Focus on the coast

9 April: I am on my way back to Lüderitz aboard our trusty research vessel, the !Anichab. I am accompanied by a crate containing yesterday’s oiled penguin and two more very badly oiled penguins my colleague Tony Delport, who is permanently based on Ichaboe Island, found last night. While we are loading the vessel, the crew notices another two oiled penguins swimming past.

I have a bad feeling about this; although we do have the occasional incident of finding oiled penguins, we rarely get more than a few at a time. Seeing five oiled penguins in less than 24 hours does not bode well.

After arriving in Lüderitz, we stabilize the penguins and start washing them; this procedure is not for the faint-hearted. Penguins can easily die from excessive stress suffered during the washing process and tend to object vehemently to being scrubbed in warm, soapy water. They are equipped with extremely strong, razor-sharp beaks and know to use them effectively (together with their long claws and their stiff flippers) to defend themselves. A cuddly-looking 2.5 kg penguin can shred a person into a bleeding, bruised mess within seconds. We therefore need to handle the penguins firmly but calmly. This is definitely not as easy as it sounds! I also band each penguin with a stainless-steel flipper band stamped with a unique number. That way we can recognize individual penguins, which helps us to keep track of the history and progress of each penguin in our care. It will also allow us to monitor the success of our rehabilitation efforts once we release the penguins.

Another oiled penguin is delivered to us by a fishing vessel which had rescued it from the sea near the harbour. Possession Island, roughly 45 km south of Lüderitz, reports two oiled penguins.

10 April: The start of the Easter weekend. Everything is closed, vessels are not running, and we can’t get hold of the relevant authorities to inform them of a potential oil spill. Very frustrating, and I make a mental note that the Namibian National Oil Spill Contingency Plan is in urgent need of revision in order to be effective in such an event.

Pete Bartlett, another colleague, reports from Ichaboe Island that he has collected another 13 oiled penguins.


11 April: From Guano Bay beach near Lüderitz, we scan Halifax Island with a telescope and see two oiled penguins. We alert Lüderitz Port Control, the Directorate of Maritime Affairs, in charge of marine pollution, and the MFMR’s inspectorate about the oil and start thinking about how to get ourselves to the island to rescue the penguins.


12 April, Easter Sunday: We plead with a local resident, owner of an inflatable boat, to forego his eagerly anticipated Easter egg hunt and breakfast and to help us to catch oiled penguins at Halifax Island instead. He immediately agrees to help and by 11h00 we have collected 19 oiled penguins. We spend the afternoon washing penguins.


14 April: MFMR’s patrol plane checked the coastline for oil yesterday, but could not find anything. We collect another 11 penguins from Halifax Island and spend the rest of the day washing and feeding penguins. Feeding is another adventurous activity, because the penguins have no idea what to do with a bucket of dead fish. Feeding a penguin therefore involves catching it, clamping it securely (firmly but calmly, remember) between ones legs, skillfully opening the beak with one hand and sticking a sardine in with the other. The penguin will then either rip apart the sardine or the hand (or both) or will swallow the sardine. On average, a penguin will eat between four and eight sardines during a meal. Some penguins eventually learn to take fish from the handler without having to be caught, which makes life a lot easier.

With the help of all research staff at MFMR-Lüderitz, we convert a storage shed on the premises into a cat-proof penguin holding pen, complete with makeshift pool. Rian Jones, normally based on Mercury Island and in town for a short holiday, returns to Mercury Island with the !Anichab to search for oiled penguins there. Mercury Island, about 100 km north of Lüderitz, supports the biggest colony of African Penguins in Namibia. I dread his phone call.


15 April: The phone call comes mid-morning: Rian has found another 58 penguins. And Pete is sending us 30 more penguins from Ichaboe Island. Things are getting out of control. I approach the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), an NGO based in Cape Town, South Africa, for help. We are short of space, short of experienced bird handlers and we don’t know how many more penguins to expect. SANCCOB is more than willing to help; we just need to figure out how.

The !Anichab arrives at 22h00 with the 88 penguins; we have now got 123 penguins jam-packed into our facility. Nine more penguins will arrive from Possession Island tomorrow.

