intertidal zone is neither truly marine nor terrestrial.
The field lecture ends on the low shore where we encourage participants to turn over boulders in a rock pool while always being careful to put them back exactly how they were.”
“Whenever learners attend we let them find exciting things, which always results in fascinating fact sessions. They come running with cushion stars, feather stars or rock suckers.
It is as if a whole new world unfolds for them and the beauty of it all is when the parents join in.”
Prof Maneveldt, also chairperson of the CapeNature Conservation Committee, continued: “The learners would bring me organisms or algae that even researchers like me have never seen. So to us, this means more subjects to study and research. Sometimes, even campers join the treasure hunt and hear about the do’s and don’ts.”
According to Prof Maneveldt, since the area around the caravan park in Stinkbaai is not a marine protected area, visitors still collect anything from octopus to all kinds of shellfish. It’s an opportunity to talk about conservation issues. “We emphasize that some species found here are unique to the area. Guarding against overharvesting undersized things, is a message we share consistently”.
He said the community involvement and the representation by SANParks (junior, senior and honorary rangers) members was heart-warming. He recalls that the relationship started around 2010.
“Since then, we regularly started seeing interest in our research from SANParks staff, local scholars, their parents and members of the surrounding communities. They started attending the SANParks managed in-house public lectures and from that point the community had a clear yearning for a more practical experience of their local rocky shore, which, since 2014, resulted in the annual Marine Week rocky shore encounter.”
Since then, Prof Maneveldt and his team have been invited regularly to present in-house public lectures and field talks at the Southern Tip Day celebrations in May and the Agulhas Heritage celebrations in October during Marine Week each year.
To encourage interest in the region, Prof Maneveldt has written 32 popular articles in the AgulhasNpark eBulletin over these past several years.
Nadier Roos, a UWC alumnus and a teacher involved with the Overberg Eco Rangers in Bredasdorp, spoke highly of the work the UWC team has been doing in the area. “Prof Maneveldt has established a good connection and relationship with our organisation. We have been attending his programme for the past three years, and we have seen a change in attitudes in our learners.
“They have developed a love for conservation; the more they understand an animal’s role, the more you would hear them encouraging their peers not to kill animals or organisms because they now understand its role in their environment. They enjoy the learning experience, and we find an appreciation of what they have in their environment.”
Facts about Marine Life:
- The gravitational force of the moon largely determines the tides.
- Spring tides happen every two weeks and coincide with the new and full moon phases.
- During spring tides, the low tides are exceptionally low, and the high tides are exceptionally high.
- During spring low tides the lowest parts of the shore are exposed (for only 3-4 days), making spring low tides ideal for exploration of the entire intertidal zone.
- The local endangered abalone, Haliotis midae, takes 8 to 10 years to reach reproductive maturity.
