#Mosselbay - Images: About 200 seal pups washed up on beaches in the Mossel Bay area. #roughsea #springtide #surfsurge

About 200 seal pups have washed up on beaches in the Mossel Bay area. This is a normal occurrence when rough sea conditions is experienced. However please do not swim in areas where seal puppies have washed up on beaches. There is the possibility of an increase in shark activity due to the abundance of food. There is no shark nets at beaches in Mossel Bay and bathers must adhere to lifeguard warnings. It is overcast and cool today in Mossel Bay. Rather visit Mossel Bay shopping emporiums and other interesting areas today. Local authorities are currently busy collecting the baby seals. The public should under no circumstances collect or touch baby seals as they can inflict a severe bite. Reports have also surfaced that people are taking baby seals home. This is an illegal practice. Rather assist the local authorities in telling them where baby seals are located. The public can call SAPREC Wildlife Rescue Service, Address: Voorlopersingel, Mossdustria, Mossel Bay, 6500 Phone: 082 364 3382 for assistance.

Images: Dewald Bodenstein with thanks to @MosselBayZA who forwarded the images to @SAWXREP

Everything you need to know: December #solstice 2014 #seasons

December solstice 2014 is coming up this Sunday, December 21 at 23:03 UTC. Celebration time!

Late dawn. Early sunset. Short day. Long night. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, the December solstice marks the longest night and shortest day of the year. Meanwhile, on the day of the December solstice, the Southern Hemisphere has its longest day and shortest night. This special day is coming up on Sunday, December 21 at 23:03 UTC (5:03 p.m. CST). A fun fact about the coming solstice is that it occurs within about two-and-a-half hours of a new moon. No matter where you live on Earth’s globe, a solstice is your signal to celebrate. Follow the links below to learn more about the 2014 December solstice.

When is the solstice where I live?

What is a solstice?

Where should I look to see signs of the solstice in nature?

Why doesn’t the earliest sunset come on the shortest day?

Read more HERE.

- EarthSky

Mossel Bay - Shark attack at Dias beach

A Great White shark bit off at least half a meter of Kobus Maritz' surfski on Saturday 22 November. It is the second time a shark attacked Kobus in the waters off Mossel Bay.Photo: Nickey le Roux

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay resident Kobus Maritz has had another close encounter with a Great White shark - for the second time in six years. 

On 28 June 2008, his surfski was chomped in the Mossel Bay harbour. This time he had set off on Saturday 22 November, at approximately 06:45, for his regular early morning exercise. 

He made his way to the Point before going out to Diaz. At Diaz he made the turn in the corner and rowed past the beach at the Diaz hotel and on towards the jetty. 
He was approximate 50 meters from the shoreline, just behind the breakwater, when the Great White attacked from behind, taking off at least half a meter of his surfski. 

The shark attacked from the right hand side coming from the open sea and the velocity and impact of the attack had swung the surfski transversely.

Reacted instinctively
"Being the second time, I immediately knew it was a shark attack. I battled as best I could to keep the surfski upright and to stay on top, but I came off the vessel and that is when I saw the approximately three meter big Great White shark under water. The water was crystal clear on Saturday morning. 

"I knew I had to remain calm and still in the water. I went as close as I could get to the vessel and remained still for at least a minute. Then I realised the surfski was becoming unstable and taking in water. 
"It was hard going to get to the shore, but I moved instinctively. Once on the beach, I used a beach walker's cellphone to call my wife," Kobus told the Mossel Bay Advertiser. 

"It is still very unreal. I have been enjoying the surfski for at least 15 years; it is a part of my lifestyle," he added.

Attacks in past six years
Other incidents of shark attacks have taken place in the six years since the first shark attack on Kobus. In two cases, the attacks were fatal when Tim van Heerden died off Plett's Lookout on 28 August 2011, and Gerhard van Zyl succumbed to his wounds when he was attacked on 29 August 2009. Luke Parker (10 December 2008 off Plettenberg Bay), Paul Buckley (7 July 2009 off Jongensfontein), Clinton Nelson (29 May 2011 off Plettenberg Bay), and Jacques Mostert (7 June 2012) were the other shark victims along the Garden Route coastline. 

Sharks are present virtually everywhere in South Africa. This country has been the first to protect great whites and the first to invent the controversial 'shark cage diving'. This new popular tourist attraction has indeed been blamed for recent shark attacks, because it encourages sharks to come closer to shore than they normally do and to see humans as a potential source of food, despite extensive research working hard to prove otherwise.

