A well-known sight along the beaches, in inter-tidal rocky pools, and in the hands of fishermen is redbait Pyura stolonifera. Although recognized on sight, many people may not know very much about this common animal. Redbait is a sea squirt which lives in intertidal rocky shores and subtidally down to 10 m deep. Sea squirts READ MORE
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
Dolphin Echolocation -by Steve Bebington While dolphins do have good eyesight, this is of minor use to them in an aquatic environment where vision may be limited by various factors such as light penetration or sediment in the water. As such, their primary sensory awareness relates to sound in what is known as echolocation or READ MORE
Weather prediction for this week is: Friday 22nd January 2016 Temperature: Min. 21°C Max. 23°C Water Temperature: 20°C Sun Factor: Cloudy with 0.3mm rain in the evening Wind Speed: 10km/h SE am; 32 km/h SE pm Swell: 1.6m SW am; 1.8m SSW pm Tides high 03h02 15h15 Tides Low 09h01 21h25 Saturday 23rd January 2016 READ MORE
A couple of months ago, a visiting veterinarian arrived at our shop early one morning in distress. She had been for a run on the beach and was shocked to find the butchered remains of a smooth hound shark. The head was connected to the tail by a thin strip of skin along the dorsal READ MORE
Recently in Plettenberg Bay, we were thrilled to enjoy a visit over several days by a Killer Whale (Orca Orcinus). Both crew and passengers were amazed by the Orcas’ relaxed and apparently friendly demeanour towards humans. After a couple of days, the animal beached itself. Concerned members of the public alerted the authorities who managed READ MORE
Another beauty found in rock pools throughout the Western and Eastern Cape are the Cape sea urchins, but beware the spines! Cape sea urchins Parechinus angulosus grow to 6 cm, and are covered in spines of varying size but which are no bigger than 1/5th the size of the shell. The spines are most often READ MORE
This beautiful stingray is one of the more common of 14 whiptail stingray species found in southern Africa. The upper surface of the blue stingray Dasyatis chrysonota is primarily brown or yellow-brown with mottled blue markings, while the underside of the animal is pale. This species has a pointed snout, and a single serrated spine READ MORE
Weather prediction for this week is: Tuesday 10th November 2015 Temperature: Min. 16°C Max. 17°C Water Temperature: 17°C Sun Factor: Partly cloudy Wind Speed: 18km/h SW am; 12 km/h SSW pm Swell: 1.64m WSW am; 1.4m SW pm Tides high 03h08 15h14 Tides Low 08h55 21h22 Wednesday 11th November 2015 Temperature: Min. 17°C Max. 18°C READ MORE
While one can imagine a young Ariel using one of these items as a purse, they are not well suited to this role on land. Commonly called mermaids purses, these items are in fact egg cases from a variety of species of sharks, skates and rays (elasmobranchs). Fertilisation of the egg occurs inside the female’s READ MORE