16-19 April: The next few days are just a hectic blur of penguins, oil, soapy water and fish. But there are also uplifting moments of human compassion. Members of the Lüderitz community arrive in droves at the pen with donations of toothbrushes (to scrub penguins with) and towels (to dry the washed penguins with). Everybody wants to assist in one way or other. Most staff from MFMR-Lüderitz are here to help too. A member of the public buys pizza for the tired penguin washers and feeders. The team-spirit is amazing. At one point we are so inundated with eager volunteers, we have to turn them back. During a brief moment of delirious contemplation I foolishly think that we can perhaps handle the situation after all, without international help. The problem is that although the penguins are now clean, the soap we used has stripped the feathers of their waterproofing. We have to keep the birds in captivity until they have recovered their natural waterproofing. This takes between four to eight weeks. Even if we manage to find larger premises with additional pools to swim the penguins in (to keep them fit and to encourage them to preen and get waterproof), will we be able to find enough people to look after so many penguins every day for the next two months? Or should SANCCOB perhaps send a group of experienced handlers to help? But where will they stay? And who is going to pay them?

More oiled penguins are delivered, bringing our total to 155. We really need to make a plan now.
Between supervising proceedings, juggling calls from the press, banding penguins and looking after the weakest penguins in the “intensive care unit” (my office), I spend much time on the phone with Venessa Strauss, SANCCOB’s CEO, to discuss various options. Venessa offers to take some penguins off our hands. SANCCOB’s facility can handle up to 2000 penguins and they have a team of highly experienced rehabilitators. Great idea, but how do we get the penguins from Lüderitz to Cape Town? Plan A: fly them by charter plane. Unfortunately it’s not an option, because it is outrageously expensive (and for some reason nobody wants their plane to smell like pungent penguin pooh afterwards). Then Venessa comes up with Plan B: let’s evacuate the penguins by truck. This has been done before, but it’s risky business. Penguins are not meant to be stuck in boxes in a truck on a bumpy road for hours on end. It is unlikely that all penguins would survive the long journey. But right now this is our best option, because we are not able to care properly for so many penguins here either and are likely to lose some of them soon. I approach Rod Braby from the Namibian Coast Conservation and Management project (NACOMA) for help with funding the evacuation. Rod immediately assures me of NACOMA’s support and we start arranging the first ever international evacuation of African penguins.

20 April: It’s all happening today. The permits needed to move endangered and specially protected, wild animals across the border from Namibia to South Africa are sorted out and the truck is on its way from Cape Town. It is 06h00 and I am standing amongst 155 freshly-washed penguins to select the strongest individuals for the evacuation. Venessa is flying to Lüderitz this morning to help us prepare the penguins for the historic journey and to accompany the truck to Cape Town. Each of the 129 penguins I choose is to receive three rounds of rehydration fluids (it’s like an “Energade” for penguins) and a meal by mid-day. All hands on deck! It is a crazy morning, but we manage.

The truck arrives late in the afternoon. While the driver grabs something to eat and has a short nap, we start loading the penguins into specially-designed penguin transport boxes. Unfortunately the truck is not quite what we had envisaged. It is a flat-bed truck without railings and therefore not particularly suitable for a cargo of cardboard boxes containing penguins. We need railings. Again the Lüderitz community joins forces and within a mere 20 minutes a company donates plastic fish crates to act as railings. Perfect. As the sun sets over the sea, the penguins are packed securely on the truck and we wave Venessa and the 129 penguins goodbye. I am exhausted, but don’t sleep well that night. Will the penguins survive the journey?

21 April: Finally. Venessa phones in the late afternoon. All penguins have arrived alive!!! After 20 long hours on the road, covering 1300 km, the penguins were greeted in Cape Town by an excited gathering of press and penguin lovers. Upon arrival, each penguin received rehydration fluids and fish and was given time to rest and regroup. Tonight I will sleep.


30 April: Life is almost back to normal. We received a few more lightly oiled penguins since the truck left, bringing our final total to 171 penguins. Unfortunately six penguins died during rehabilitation from a variety of ailments, but the others are doing well. We still have no idea where the oil came from, despite several searches by the patrol plane and various vessels. From the smell, colour and texture it was probably heavy bunker oil, most likely from a large vessel passing through Namibian waters.


21 May: The first penguins are ready for release. Large crowds gather to witness the release of 76 penguins from Namibia at Cape Town’s Derdesteen beach, opposite the famous Robben Island. Each penguin sports a spot of bright pink dye on its chest to make it easier for us to monitor their return to the Namibian islands. Almost concurrently, another sizable crowd makes their way to Guano Bay to release the first group of 20 penguins from the Lüderitz facility. We watch the penguins walk into the sea in a tight group and see them swimming directly towards Halifax Island. I am overcome by a combination of goosebumps, lump in throat and pure elation. More penguins will be released over the next few weeks in Cape Town and Lüderitz, as soon as they are fit and waterproof.