Holiday beach users are best advised to steer clear of Seal Island and to heed the call of the on-duty life guards that will be deployed to all Blue Flag beaches in the greater Mossel Bay area.

ARTICLE AND PHOTO: NICKEY LE ROUX, MOSSEL BAY ADVERTISER JOURNALIST

Click here for a previous news flash.

Swartvlei bugged by E.coli

According to SANParks, neither the levels of E.coli at the mouth, nor the salinitiy levels in the water are valid reasons to deviate from the National Parks' guide to breaching a mouth. Photo: Fran Kirsten.

SEDGEFIELD NEWS - Following reports that the Eden District Municipality (EDM) Health Department found unacceptably high levels of E.coli in the Swartvlei Estuary, Sedgefield authorities met to discuss a solution to the problem.

The latest E.coli reading taken by the EDM showed E.coli counts of more than 2 419 per 100ml. Acceptable levels for E.coli in recreational areas, as recommended by the Department of Water Affairs (DWAF) should be between 0 – 500 per 100ml.

Nandi Mgwadlamba, communications manager of Garden Route National Park, the custodians of the estuary, said that representatives of EDM, Knysna Municipality, SANParks and the Knysna Basin Project were in agreement that the source of the E.coli should be investigated as a matter of urgency.

In the meantime, a Sedgefield resident (who prefers to remain anonymous) alleges that this was not a new problem and added that the municipality had been warned by a resident micro-biologist about the changes in E.coli patterns a few years ago. “These warnings were ignored,” he said.

Leakage of old septic and conservation tanks
According to James-Brent Styan, media liaison officer for the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, the source of the E.coli in the estuary remains unknown.

He suggested that a possible source for the pollution may be old septic and conservation tanks. "Almost 80% of the houses on the Sedgefield Island have septic tanks. Due to the lifespan of this infrastructure, a possibility exists regarding ingress of sewage."
The resident agreed and alleged that when the municipality started charging for the ‘honey sucker’ (sewage removal tanker), some residents broke a hole in the side of their conservancy tanks, resulting in untreated sewage filtering into the ground.
"The muncipality is, accordingly, already addressing this issue by future planning of upgrading to a waterborne system and/or replacement of existing tanks," said Styan.

Wastewater treatment works
The resident further alleged that the municipality had received a warning by DWAF that the Sedgefield Wastewater Plant was not effective and was working over capacity. He added the municipality was given a time period in which to address the problem."A consulting engineer was appointed to design a system to sewer the Island and the rest of Sedgefield. This plan was presented together with the increasing the capacity of the sewage works.”

Styan confirmed that the treatment works is now in the process of being upgraded with Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funds. “The Knysna Municipality together with other stakeholders have action plans at hand. All stakeholders have weekly meetings regarding this subject [E.coli] as it is seen as a high priority.”

Styan added: “Due to irregular rainfall and seasonal variations and weather levels within the estuary, the mouth of the estuary is closed and this may have led to the high E.coli count.”

Mgwadlamba said: "It is important to find the source of the problem and treat that.” During a stakeholders' meeting on October 28, SANParks undertook to take an additional seven water samples along the Swartvlei Estuary system. Mgwadlamba added that local estuarine expert, Professor Brian Allanson of the Knysna Basin Project, supported the move for rigorous testing due the size of the estuary (covering 190 hectares from the mouth to the N2 bridge).

Mouth won't be breached
She further said that the presence of E.coli at the Swartvlei Mouth is not a valid reason to open the mouth through breaching. “SANParks is not convinced this is the solution to the emerging challenge.

“Neither the levels of E.coli at the mouth, nor the salinity levels in the water (mainly due to the estuary mouth having been open for extended periods after the 2007 floods, resulting in an inflow of saltwater from the sea) are valid reasons to deviate from the National Parks management plan for estuaries. These plans guide the breaching process. Premature breaching without sufficient evidence of an emergency will, in the long-term, compromise both the system and those living close to it,” she concluded.
The Department of Water Affairs had not commented at time of going to print.

Water shortage
The Knysna Municipality has indicated that the region is in a relatively drier seasonal cycle since below average rainfall is predicted for the Summer months. According to the municipality, the area is not facing a drought. "A drought is when there is no water."

It maintains that water demand management measures communicated to residents recently are meant to encourage residents in Sedgefield, Knysna and surrounds to use water sparingly. "The weir in Karatara which might have contributed to high salinity levels is now functional again. The desalination plant and boreholes will provide sufficient water to Sedgefield."

