Over the past few weeks there have been several reports of the presence of red tide in various locations along the South African coastline, in particular off Algoa Bay (Port Elizabeth) and more recently off Plettenberg Bay and Knysna. ‘Red tide’ is the common name for a phenomenon known as an algal bloom. Algal blooms READ MORE
“What is an oil Spill?” An oil spill is a release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment due to human activities and is a form of pollution. Oil spills normally refer to the marine environment when oil is released from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells. “What effect do oil spills have?” READ MORE
The common believe is that animals don’t have long term memories and cannot recognize people. It is true in some animal species, but others have proven higher intelligence. Studies have been done to determine animal mental capacities. Studies on primates have shown that they can remember and learn new things. They also teach their young READ MORE
Whales have been hunted for their meat, oil and blubber from as early as 3000 BC. There are many coastal communities that have a long history of whaling, but the commercial whaling with organized fleets started in the 17th century. Whaling increased in the 18th and 19th centuries. Large factory ships turned whaling into whale READ MORE
“What is animal migration?” Animal migration is when individuals (usually on a seasonal basis) travel long-distances. Migration is found in all major animals groups e.g. birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, insects and crustaceans. To be called a true migration the movement of the animals should happen annual or seasonal e.g. birds migrating south during winter or READ MORE
There are two types of whales in the world’s oceans, Toothed whales (Odontoceti) and Baleen whales (Mysticeti). As the name says toothed whales have teeth and baleen whales have baleen. The word baleen comes from the Latin word Bālaena, which is related to the Greek word Phalaina and means whale. There are four families READ MORE
Mutualism is when two organisms of different species exist in a relationship where both individuals benefit from each other and is a type of symbiotic relationship. One well-known mutualistic relationship in the ocean is the one between Corals and their zooxanthellae. Corals form their calcium skeleton and the zooxanthellae lives in the skeleton. The benefit READ MORE
In earlier posts we discussed different relationships between animals (mutualism and parasitism). The last type of relationship between organisms is commensalism. Commensalism means “eating at the same table” and is when one organism benefits from another organism without affecting it. Compared to mutualism and parasitism, commensalism is hard to give examples of since it’s hard READ MORE
Bio-mimicry comes from the Greek words bios (life) and mimesis (imitation). This happens when humans get inspired by animals or plants for inventions. Humans have used a lot of designs from nature. Birds and bats wings have inspired people to create airplanes. The wings of turbines are formed after the long flippers of Humpback Whales, READ MORE
There are two things that animals always strive after, to eat and reproduce. In some species the reproduction instinct is so strong that females starve themselves for their offspring. This is seen in Southern Right Whales that only eat 3 months of the year enabling them to give birth in warm, calm waters (for more READ MORE