9 June: Excited phone call from Mercury Island. The first penguin with a pink spot has arrived back at Mercury Island last night. The penguin, with the band number A10885 and subsequently dubbed “Frankie” after the famous Namibian sprinter, made the monster journey back in a mere 14 days. Frankie was still seen on a beach on Robben Island on 25 May, probably enjoying his first days of freedom and finding his bearings. This means that Frankie swam a whopping 72 km every day for two weeks to get back. Penguins are such incredible animals.


31 August: The pink brigade is slowly returning. Of the 17 pink penguins we have seen so far back at our islands, three are already breeding again, and we see more of our rehabilitated penguins arriving almost every day. It looks like the hard work and sleepless nights have been worth the effort and I am glad that this is finally over.

A final word: This rescue effort would not have been nearly as successful if it had not been for the help we received from a range of individuals and institutions. I would need several pages to list everybody, so will only mention a few here. I am immensely grateful to SANCCOB who cared for most of the penguins affected by this oil spill, and who carried the considerable expense that went with it. A big thank you goes to NACOMA; without your prompt and generous support we would not have been able to pull off this historic cross-border evacuation. Marco Fishing kindly gave us large amounts of sardines to feed our gluttonous penguins with in Lüderitz. Numerous individuals and institutions across Namibia donated money, with which we were able to buy other essential equipment, from vitamin supplements to buckets. My colleagues at MFMR in Lüderitz and on the islands are thanked for their hard work and unfailing support. And lastly, I would like to extend my sincerest appreciation to the Lüderitz community who contributed so much in so many ways.

The ocean off Namibia has been severely affected by overfishing in the last few decades. As a result, marine research has largely focused on commercially important fish species and those factors thought to impact thereon and the cetacean fauna has been largely overlooked. There are three dolphin species commonly found in Namibian coastal waters, namely the Heaviside’s, dusky and bottlenose dolphins. As well as prey depletion from overfishing, potential threats to the dolphin populations include bycatch in fishing nets, pollution, uncontrolled eco-tourism and coastal development changing the nature of their environment. Currently there is very little data available on the ecology of these species and baseline data on the abundance, movements, habitat choice of all the coastal delphinid species of Namibia are urgently needed to be able to assess their conservation status. Of principal concern is the Heaviside’s dolphin which is endemic to the Benguela current region.

The Namibian Dolphin Project is a study of the ecology of the three dolphin species and is being run by Simon Elwen (University of Pretoria) and Ruth Leeney (Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies) who are working closely with the Ministry of Fisheries, Namibian NGOs and the local community, particularly the commercial marine-tour operators. This project is funded by grants from international and local agencies including the Rufford Small Grants Foundation, the British Ecological Society, NACOMA and the Nedbank Go Green fund. The principle study site is in the Walvis Bay region as it is the largest area of human coastal habitation in Namibia, and thus the area where human threats to the dolphin populations are likely to the highest, but comparative data is now being collected in Lüderitz as well.

The aim of the project is to generate an estimate of the abundance of these populations, and investigate the habitat use and behavior of the dolphins as well as the potential human impacts in the environment. A variety of techniques are being used including photographically identifying individual dolphins from natural marks and scars, which allows the team to look at individual dolphin movements and interactions and estimate the number of animals using the bay. Simultaneously, moored hydrophones continuously listen for dolphin presence in key areas, which complements the visual observations of habitat use made during daylight hours. Initial results from the 2008 pilot study have revealed clear differences between the bottlenose and Heaviside's dolphin populations in Walvis Bay. The bottlenose dolphin population is small (less than 100) and predominantly use the inshore environment along the open coast and the bay itself where they are regularly seen feeding. The population of Heaviside's dolphins is much larger (several hundred to a thousand) and mostly aggregate at the tip of the bay or are scattered further from shore. These are only preliminary results and much more work is needed to confirm the abundance estimates and look at how habitat use varies seasonally. The Namibian Dolphin Project is also working closely with Coastal Environment Trust in Namibia (CETN), Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources and NACOMA project to reinvigorate the strandings network, to train people who will be able to assist in rescue and data collection from stranded whales, dolphins and turtles.