ARTICLE: FRAN KIRSTEN - Knysna/Plett Herald

Europe launches satellite to monitor environment, disasters

Sentinel-1A carried on the Soyuz node (Pic: ESA)

Europe on Thursday launched the first in a constellation of hi-tech satellites designed to monitor Earth for climate change and environmental damage and help disaster relief operations. Sentinel-1A, a satellite designed to scan the Earth with cloud-penetrating radar, lifted off at 2102 GMT aboard a Soyuz rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.

The 2.2-tonne satellite is the first of half a dozen orbital monitors that will be built and launched under the 3.786-billion-euro ($5.19-billion) Copernicus project, a joint undertaking of ESA and the European Union (EU). Sentinel-1A separated from the rocket's upper stage 23 minutes and 24 seconds after launch. It will be followed by a partner, Sentinel-1B, due to be launched towards the end of next year.

Operating 180 degrees apart, at an altitude of about 700 kilometres (435 miles), between them the pair will be able to take a radar picture of anywhere on Earth within six days. Radar scanning has a range of uses, from spotting icebergs and oil slicks to detecting rogue logging and ground subsidence. The data will be widely accessible to the public, and is likely to have uses that go beyond the environment, such as in construction and transport.

By mapping areas stricken by flood or earthquake, the monitors will also be able to help emergency teams identify the worst-hit areas and locate roads, railway lines and bridges that are still passable, ESA says. The others in the series are Sentinel-2, which will deliver high-resolution optical images of forests and land use; Sentinel-3, providing ocean and land data; and Sentinels 4 and 5, which will monitor Earth's atmospheric composition—the basic component in fine-tuning understanding about greenhouse gases.

The goldmine of data expected to be thrown up by the satellite constellation will be more accessible to the public than any previous Earth-monitoring programme. The potential applications go beyond stewardship of the environment. They could help shipping firms, farmers and construction companies, too. "Copernicus is the most ambitious Earth observation programme to date," ESA said.

"It will provide accurate, timely and easily accessible information to improve the management of the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security." Copernicus replaces Envisat, one of the most successful environmental satellites in space history, whose mission ended in 2012. It was named last year in honour of the 16th-century Polish astronomer who determined that the Earth orbited the Sun, and not the other way round, as convention had it at the time. Explore further: European environment satellite set for launch.

 -RTE

Knysna Estuary being plundered

SANParks bio-technician Cleo Schroeder and intern Bronson Jansen man the research craft in the Knysna Lagune near Lake Brenton. SANParks' Rondevlei scientist, Kyle Smith took this photo while in the water to change temperature loggers.

KNYSNA NEWS - Four people, two of them minors, were nabbed for illegally harvesting creatures from the Knysna Estuary near Phantom Forest on Saturday, March 15, and 28 mud crabs were confiscated as SANPark rangers are stepping up against individuals who fish without permits or poach forbidden species. In January, between 15 and 20 individuals were also caught and prosecuted, reports Owen Govender, senior section ranger in the Knysna marine area of the Garden Route National Park.

"The [most recent] case is now in the hands of law enforcement authorities in Knysna," confirmed SANparks communication officer, Nandi Mgwadlamba.. "We are proud of the the fact that this is the second time this year illegal poachers are caught. Knysna ambassadors have been encouraging anglers to stick to the rules to protect the ecological health of the estuary and also ensure there is no over-fishing."

Ongoing research in the Garden Route, conducted by Scientific Services as part of SANParks' efforts to monitor recreational and subsistence fishing, continue to show that catch rates of certain species are on the decline.

Kyle Smith, one of the Garden Route National Park's scientists, says that many linefish (those caught by rod and reel) are considered to be collapsed.

"This means that the adult populations of these fish have dramatically declined and are at dangerously low levels," says Smith. "National assessments conducted by governmental agencies or universities, which look at national trends in catches indicate that at least 19 fish species are currently collapsed whilst a further 11 appear to be over-exploited and heading towards collapse."
According to Smith, examples of collapsed fish species include the Dusky Kob and White Steenbras. More information is needed to confirm the status of those fish that appear to be over-exploited and potentially heading towards collapse, but current trends indicate a decline. The White Musselcracker is one such species whose numbers are decreasing.

"The population status of only 56 (40%) of our most important linefish species is known and many of these assessments are out-dated, having been conducted in the late 1990s and mid 2000s."

He warns that although some recent population assessments suggest an improvement in some fish numbers there is certainly no room for complacency.

"Importantly my research doesn't in itself indicate fish populations, but the population status of fish stocks is carried out by DAFF and looks at catch rates from a wide area. My work is more about understanding what the current Knysna fishery looks like - who is fishing, where they are fishing, why they are fishing and what is being caught? I don't necessarily work with population numbers."

