HERMANUS WHALE FESTIVALOctober 02, 2009 by dyertrustThis year at the Whale Festival we had an Enviro Marquee to celebrate the Marine Big 5Whales, sharks, dolphins, penguins and seals. Our icon was Wally the Whale who was a hit with the children.Dyer Island Cruisesdonated a large scale whale replica to the Festival which lay proudly outside the marquee.We hosted a series of [...]
SANCCOB MASKED BALLOctober 02, 2009 by dyertrustThe Simonstown Penguin Festival SANCCOB Benefit Weekend held on the 25th September kicked off with a masked ball at Boulders Beach Lodge (well organized by Operations Manager Janine Genade and her team) and DICT was very excited to be there. Michelle Garforth (Wild Ltd) was MC and guests included Amelia Venter, world renowned animal communicator; [...]
AFRICAN PENGUIN CHICKS RESCUEDOctober 01, 2009 by dyertrustOn Lauren Wallers (PhD researcher) nest rounds last week she came across a nest where previously the adults were incubating two eggs. Being interested to see what happens to this nest as it is very late in the season for penguins to be incubating and they should be coming to the end of breeding [...]
FEEDBACK FROM DYER ISLAND RESEARCHERSeptember 29, 2009 by dyertrustAdin Stamelman, a Dyer Island researcher and UCT PhD candidate, recently presented findings from his work on the South African Guano Islands at the second History of Marine Animal Populations (HMAP) conference in Vancouver, Canada.The HMAP project is part of the broader Census of Marine Life program which aims to scientifically answer three [...]
WHALE FESTIVAL 24-27 SEPTEMBERSeptember 23, 2009 by dyertrustDICTwill be at the Whale Festival 24-27 September in Hermanus, at the Enviro Expo marquee on the lawn in front of the Village Square Waterfront Piazza.Fascinating talks on the Marine Big 5 will be held on the Saturday and SundayToreadmore& see the scheduled programme go tohttp://www.whalefestival.co.za/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=397
RISSO DOLPHIN STRANDED AT DANGER POINTSeptember 21, 2009 by dyertrustA Rissos dolphin stranded at Danger Point on the 30th of July. This was the first dolphin of this species that we know to have stranded here. Meredith Thornton, Manager of Cetacean Research (Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria, based at Iziko Museums of Cape Town) provided us with the following information:"The [...]
MASS WHALE STRANDING IN CAPE TOWNSeptember 19, 2009 by dyertrustOn30thMay 2009, a mass false killer whale stranding occurred at Kommetjie inCape Town.Meredith Thornton, Manager of Cetacean Research (Mammal Research Institute,UniversityofPretoria, based at Iziko Museums ofCape Town) provided us with the following information on the incident.False killer whale strandings occur very rarely inSouth Africa.Such a situation has to be judged on its [...]
THE WHALES ARE BACKSeptember 18, 2009 by dyertrustSouthern right whales are starting tomake their annual appearance back along our coastline, and have been regularly sighted off of Kleinbaai and Gansbaai. A few sightings were reported in May, but the whales are being spotted more and more frequently now.The whales migrate from their feeding grounds in the Antarctic region to the South [...]
ABSA DONATES MATERIAL TO NOLWANDLE CRAFTSSeptember 16, 2009 by dyertrustABSA Gansbaai handed over a generous donation.The Nolwandle Crafts Project was established by theDyer Island Cruisesas a community development program in 2006 as an initiative to provide employment to previously disadvantaged people in the local community.During the first week of June 2009, ABSA Gansbaai handed over a generous donation of 20 rolls [...]
WHALE STRANDING AT ROMANSBAAISeptember 15, 2009 by dyertrustAfalse killer whale was found deceased onMonday 1 June 2009 stranded at a beach in Romansbaai in theWestern Cape.The Dyer Island Conservation Trust was alerted of the stranding and arrived at the scene to photograph the animal and to take vital measurements and samples to be analysed by researchers at the Mammal Research Institute [...]