For more information on this project, you can consult the following website:
http://namibiandolphinproject.blogspot.com

30th September 2008, 9h00, Rod Braby and I find ourselves sitting in the old Cessna 172 known as “Alpha Alpha Mike” on the Lüderitz Airstrip. The weather is perfect, very good visibility, no sand storm, no fog… rare combination in these parts. After all, this is the windiest place in southern Africa and this coast is renowned for its dense fog. Wind and fog are unfortunately not conducive to fly AAM along the coast. While Rod goes through the pre-flight check list, I also recite in my mind my own check list… camera; lenses; batteries; GPS; cool drinks, note-book… “Clear prop” and the engine coughs once and starts. Final checks, announcing our imminent take-off on the radio (which remains unanswered… Lüderitz airport is deserted at this time of the day) and we taxi down the runway towards the wall of sand dunes which marks the beginning of the great sand-sea of the central Namib desert.

Strange settings admittedly when one considers what brings us here, two “coastodians” in a small aircraft on this desert airstrip… an attempt to answer the following question: Are southern right whales (finally) returning to Namibian waters after a century and a half?

Two minutes later, as we take-off, everything becomes clear. We gain altitude over the ghost town of Kolmanskop, and the valley reveals the old diamond diggings which started a century ago in this very place, the town of Lüderitz becomes visible to the west and beyond the Felsenkirche on the rock, the bay and the ocean. At 9h17, six minutes only after take-off the first whales are spotted, two adults in the bay. My finger points down, “two, right there!” my voice drowned in the roar of the engine… but no words are needed. Rod acknowledges with a smile and immediately banks the aircraft, 20 degrees of flaps, reduced speed, drop altitude to 300 ft, checks the direction of the sun glare. On my side I open the custom made porthole next to my face in the Perspex window, camera settings checked again… Precision flying and perfect team coordination comes into play at once. From his side Rod cannot see the whales anymore, but we have practiced this aerial ballet many times before in the past ten years, and while banking ever steeply and turning tightly, the whales appear in the view-finder of the camera… a good day has started.

Three species of right whales are recognized, one in the northern Pacific Ocean, one in the north Atlantic and one in the southern hemisphere, the southern right whale: Eubalaena australis. All three species were decimated by early whalers to the brink of extinction. Right whales were the right whales to hunt. They migrate from sub-polar waters to temperate coastal areas to breed in winter and were therefore easy to find. They are large, fairly slow swimmers and usually floated when dead, therefore easy to strike (with hand-held harpoons in those days) and easy to retrieve. They had a high commercial value, giving the highest oil yields and the best baleen.

Already in the early 17th century, Basque whalers were exploiting southern right whales off Brazil, but large-scale exploitation started during the second half of the 18th century when American, British and French whalers started operating in the southern hemisphere. At the peak of the exploitation, all populations throughout the southern hemisphere were being depleted at a fast rate with between 125 and 151 thousand whales killed between 1770 and 1850. By then there were less than 5000 left globally (out of an original population of between 55 and 70 thousand!) and all known populations were severely depleted in the late 1800s when industrial modern whaling started with steamers and cannon harpoons. The whaling industry then turned to other species and extended its operations into Antarctic waters, but right whales were still valuable and killed whenever they were encountered. In 1920, at its lowest point, the total population of southern right whales could have been as low as 300 animals (which amounts to a reduction of 99.5% of the original population!). Right whales were so close to extinction at this time that an international agreement under the League of Nations was signed in 1931 for their conservation (and was implemented as from 1935), a first in history; but almost too late.

In southern Africa, winter breeding concentrations of right whales were well known from the whalers, from the south coast of South Africa, along the west coast and the Namibian coast up to Baia dos Tigres in southern Angola, including, of course, Walvis Bay which probably derived its name from that era. Between 1788 and 1803, at least 3720 right whales were killed off Walvis Bay alone. Locally, like in the rest of the world, catches were already in sharp decline by the beginning of the 19th century. By the mid-19th century, whaling for migrating humpback whales developed along our coast, but hardly any right whales were left by then. With the advent of modern whaling, several whaling stations were established along our coast and operated between 1912 and 1930. The last recorded right whale in the region was killed in 1913 off southern Angola and for the next half century it seemed like the Namibian right whale population had become extinct before the species was granted international protection.

This species was arguably the first Namibian marine resource to be commercially exploited… and heavily over-exploited until rapid local extinction.

The southern right whale is one of the large baleen whales, reaching 17m in length and one of the heaviest, probably reaching around 100t. At birth the calves are between 4.5 and 6m in length. They lack a dorsal fin and have characteristic callosities on the head. Most animals are predominantly black with irregular white marks on the belly. Some individuals however have white blazes or grey markings on the body, and some are even predominantly light coloured with irregular black marks and spots. All these natural marks as well as the pattern of callosities on the head and the top jaw (rostrum) are extremely valuable for researchers as they allow individual identification in the same ways as fingerprints can be used for humans.

