During a recent research trip, our biologists and crew picked up a large object floating in the waters near Dyer Island. This object turned out to be what is known as a FAD - a Fish Aggregating Device – that is used by various fisheries to attract target species such as tuna, marlin and sharks. This huge square grid with large [...]
A conservation partnership between Hikvision and the Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT) is bringing the African penguins to the people. In the first phase of the project new HikVison surveillance cameras will be installed at the African Penguin & Seabird Sanctuary, a project of the DICT. This will allow the public to view the feeding and rehabilitation process as well as [...]
World Environment Day is a day that has been recognized globally on the 5th of June since 1974 with the aim to increase awareness and encourage action for environmental issues. Each year the day is formed around a theme that focuses attention on a particularly pressing environmental issue. The theme for 2020 is “Celebrate Biodiversity” and calls for appreciation but [...]
“There is nothing better than receiving a call from someone that wants to help further the conservation efforts of our work,” says Brenda Walters of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT). That call came in the form of Mike Campbell from Industrial Netting in Sandton. Having seen the storm drain catchment net project started in June 2019 in Gansbaai, Mike saw [...]
It is practically impossible to look at a penguin and feel angry – Joe Moore This #WorldPenguinDay, is different. Today we convey a message from the penguins to the people. Today we will be there for you, we will provide you with some comic relief, we will try to make you smile, we will post some of our comic antics and [...]
The Dyer Island Conservation Trust launched a three-year environmental education programme in 2016, known as DEEP. Every year we select 13 learners and in the first year, our first intake was already participating in an eco-school project. Now every year we select a new group to begin the programme and the learners are required to write a motivational letter stating why [...]
A three meter long Copper shark (also known as the bronze whaler shark) was retrieved from Grotto Beach in Hermanus on the morning of 5 Feb 2020, by the Dyer Island Conservation Trust/Marine Dynamics research team. The female shark was torn open at the torso with its liver and heart completely removed. The previous day, two killer whales known as Port and Starboard [...]
To celebrate World Wetlands Day, the Dyer Island Conservation Trust’s Environmental Education Programme (DEEP) together with our conservation partner Marine Dynamics and the volunteers from Marine Dynamics Academy, visited the Uilenkraalsmond Estuary to do estuary monitoring and birding. The team was joined by Gansbaai Academia’s marine sciences teacher Lizelle Carolus and her learners, and DEEP Club students. The monitoring was led [...]
At the end of last year, we brought you a story of our four Dyer Island Conservation Trust Environment Education Programme (DEEP) Alumni students that were selected to join the children’s reality series Roughing it Out (SABC 2). They are back and the verdict is in, they had beyond a wild time! The participants were taken out of their comfort zone [...]
Over 200 people walked, waddled or ran in the annual March for the Penguins held at the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary (APSS) in Gansbaai. The 5km fun walk arranged by the Dyer Island Conservation Trust has become a highlight on the calendar for locals and visitors to Gansbaai. The event creates awareness about the endangered status of the African penguin [...]