Smith emphasises, "The re-building of fish stocks is in the interest of everyone and requires the combined efforts of fishermen, consumers and management authorities. If you love to eat fish or just to catch fish, it is in your own best interest to obey the regulations. After all, the regulations are there to try and promote sustainable use - not over-use! It is in the anglers' own best interest to obey the rules so that there will always be fish available for them. We are not just about catching poachers or coming down on individuals exploiting our resources, but want to prioritise building a mutually beneficial relationship where both humans and nature prosper."

- Knysna Plett Herald

Australia: Spiral of Plankton

While the northern latitudes are bathed in the dull colors and light of mid-winter, the waters of the southern hemisphere are alive with mid-summer blooms. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this natural-color satellite image of a plankton bloom as it appeared at 1:05 p.m. local time on December 30, 2013. The eddy is centered at roughly 40° South latitude and 120° East longitude, about 600 kilometers off the coast of Australia in the southeastern Indian Ocean.
Like land-based plants, phytoplankton require sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow. Sunlight is now abundant in the far southern latitudes, so nutrients are the limiting variable to phytoplankton growth. Open waters of the ocean can appear relatively barren compared to the nutrient-rich waters near the world’s coasts. In the case of the bloom above, the nutrients may have been supplied by the churning action of ocean currents.
As the close-up image shows, an eddy is outlined by a milky green phytoplankton bloom. Eddies are masses of water that typically spin off of larger currents and rotate in whirlpool-like fashion. They can stretch for hundreds of kilometers and last for months. As these water masses stir the ocean, they can draw nutrients up from the deep, fertilizing the surface waters to create blooms in the open ocean. Other times, they carry in nutrients spun off of other currents.
It is possible that the mesoscale eddy and plankton bloom shown above are related to the “great southern coccolithophore belt” (or the “great calcite belt.”) In late southern spring and summer (roughly November to March), satellite instruments detect an abundance of particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) in waters at high latitudes. The PIC is often due to calcium carbonate, which makes up the plate-like shells of microscopic plankton known as coccolithophores. The calcium carbonate gives the water a chalky aquamarine hue.

1. References

2. Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences (2012) Eddy/Wind Interactions Stimulate Extraordinary Mid-Ocean Plankton Blooms. Science, Vol. 316 (5827) pp. 1021-1026.
3. NASA Earth Observatory (2000, July 17) Tracking Eddies that Feed the Sea.
4. NASA Earth Observatory (2012, February 11) The Eddy and the Plankton.
5. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (2006, April 13) The Oceans Have Their Own Weather Systems. Oceanus. Accessed January 3, 2014.
6. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (2006, April 13) Ocean Topics: Currents, Gyres, and Eddies. Accessed January 3, 2014.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using data from the Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE). Caption by Michael Carlowicz, with image interpretation help from Norman Kuring, NASA Ocean Color Group.

Instrument: 

Aqua - MODIS - NASA

Knysna: Possible red tide

KNYSNA NEWS FLASH - South African National Parks (SANParks), the Knysna Municipality and the Knysna Basin Project have confirmed that there is a possibility of a red tide approaching.

Water samples collected from two key points in the Knysna estuary confirm the presence of phytoplankton in the water, said Professor Brian Allanson.

He has found "low numbers that are highly unlikely to cause a bloom".

Authorities have nonetheless cautioned against the fishing of shellfish/mussels in the Knysna estuary until it is declared safe to do so.

"Common types of red tide can kill shellfish, abalone, white mussels and black oysters. Other blooms can be stored in mussels until they become poisonous if eaten by humans. It is for this reason that we are cautioning against fishing mussels in the estuary until it is safe to do so," says Owen Govender, senior section ranger of the Knysna section of the Garden Route National Park.

What are these phytonplankton organisms?
According to a Marine and Coastal Management Guideline from the Department of Environmental Affairs, Phytonplankton are "microscopic, single-celled organisms that float in the sea.

They are able to photosynthesise and form the basis of food chains in the oceans. There are three types of red tide organisms - dinoflagellates, diatoms and ciliates."

Dinoflagellates usually lie dormant on the seabed until they are lifted to the surface during upwelling where the ideal conditions of temperature and light trigger their germination.

Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP), which produces toxins that disrupt normal nerve functions, can be associated closely with dinoflagellate. Symptoms of PSP appear anytime between one and five hours after eating contaminated seafood.

  - Knysna-Plett Herald