Are southern right whales recovering?

In 2000 the worldwide total population of southern right whales was estimated at around 7500 individuals. Although still heavily depleted, the species as a whole is showing encouraging increasing trends in several parts of its range. Because the species now enjoys international protection and the main populations are adequately monitored, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), in its latest revision in 2008 has removed the southern right whale from its list of species endangered of extinction. So worldwide the species is recovering, but the present total population is still only 10% of the original estimate of the beginning of the 18th century and that after nearly a quarter of a century since the League of Nation awarded it total worldwide protection.

Along the south coast of South Africa, a small remnant breeding population has been reported during the first half of the 20th century and has been increasing since but no modern record of this species in Namibian waters could be found until the early 1970s.

Although it is impossible to assess a population trend from incidental sightings, the numbers indicate that things are happening at last in Namibian waters: Three sightings (4 animals) were reported in the 1970s, five sightings (7 animals) in the 1980s, and 28 sightings (46 animals) in the 1990s. Since 2000 more than 80 sightings have been reported so far, involving more than 150 animals! More significant even, is that since a calf was born in Elizabeth Bay (40 km south of Lüderitz) in September 1996, newborn calves have been seen every year. As right whale females are philopatric, tending to return every three years or so to the same coastal area to give birth, these observations indicate that since the mid-1990s there is a small breeding population using Namibian waters every winter.

However, many questions remain unanswered about our local population:
      How many right whales compose the Namibian population and what is the trend?
      Is this breeding population an offshoot of the growing South African one or is it an independent       isolated group?
      What is the degree of mixing between those two breeding populations, if any?
      What are the basic demographic parameters of this population (age at first breeding, calving       interval, survival etc…)?
      Why did it take so long for right whales to return to Namibia? (If it is indeed an isolated population,       was this delay a result of the illegal whaling taking place in the south Atlantic in the 1960s and       1970s?)
      What is its preferred habitat during the breeding season along the Namibian coast?
      What are the threats that this tiny population is facing at present (and in the near future)?

In the hope of finding elements of answers to these we need detailed long-term data (and particularly data on individual whales) collected in a systematic way over many years. And this is exactly what Rod and I have been doing for two solid days, cramped in the little cockpit of the Cessna, staring at the surface of the ocean for hours, cameras at the ready. At this time of the year other teams are doing the same in light aircrafts or helicopters in Argentina, Uruguay, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in search of answers to the same questions for the different sub-populations of this species.

After two days and around 12 hours of surveying we had covered nearly 650 km of coastline in duplicate and sighted and photographed 22 whales (some of these were seen on both days in Lüderitz Bay). This proved to be the most successful survey so far and the amount of information gathered will prove invaluable to the understanding of this population for years to come. The tedious process of indexing hundreds of new photographs and matching them with identification photos taken in the past years has been started. Together with whales photographed from boats earlier in the season we have added more than 20 individuals to our catalogue of individually identified right whales frequenting Namibian waters. The next step will be to compare our Namibian catalogue with the South African one to check how many of “our” whales are in common between the two populations and getting some information of the movements between the two.

From our vantage point in the small aircraft I cannot help but think of how much the whales’ habitat has changed since the time before they were overexploited and how many new threats are now facing this tiny population. From here at an altitude of a thousand feet some of these changes are so obvious. The coastline of southern Namibia has been extensively modified in the last century by diamond mining operations; the coastline itself has been pushed back, impinging on the whales’ original breeding habitat. Mining plant effluents are discharged in the sea resulting in heavy and permanent sediment loads near the coast. In recent years these operations have increased in the sea itself with numerous mining vessels moored in the migratory path of the whales, increasing sediment loads, risks of entanglement as well as marine noise. Less than a year ago a right whale got entangled in an unattended mooring line of one such vessel, demonstrating that such threats are real despite the small size of the population.

As we approach Lüderitz at the end of the long flight new threats come into view. The bay which used to be a prime breeding habitat for the whales is now largely occupied by mariculture operations with a tangle of polyprop ropes and mooring lines. The port has become a busy harbour with a constant buzz of diesel engines, many fishing and mining vessels calling in every day and large, fast container vessels cruising in and out. Shipping traffic along the east coast of northern America has resulted in a large incidence of ship-strikes killing and injuring whales to such an extent that the North Atlantic right whale is now critically endangered despite complete protection from whaling.

