4 October Part 2 - Betty's Bay

Stony Point Nature Reserve

[from http://www.capenature.co.za/reserves/stony-point-nature-reserve/ ]

Stony Point Nature Reserve is home to one of the largest successful breeding colonies of African Penguin in the world.

Located in the quaint coastal town of Betty’s Bay in the Overberg, the Stony Point Nature Reserve is home to a unique colony of African Penguins. Stony Point offers the public the chance to see these wonderful flightless birds up close, via the boardwalk through the colony, which allows the public to observe the penguins go about their daily activities in their natural habitat, without disturbing or disrupting them.

Also present in the colony are three species of cormorant; the Crowned cormorant, Cape cormorant and Bank cormorant, all of which breed on the outer rocks. There are also Hartlaub’s Gulls and Kelp Gulls which forage in the colony, while the Rock Hyrax, more commonly known as the Dassie, can be seen on the surrounding rocks.

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Hyrax

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Cape Wagtail

The colony lies on the site of the old Waaygat Whaling Station, which was used to harvest and process whale meat in the early to mid 1900s. Remnants of the machinery and infrastructure for this long-defunct industry can still be found at the site.

Conservation status and what the future holds

[from https://www.sanbi.org/creature/african-penguin ]

The African penguins are undergoing very rapid population declines. The initial records of African penguin populations along the Namibia and South African coastline estimated around one million breeding pairs in the 1920s but these populations have rapidly declined to less than 30 000 pairs. For example, it is estimated that breeding population in South Africa has experienced a 95% decline in six years from 69 000 pairs in 2001 to 20 000 pairs in 2011. As a result it is projected that the African penguin may become extinct within the next 15 years.

It is roughly estimated that about 169 African penguins are found captive in South Africa. These penguins are found at Bayworld, the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria, Bester Birds, East London Aquarium, Hartebeespoort Aquarium, SANCCOB, Sea World Durban (housing the largest number of birds), Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre, Two Oceans Aquarium and World of Birds.

In May 2005, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) classified African penguins as Endangered. Currently the species is listed under Appendix II of the CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) and is therefore regulated according to this convention’s guidelines. In South Africa, the movement of African penguins from one captive population to another is regulated by a permitting system, which works alongside relevant national or provincial laws.

Several management actions that have been implemented to conserve the African penguins include formal protection of breeding colonies by converting areas with known breeding sites into nature reserves and national parks, prohibiting the collection of guano and eggs, establishing marine protected areas where fishing is prohibited, ongoing research to monitor population trends in relation to prey availability and disease outbreaks, active management of population sizes of predators, artificial care of abandoned chicks, providing artificial nests and rehabilitating sick birds. Some of the leading organisations in the conservation of the African penguin include the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), Dyer Island Conservation Trust and South African Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre (SAMREC).