breeding

Amazing African black oystercatcher

The African black oystercatcher Haematopus moquini is one of our resident breeding coastal bird species. It can often be seen on Lookout Beach and other coastal areas in Plettenberg Bay, but ranges from Luderitz in Namibia to Mazeppa Bay in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. They have a very distinctive appearance with all black feathers, READ MORE

Cape clawless otter

A lesser seen mammal on the beaches and estuaries of the Garden Route is the Cape clawless otter Aonyx capensis. They are just fantastic creatures, growing to between 12-18 kg and 110-160 cm in length (roughly a third of which is the tail), though males tend to be larger than the females. Each foot has READ MORE

Sure footed rock rabbit

Robberg Nature Reserve has a host of interesting species to find and see. While some of these, like the caracal, are a rarer sighting, animals like the rock hyrax Procavia capensis are plentiful and you can often find one basking on a rock in the sunshine. Hyrax are more commonly known as dassies by South READ MORE

Long-beaked common dolphin

In Plettenberg Bay we are fortunate enough to have three species of dolphins that frequent the area, and one of these is the long-beaked common dolphin Delphinus capensis. As the name may suggest, this species has a long, narrow, pointed beak, while another diagnostic feature is a ‘criss-cross’ figure-of-eight or hourglass shape on the sides READ MORE

Humpback dolphin

The Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin Sousa chinensis is a resident species along our coastline, and is the iconic species of the Plettenberg Bay Hope Spot (www.sst.org.za/hope-spots/plett-hope-spot). The Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin is a widespread and highly variable species. Humpback dolphins range from the east coast of Africa, northern Indian Ocean, along the southern coast of the Middle READ MORE

The missing “lynx”

There have been increasing reports of lynx being spotted on Robberg Nature Reserve, however, these animals are not lynx but caracals Caracal caracal. Caracals are a robustly built cat characterized by their long pointed ears with black tufted tips. It is these tufted ears which are a shared characteristic between species of the genus Caracal READ MORE

Swift, spirited seals

It is surely now widespread knowledge that at the base of Robberg Peninsula on the protected bay side there is a very large breeding colony of cape fur seals Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus. They are a charming species, whose antics in the water and on land can keep me entertained for hours, despite being noisy and READ MORE

Cape Fur Seal Breeding

Situated on the magnificent Robberg Nature Reserve, a 3.9km peninsula that extends into the ocean on the southern side of Plettenberg Bay, is a colony of approximately 4000 Cape Fur Seals (Arctocephalus Pusillus). After the extermination of the original colony in the early 1900’s, the seals only returned in the early 90’s. The population gradually READ MORE