Other threats are more insidious and not so visible but unfortunately also on the increase along the Namibian coast. While the oceans were very quiet places two centuries ago, this is not true today. With few individuals left, large whales are even more dependent today on their ability to communicate at long distance. As we were searching for whales this season, two different marine seismic surveys were starting off the Namibian coast prospecting for oil and gas deposits. These types of surveys, together with the increase in shipping and marine mining activities and the use of sonar add to the noise levels at sea to such an extent that it interferes with cetacean communication and navigation. Marine pollution and littering (from rubbish thrown overboard as well as discarded or lost fishing gear) are also increasing in our region. Incidences of whales getting entangled in rock lobster fishing traps and long-lines offshore were reported in the last few years.

Are we going to live to see a healthy right whale population off Namibia? Will our children be able to enjoy the thrill of seeing these giants rise to the surface and hear the thunderous blows at close range? Will marine ecotourism contribute significantly to the economy of the region? The future of this tiny whale population will depend on our ability to mitigate those threats, make people aware of our natural treasures and drive the developments along our coast along the sustainable path. NACOMA has facilitated the design of our first Namibian MPA (Marine Protected Area) which, once proclaimed, will cover a large part of the right whale breeding grounds in Namibia. Careful monitoring and management of such areas could pave the way for balancing such assets as a healthy right whale population with human needs and expectations along our coast. By financing this survey, NACOMA has significantly contributed to our knowledge and understanding of this population. It is imperative that monitoring of this population is continued in future in order to assess the population trend and the effects of the potential threats and conservation efforts. The right whale, together with the endangered African penguin, Cape gannet and Bank cormorant, is one of the flagship species that will symbolize in future our success or failure to live in harmony with our coastal natural environment.

Information from:
      - Best P.B. 2007. Whales and Dolphins of the Southern African Subregion. Cambridge University       Press 338pp.
      - Best P.B., Bannister J.L., Brownel R.L. and Donovan G.P. (Eds). 2001. Right Whales: Worldwide       Status. J. Cetacean Research and Management; Special Issue 2.  International Whaling       Commission, Cambridge UK; 309pp.
      - Jefferson T.A., Leatherwood S. and Webber M.A. 1993. Marine Mammals of the World. FAO       Species Identification Guide. UNEP – FAO. Rome. 320pp.
      - Roux J-P., Best P.B., and Stander P.E. 2001. Sightings of southern right whales (Eubalaena       australis) in Namibian waters, 1971-1999.  J. Cetacean Research and Management; Special       Issue 2. 181-185.

Acknowledgements:
Many people and organizations have helped in this research over the years, and in particular Dr P.B. Best, Des and Jen Bartlett and the Namibia Nature Foundation (for financing two aerial surveys in 1998-1999), the BENEFIT programme for financing the surveys in 2003-2006, SAMICOR for allowing us one helicopter hour in 2007, and NACOMA for the most recent aerial survey. Many people are acknowledged for sharing their sightings and photographs and in particular Mr. Rene Rossler of Sedina Tours in Lüderitz and Mr. G. Berens as well as many of my colleagues from the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources.

Namibians may largely be apathetic to global warming, its causes and effects, as they may believe this phenomenon would be the concern of developed or highly populated countries.

However, one of the most evident places where the effects of global climate change can be observed in Namibia is along its fragile coast.

The sea level has gradually been increasing over a number of years. It has risen to such an extent that Namibia will now have to recognize this and its subsequent coastal erosion as facts and act upon it in a serious way.

Unfortunately, no local statistics are available to indicate the real increase. The effects of the raising sea levels are evident by the erosion and damaged caused to the shoreline at towns and campsites.

With the rising sea level, coastal erosion will increase and this will impact seriously our environment and consequently our economy.

Sea-level rise can be a product of global warming through two main processes: thermal expansion of seawater and widespread melting of land ice. Global warming is predicted to cause significant rises in sea level over the course of the twenty-first century.

In the book Miracles of Hope, Surviving and Thriving in the 21st Century, Carole Knight writes that studies of sea level around the world show that over the past century, the global mean sea level has risen by about 12 centimetres or slightly mare than a centimeter per decade. “It is believed that this could be either due to either polar ice caps melting or to thermal expansion, whereby the upper layers of the ocean expand much like milk expands when heated, often overflowing the mug in which the cold milk was first measured.”

According to Wikipedia, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Third Assessment Report in 2001 predicted that by 2100, global warming would lead to a sea level rise of 9 to 88 cm. At that time no significant acceleration in the rate of sea level rise during the 20th century had been detected. Subsequently, Church and White found acceleration of 0.013 ± 0.006 mm/yr².

