25 April is “celebrated” as World Penguin Day, a day to raise awareness about penguins. Sadly, for the African penguin if we do not act now, we will in future be commemorating the day. The African penguin population is crashing. On Dyer Island the numbers dropped from 36 000 pairs in 1976 to 903 pairs in 2023. The South African population [...]
The Dyer Island Conservation Trust was very fortunate to receive a call from South African surfer, Natasha van Greunen, to film at our African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary, as part of her Shining Light Series. We invited her to also be our speaker at the monthly Marine Evenings at the Great White House Restaurant. Natasha shared her passion for ocean conservation [...]
Marine Dynamics and the Dyer Island Conservation Trust support the findings in the below, recently published, paper. As an ecotourism operator working in the Gansbaai area for more than 20 years, we acknowledge that there is much more to the decline in white shark numbers than previously suggested by marine biologists. The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board’s “lethal shark control program” as well [...]
In celebration of International Women's Day today, we would like to tip our hats to Dr. Sylvia Earle. The Marine Dynamics and Dyer Island Conservation Team were fortunate to be invited to the 'Hope Spot Workshop & Celebration' earlier this month. Sylvia Earle and the Mission Blue expedition team established six Hope Spots along the coast of South Africa in partnership [...]
Sunk deeply in a chair at Amazing Grace Guesthouse in De Kelders, I met the 77-year-old United Nations Environment Program’s Goodwill Ambassador, as well as National Geographic Society’s first Education Fellow, Dr. John Francis. It’s the 23rd of January, a scorching hot and windy day in the Overstrand, and Dr. Francis has just walked 22 kilometers from Stanford Hills to De [...]
World Environmental Education Day, which falls on January 26, is observed all over the world in the hopes of improving the relationship between our fellow humans and nature itself. It seeks to identify and find solutions to certain environmental issues, both globally and locally. It’s beneficial to us human beings to protect the environment because this entails our survival and well-being. We [...]
From the month of August, there is a special group of European visitors in Gansbaai in the Overstrand. These lightweight travelers weigh only about 28 grams, and they have no problem covering the 11,500 kilometers to the South African coast within a month. Hydrobates pelagicus, the European storm petrel, bears a name that literally means 'water little walker on the open [...]
Dyer Island Conservation Trust, in collaboration with the Overstrand Municipality, Western Cape Education Department (SAFE Schools), and CapeNature, proudly recognized young marine conservationists during the annual Marine Month Competition Winners Announcement. On Saturday, December 2, finalists and winners, accompanied by proud teachers and parents, gathered at the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary for the awards ceremony. This year, Marine Dynamics’s [...]
WESSA's Blue Flag and Green Coast Awards 2023/2024 Recognizing excellence in sustainable coastal management. GEORGE, Western Cape – As warmer weather and swim season approach, WESSA celebrated South Africa's pristine coastal destinations with the coveted Blue Flag and Green Coast status awards on Friday, October 20th. A further four marinas and six tourism boats have been acknowledged at this season's event [...]
On Tuesday, October 3rd, Marine Dynamics received a call from Louis October, a farmer from Elim. Louis was very concerned about a blue crane he had found on his farm the evening before, struggling to walk and unable to fly. Senior Bird Rehabilitator from the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary, Xolani Lawu, immediately set out to collect the injured bird. The [...]
