Could it be in Dassen Island and protect the endangered African Penguins?

 

 

Dassen Island is situated offshore of Yzerfontein, between Saldanha Bay and Cape Town. The island itself is a nature reserve and was designated a Ramsar site in 2019.

This is an Important bird area as it supports a breeding colony of the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus). Populations of the African Penguin have declined significantly and are now classed as endangered. This has primarily been attributed to competition with fisheries for their primary food sources of small pelagic fish such as sardines and anchovy. The exclusion of fishing around an important breeding area such as Dassen Island (in a MPA), will assist in ensuring that there is enough food for parents to successfully rear their chicks.

Could it be in Dassen Island and protect the endangered African Penguins?

 

 

Dassen Island is situated offshore of Yzerfontein, between Saldanha Bay and Cape Town. The island itself is a nature reserve and was designated a Ramsar site in 2019.

This is an Important bird area as it supports a breeding colony of the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus). Populations of the African Penguin have declined significantly and are now classed as endangered. This has primarily been attributed to competition with fisheries for their primary food sources of small pelagic fish such as sardines and anchovy. The exclusion of fishing around an important breeding area such as Dassen Island (in a MPA), will assist in ensuring that there is enough food for parents to successfully rear their chicks.

Could it be on the outskirts of the De Hoop Marine Protected Area and protect the endangered Puffadder shyshark – that ONLY lives in South Africa’s Ocean?

 

 

De Hoop MPA is found within one of the southern Cape coasts many embayments, specifically De Hoop is located between Witsand and Skipskop.

 

De Hoop is a completely no-take MPA that extends 5.6km out to sea. De Hoop provides critical habitat for a number of endemic and endangered shark and ray species, namely the “Happy Eddie” (or Puffadder shyshark). This shark is scientifically known as Haploblepharus edwardsii, it is a small species recognisable by its brownish saddle pattern similar to the camouflage of a puffadder snake, hence its common name: the puffadder shyshark. Why is it shy? Their defence mechanism is to curl themselves into a tight ball and cover their eyes with their head with their tail fin, this makes it harder for predators to eat them.

 

Some interesting Facts about this species is that they live on or near the seafloor, at depths between 0-130m, they are endemic to South Africa (only occurring in our waters), their teeth are adapted to grasping small prey but the males and females have different prey preferences and this is reflected in their teeth structures. The males, who prefer polychaete worms have 3-pointed teeth and the females who prefer crustaceans have 5-pointed teeth, they only grow to 60cm and are around 9cm at birth.

Could it be offshore on the West Coast protecting the critically endangered Soupfin shark?

 

The shelf edge off the west coast is an important habitat for many deep-water shark and ray species. A few MPAs were established offshore on the west coast, namely the Child’s Bank MPA. It was established due to the unique Childs Bank feature that is considered vulnerable to mining, trawling or other activities with seabed impacts. This bank is home to cold water corals and provides a home to several threatened shark and ray species.

 

The Soupfin shark is a critically endangered shark found on the sea floor around 1000 to 2000m deep in the cool Benguela waters off the West Coast. It has a slender body with a pointed snout and small, oval eyes.

The Soupfin shark often occur in schools as adults, they pup in shallow and protected bays and estuaries, they have a Gestation period of 12 months, they grow to 200cm in length, 26-40cm at birth, and give birth to 20-35 live young, this species has been targeted by fisheries for a long time but we are seeing concerning declines in their populations.

Could it be in the new candidate area offshore of Algoa Bay, protecting the endangered and unique to South African waters – Twineye skate.

 

 

Algoa Bay is recognized nationally and internationally for its exceptional diversity. It includes the Addo Elephant National Park MPA, is within a Biologically Significant Marine Area (EBSA), a Hope Spot, and has two Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas. It also includes the coastal city of Gqeberha. About 30km off the coast of Algoa Bay lies an extensive reef system known as Riy Banks, which is home to penguins as well as many threatened shark species such as the Twineye skate.

 

The Twineye skate can be found in waters 15m to over 420m deep and is named Twineye skate due to two characteristic eyespots on its wings with 3 rings of colour with the centre being bright blue.

 

The Twineye is endemic to South Africa (unique to our waters) and most commonly caught skate in fisheries but poorly studied.

Could it be an extension of the Isimangaliso Wetland Park Marine Protected Area to protect the critically endangered Leatherback turtle?

 

 

Situated at the extreme north of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) on our border with Mozambique, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park extends offshore between 40 and 80 km, leaving a large important turtle corridor offshore.

The Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is critically endangered in the region. This is because they use routes predetermined by evolution, returning to the areas where they were born to mate and lay eggs, in our case the beaches of Northern KZN. Their hatchlings also have a low survival rate. Turtles are vulnerable throughout their life to poaching, entanglement with fishing gear or accidental capture as bycatch, making it critical for us to protect known corridors.