Sea levels have risen about 130 meters since the peak of the last ice age about 18,000 years ago. Most of the rise occurred before 6,000 years ago.

From 3,000 years ago to the start of the 19th century sea level was almost constant, rising at 0.1 to 0.2 mm/yr. Since 1900 the level has risen at 1 to 2 mm/yr; since 1993 satellite altimetry from TOPEX/Poseidon indicates a rate of rise of 3.1 ± 0.7 mm yr–1. Church and White (2006) found a sea-level rise from January 1870 to December 2004 of 195 mm, a 20th century rate of sea-level rise of 1.7 ± 0.3 mm per yr and a significant acceleration of sea-level rise of 0.013 ± 0.006 mm per year. If this acceleration remains constant, then the 1990 to 2100 rise would range from 280 to 340 mm.

Future sea level rise, like the recent rise, is not expected to be globally uniform. Some regions show a sea-level rise substantially more than the global average (in many cases of more than twice the average), and others a sea level fall. However, models disagree as to the likely pattern of sea level change.

Shore-based communities could face some serious problems in the next centuries. Major cities such as London and New Orleans already need storm-surge defences and would need more if sea level rose, though they also face issues such as sinking land.

The Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem along Namibia’s coast of 1 570 km is one of the world's most productive marine environments. It is at a critical location in terms of the global climate system. Its marine and coastal environments are also potentially extremely vulnerable to any future climate change or increasing variability in climate. These have obvious consequences for long-term sustainable management of the coast and marine resources.

Coastal erosion

Wave action, tidal currents, wave currents, or drainage cause coastal erosion. They wear away the land or remove beach or dune sediments by wave action. Waves, generated by storms, wind, or fast moving motor craft, cause coastal erosion, which may take the form of long-term losses of sediment and rocks, or merely the temporary redistribution of coastal sediments.  Erosion in one location may result in accretion nearby.

On rocky coasts, coastal erosion results in dramatic rock formations in areas where the coastline contains rock layers or fracture zones with different resistances to erosion. Softer areas become eroded much faster than harder ones, which typically result in landforms such as tunnels, bridges, columns, and pillars.

To see the effect of the sea level along Namibia’s coast one should make a point of observing high or spring tide.

At Swakopmund the Fisheries Research and Information Centre of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources would come under ‘attack’ during spring tide, hence a barricade of huge rocks on its west side to break the force of the waves. Next door, a popular beach bar had to move some of its structure inland to escape the lunging waves during high tides. In Vineta, a new development built next to the high tide mark, could in future have to contend with the spills or spurts due to the waves crashing into its defence wall.

At Mile 14 the ablution facilities of a campsite of Namibia Wildlife Resorts have been exposed to the might of the waves, its foundation being eroded away. Also elsewhere along the coast the damage of the rising tide can be seen, especially in sandy areas. At Sandwich Harbour it seems that the old fossil reed beds to the north is also being affected by the rising tides.

What can Namibians do?

Surely, everyone should become much more aware of the global climate change and its causes.

It is estimated that about one trillion metric tons of carbon dioxide is dissolved into the ocean, with a colder ocean absorbing more carbon dioxide than a warmer ocean. “Global warming could result in a significant increase in the mean sea temperature with more carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere and less carbon dioxide being dissolved, which in turn would increase the greenhouse effect in a feedback cycle.” (From the Miracles of Hope, Surviving and Thriving in the 21st Century)

Namibia should voice its concern and opinion at all international fronts, with the overall aim of decreasing carbon emissions and all its effects. We should all become part of this international debate. The global climate ‘game’ is being played on our doorstep and disturbances to the global elsewhere may be spilling over to us in a major way, some or other time.

Another step for Namibia would be to monitor the morphology of our coast, sea level raises, the effects thereof and coastal land uses over the long term. The accretion of sand at places on the coast due to erosion at other places also needs to be studied. The effect of silts no longer being washed down in the ephemeral rivers due to upstream dams or below normal rainy seasons, could also have an effect on the geomorphology of the coast.

Property or mining developments should from now consider constructing buildings and structures at a safe distance from possible future sea levels.

Should you wish to contribute to this topic by just voicing your opinion or to make a constructive contribution, the NACOMA Project invites you to send an e-mail to: ncadot@nacoma.org.na

There is more to the dune belt between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund than meets the eye. These countless heaps of sand and plains harbour a variety of natural life, where man, as a guest should tread softly and with respect.

