On Tuesday 4 March, the Dyer Island Conservation Trust and Marine Dynamics team were alerted of a stranded eagle ray, Myliobatis aquila, at Franksraal beach. Upon arrival, marine guides Sandra Hörbst, Susy Alexandersen and skipper Hennie Odendaal identified an additional ray stranding of the same species. One individual appeared to be a recent stranding whilst the second was slightly degraded hinting [...]
An early morning departure from Kleinbaai Harbour on 20 January, with the initial goal of deploying underwater video systems, took a turn as news arrived that a large, deceased fish was found floating in Jouberstdam, brought to our attention by fisherman Johan Stoop. The team on board research vessel Lwazi, consisting of skippers Hennie Odendaal and Dickie Chivell, marine biologist Amy [...]
On Thursday 10 October 2024, the Marine Dynamics team received a report of a stranded dolphin at the Walker Bay Nature Reserve, just before the iconic Klipgat Caves. The team, consisting of biologists and guides, Amy Webber, Sandra Hörbst, Sonja Fleck and Marine Dynamics Academy scientific intern Erika, drove to the site before descending to the beach where the dolphin could [...]
On Friday 13th of September, a Shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) was retrieved by the Dyer Island Conservation Trust and Marine Dynamics Academy team from Die Dam. Local residents alerted the team of the stranding the evening of 12 September, where the Mako could be seen in good condition. Operations manager, Hennie Otto, marine biologist, Amy Webber and Marine Dynamics Academy [...]
On Sunday, 21 July, marine biologist Amy Webber, volunteer manager Etienne Roets, skipper Hennie Odendaal and 2 of the Marine Dynamics Academy scientific interns left Kleinbaai Harbour aboard research vessel Lwazi. In collaboration with the Acoustic Tracking Array Platform (ATAP), the team from the Dyer Island Conservation Trust and Marine Dynamics Academy went out with the goal of retrieving previous receivers [...]
On 22 June, the Dyer Island Conservation Trust and Marine Dynamics teams were alerted of a stranded Humpback whale along the beach at Die Dam. A resident of Die Dam, Johanna von Molendorff, sighted the whale, with alerts posted to local stranding pages too. Early the next morning, 23 June, our teams started the journey towards the area. The attendees were [...]
On Monday 9 October, early morning, Marine Dynamics received a call from a concerned hiker on Die Plaat, just off De Kelders. Gansbaaier Aaron Stemmett was hiking with a group of students when they came upon, what they thought was a Southern Right Whale calf, and hoping that it was still alive, tried pushing it back into the ocean. Aaron phoned [...]
We are all entering the year 2021 with a large amount of apprehension and anxiety. To counter these “symptoms” the African Penguin & Seabird Sanctuary (APSS) issued a perky penguin prescription filled with a good dose of joy and hope on the first day of 2021. Fourteen African penguin fledglings and four adult penguins were returned to the wild after spending [...]
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 [...]
In its fourth year, the Marine Month competition run by the Dyer Island Conservation Trust with eco-tourism partners Marine Dynamics & Dyer Island Cruises, and with the support of conservation partners, the Overstrand Municipality, Birdlife Overberg and the Department of Environmental Affairs, Fisheries and Forestry (DEFF), reached 28 schools in the Overstrand area. This campaign, held every October, aims to raise [...]
