April 16, 2019 Dyer Island Conservation Trust Why are we designing the perfect artificial African penguin nest? Before the advent of artificially produced fertiliser, guano was considered a top quality fertiliser rich in nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Guano (an Inca word for a mix of eggshell, feathers, decayed corpses and bird excrement) was scraped from the penguin breeding islands. On Dyer [...]
April 03, 2019 Dyer Island Conservation Trust Tourism partners, friends, and media, gathered at an evening event with the team of Dyer Island Conservation Trust and Marine Dynamics to look back at nearly two decades of research, conservation and education achievements. Our marine environment is under immense pressure and over the last two decades that Marine Dynamics and Dyer Island Cruises have [...]
GREAT WHITE SHARKS SWIM THROUGH KELP April 03, 2019 OLIVER JEWELLIt’s been more than five years since I moved my life from Gansbaai and the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, first to Europe and then Australia, which I still find incredible to believe… how time flies… But I remain an associate researcher with the Trust and Marine Dynamics and I’m proud to [...]
March 20, 2019 Dyer Island Conservation Trust The 2019 intake of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust’s Environmental Education Programme (DEEP), joined Greenpop’s Treevolution Reforest Festival this weekend in Platbos. This was an Eco-friendly, Zero Waste event for families to rebuild this indigenous ancient forest. It was a weekend filled with fun activities, puppet shows, forest walks, talent show and music and [...]
March 19, 2019 Dyer Island Conservation Trust In 2018, our penguin philanthropist, Mike Gibbs, kindly donated a special drawing of African penguins by Hermanus artist Malcolm Bowling. This picture went on silent auction at the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary (APSS). It finally has a home - with the Kendziorski family. The Kendziorski’s are from the USA and have been volunteering [...]
March 15, 2019 Dyer Island Conservation Trust “We are thrilled to have acoustic tagged two Great White Sharks from our research boat today!”, said shark biologist Alison Towner. It’s been over two years since a transmitter (tag) has been deployed on a white shark in Southern African waters largely due to their unpredictable distribution patterns, and a notable decline in white [...]
March 07, 2019 Dyer Island Conservation Trust On Tuesday the 5th March at 9 am, Anthony Fouche of Gansbaai documented the carcasses of eight large bronze whaler sharks at Die Plaat, Gansbaai. The Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT) / Marine Dynamics team were notified in the late afternoon and made their way down to the site to collect them. On arrival, [...]
We all know that Africa is not for “sissies” and the African Penguin is a perfect example of African tenaciousness. The story of the African penguin is not a good story to tell. This iconic bird is on the brink of extinction. We have lost 99% of our African Penguin population through no fault of their own. Forced removals Guano (an [...]
February 19, 2019 Wilfred Chivell of Marine Dynamics and founder of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust was ecstatic to receive a R50 000 donation from International Marine Volunteer Susy Alexandersen. This money will go to the Dyer Island Conservation Trust’s conservation and community efforts. Norwegian based Alexandersen had this to say, “In 2013 I went to Gansbaai for the very [...]
February 02, 2019 Pinkey Ngewu World Wetlands Day (WWD) on 2 February is a key environmental day on the calendar. This global movement was established in 1971 in order to raise awareness about the value of wetlands for humanity and the planet. World Wetlands Day was celebrated for the first time in 1997 and has grown remarkably since then. The Theme [...]
