WCC’s is keeping busy…
In this issue:
- Upcoming public talk on Protected Places
- Update on talk by Dr Lauren Waller on whether there is a future for African Penguins
- Schools Workshops on the microscopic structure of fynbos plants – Applewood and Hermanus High School
- Schools Easter Holiday
Talk by Dr Chris Whitehouse
Every Little Bit HelpsIn 2023, South Africa adopted the ambitious Global Biodiversity Target 30-by-30, which aims to protect 30% of the country’s most biodiverse areas by 2030. Currently, less than 10% of the Cape Floristic Region is protected. With over 80% of it being privately owned, it is crucial for landowners to actively engage with this vision. Botanist, Dr. Chris Whitehouse has managed Phillipskop Mountain Reserve near Stanford for the past 10 years.
Despite its modest size of 246 hectares, the reserve is home to over 900 plant species, as well as a variety of associated fauna. This talk will discuss how small, non-governmental reserves like Phillipskop can contribute towards meeting these global biodiversity targets, while also addressing the challenges they face in the process.
Please join us for the last talk of the summer season on 17 April at 5:30pm at the Greenhouse.
Feedback on the Future of African Penguins
Our talk in March was by Dr Lauren Waller of the Endangered Wildlife Trust. She will updated us on the latest efforts to save African Penguins from imminent extinction.
A full house of 100 people (including learners from Hawston and Gansbaai and the Hermanus Cubs) attended this talk, hoping for good news right after the settlement reached between penguin conservationists and the fishing industry. As we all know the main issue was the fact that the penguins are starving to death because of competition for prey with the purse-sein fisheries.
The strength of the data presented by penguin conservationists lay in the meticulous monitoring of the feeding patterns of the penguins that could be tracked by satellite from GPS fitted to penguins and data from cameras mounted on some penguins. The important question is: Are the agreed closures meaningful? The answer is yes and no. The penguin colonies were considered in three blocks – west coast, south coast and east coast.
On the west coast, the closure to fishing around Dassen Island is the same as before, but remains meaningful. The closure around Robben Island is now much greater and includes the whole penguin foraging area. This could have a real positive impact on that colony. On the east coast the Algoa Bay colonies have a mixed future. The Bird Island exclusion area was adequate before, but is now even better.
However, St Croix Island penguins are no better off. Their foraging area is slap bang in the shipping lanes of big vessels. Furthermore ship-to-ship bunkering in Algoa Bay causes both noise pollution and oil pollution, with negative effects. Are the colonies in the Overstrand area adequately protected? Again, yes and no.
In Betty’s Bay the Stony Point colony’s feeding area is now fully and meaningfully protected. Since this is a land based colony, we must now focus on protection against the elements, climate change, and predation by gulls, caracal, mongoose and dogs.
Dyer Island penguins have a bleak future. The problem here is that the Gansbaai area is also where most of the sardines and anchovies are – the target of the purse-sein fisheries. The new closure does not include the immediate Gansbaai area (a major part of penguin forage area), but does include a much greater area to the south. The problem is that fishing vessels under 26 meters (which includes most purse-sein vessels in the area) are allowed to fish there in competition with the penguins.
The black dots indicate sardine and anchovy mass. The solid orange line is the total exclusion of fishing – but as you can see, there is very little fish around Dyer Island for exclusive penguin forage. The dotted orange line is closed to fishing except for vessels under 26 meters. So penguins have to compete with fisheries everywhere.
The success of the new dispensation will, of course, depend on how effectively the closures are monitored and enforced.
How will we know if these new closures are helping to conserve penguins? We won’t know for another 10 years, when the present cohort of chicks start to breed at 4-6 years old and whether they themselves breed successfully.
The jury is out.
Attending the talk by Dr Lauren Waller (second From left) are Dr Pat Miller (WCC Chair), Hawston Secondary School matric students Chrislyn Adendorff and Chloe Jannecke, and WCC’s Projects Manager Sheraine van Wyk. Photo by Sarah Taylor
What can you do to help with penguin conservation? If you find a penguin in distress, or even a dead penguin on the beach, call the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary on the helpline 072 598 7117. If possible stay near the penguin so that helpers can easily locate the bird. The sanctuary also needs volunteers, old newspapers and towels.
Learn to love your microscope Workshops
Grade 5 learners from Applewood Preparatory School attended a workshop at the Whale Coast Conservation GreenHouse to learn about fynbos.
Sheraine van Wyk introduced the four major types of fynbos flowers, viz Proteaceae, Ericaceae, Restionaceae ad Geophytes.
They also discussed the various pollination strategies used by flowers to attract appropriate pollinators.
The learners had the opportunity to use microscopes to study the various parts of the flowers under light microscopes. This is an important skill that provides new insights into the learning material, such as pollen-laden anthers and a frilly stigma.
The workshop was not only educational – a whole lot of fun was had too.
Photos supplied by Applewood Primary School.
Workshop with Hermanus High School
In the last week of the school term Grade 10 learners from HHS attended a packed life sciences programme with WCC staff and volunteers.
Volunteer Judy McFarlaine showed the fine structure of Ericas.
They studied fine-scale plant morphology of roots, stems and leaves. Using microscopes, they looked closely at the adaptations of Proteas, Ericas, Restios and geophytes to the harsh environments in which they grow. They also studied the different pollination strategies of fynbos plants.
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