On Friday 24th of February, the second batch of dead sharks (post Orca predation) were necropsied at the Marine Dyanmics Academy lodge, lead by PhD candidates Alison Towner and Ralph Watson. This brought the total number of sharks from the Sunday Pearly Beach interaction to 18 sharks, seventeen of which were Sevengill sharks (Notorynchus cepedianus) and one a small spotted Gully [...]
On Sunday 21st of February, the infamous pair of male orcas Port and Starboard, who are known to prey on several species of sharks in south Africa, were tracked by a team of scientists on board Marine Dynamics vessel. “We observed the two orcas repeatedly diving down in a small area, for almost two hours before they departed offshore” said Ralph [...]
Wetlands are land regions that are continuously or seasonally saturated with water, and they include ecosystems such as estuaries, marshes, swamps, bogs, and fens. World Wetlands Day is observed every year on February 2nd. It also marks the anniversary of the Convention on Wetlands, which was adopted as an international treaty in 1971. The purpose of the day is to raise [...]
On Saturday 31 December, the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary returned another 13 African penguins to their home on Dyer Island. A total of 215 chicks were removed since the beginning of November and hand-raised at the African Penguin & Seabird Sanctuary (APSS), a project of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust. The removal of compromised and orphaned chicks is one of [...]
Earlier this week, the Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT) responded to a report of a Ragged-tooth shark stranding in Franskraal at a well-known fishing hotspot. The shark was recovered by the team and transported to the DICT lodge. With the assistance of volunteers from the Marine Dynamics Academy, a necropsy was performed on the animal the following morning to determine the cause of death. The [...]
We arrived at our destination. The camp looked way amazing for the kid’s expectations. We were greeted by the friendly staff of Wortelgat Outreach Trust. At the end of each year, learners go on an educational camp. The learners from the second and third year attended an educational camp at Wortelgat in Stanford, where they spent the weekend learning about dedication, [...]
Chester Arends from Overstrand Municipality, Inan Mzinyelwa, first prize winner from Gansbaai Academia and Phunyuzwa Xhegwana from Cape Nature. MARINE-MONTH COMPETITION FOR OVERSTRAND LEARNERS – 2022. Grade 1’s up to Grade 11’s, were invited to enter our annual Marine Month Competition for learners in the Overstrand area. Dyer Island Conservation Trust, in partnership with the Overstrand Municipality and CapeNature, [...]
The African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary have returned another 16 African penguins to their home on Dyer Island this weekend. The first batch of 41 young African penguins was released on the island, last week Saturday 19 November. A total of 120 chicks were removed since the beginning of November and hand-raised at the African Penguin & Seabird Sanctuary (APSS), a [...]
Help us rescue, feed and rehabilitate our 2022 batch of African penguin chicks. On Saturday 5 November, the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary - APSS, with the help of CapeNature retrieved 48 African penguin chicks from Dyer Island. Another 16 penguin chicks were removed from the island on Tuesday 8 November. The chicks are currently at the sanctuary where they will [...]
What do canned trophy hunting, deadly infectious diseases and Traditional Chinese Medicine have in common? Lions. The new investigative documentary, Lions, Bones & Bullets uncovers an elaborate, international wildlife fraud with an annual turnover of nearly 100 million U.S. dollars. On Tuesday 1 November, Marine Dynamics and Dyer Island Conservation Trust, hosted our final Marine Evening for 2022, with the screening [...]