If viewed from different perspectives, the value and significance of this ecologically sensitive area should be appreciated much more in terms of conservation, utilization, its aesthetics and geology.

On a satellite image the dune area appears quite insignificant compared to the Namib Sand Sea between Lüderitz and Kuiseb River, covering an area of 100 - 150 km in width and 400 km in length.

If one digs for geological reasons, the occurrence of the dune belt, 30 km long and about 8 km in breadth, will trigger your amazement and curiosity.

Satellite images show the Namib Sand Sea to stop on the southern banks of the Kuiseb River. The Kuiseb River originates in the mountainous Khomas Hochland, runs westward over a distance of 300 km and disappears into the sands of the Namib, a few kilometers east of Walvis Bay. On its northern banks the desert continues as plains covered with gravel and thin layers of sand.

Would there be any connection between the Namib Sand Sea and the small and narrow dune belt between Swakop and Walvis? It would appear not since they are clearly divided by gravel plains.

However, the dune belt is actually a ‘branch’ of the Namib Sand Sea south of the Kuiseb River.

The Namib Desert was formed five million years ago. The formation of the dunes of this desert started about two million years ago and continues unabated until today.

According to Nicole Grünert in her book, Namibia, Fascination of Geology (A Travel Handbook), the reason for Namib Sand Sea advancing northwards can be found in the dryness of the lower course of the Kuiseb River. Contrary to former times, its floods during rainy seasons now vanishes into the sand, “so far upstream, that some very mobile barchan dunes were able to cross the river in the immediate vicinity of the coast”.

“These permanently shifting dunes were forced onwards by strong south-west winds and grow by further sand supply from transverse dunes along the coast, thus spreading adjacent to the coastal B2 road as far as the southern banks of the Swakop River. The existing sand masses in the bed of the Kuiseb are already so huge, that even the volume of water in the good rain year in 1997 was not able to break through these barriers. Due to the enormous amounts of water in the 2000 rainy season, the Kuiseb managed to break through to the Atlantic for the first time in about 50 years.”

The Kuiseb’s waters infiltrated down in a silted up delta some kilometers off the coast up to this time. “The dunes, however, shift irresistibly northwards and are only stopped by the Swakop. This river serves as an impregnable barrier for the sand masses, as in good rainy seasons it reaches the sea, flushing the stand out of its bed. Although this happens quite seldom, the sporadic floods are sufficient to stop the dunes from extending further north. If this ephemeral river, however, does not reach the sea anymore due to increasing dryness, the dune fields in the future will extend across into the town of Swakopmund, Grünert writes.”

Activities in the Swakop River, such as the mining of sand, could impede the natural flow of water and perhaps restrict it to reach the coast.

North of the Swakop the Namib is essentially sand-free. A new dune belt is found in the vicinity of Torra Bay in the Skeleton Coast Park, which extends as a strip northwards into Angola.

Walvis Bay, as Namibia’s biggest seaport, accommodates and facilitates various important industrial and economic activities for itself and the hinterland, while Swakopmund serves as one of the country’s major important tourist destinations.

In between, the dune belt has to live up to many expectations due to its excellent position for tourism and recreational opportunities these days. Tourists don’t have to drive as far as Sossusvlei to view large dunes. Dune 7 near Walvis Bay is a huge enough exponent and together with the variety of activities and amenities the coast provides so much entertainment.

This dune area provides for off-road driving, sand boarding, sand skiing, paragliding, ballooning, land sailing, hiking and picnics. Tour and quad bike operators keep to special demarcated areas, ensuring that the desert ecosystem is not harmed by recreational activities.

It is when you ‘scratch’ the surface of the dunes that you discover the real life. The dune belt accommodates a whole food chain. A variety of desert creatures live from the organic matter of plants and animal, blown there from the inland by the east wind, as well as moisture provided by the fog rolling inland from the sea.

It is here that you will find the diminutive web-footed Palmato Gecko, the Shovel Snouted Lizard, the Namaqua Chameleon, the Fitzsimons Burrowing Skink, Sidewinder, Fog Basking Beetle and the White Spider. Among the intriguing fauna is the succulent – dollar bush. Water flows from its fleshy leaves when broken.

The rare and endemic minute bird, the Damara Tern, breeds in sandy areas near the shore where they feed. Their breeding colonies sometimes are found up to eight kilometers inland and also in the gravel plains between the dunes. This is to avoid predators such as brown hyena and black-backed jackal, which look for food along the beaches. (Please read more about this bird and other Flora and Fauna on the webpage Fauna & Flora on this website.)

As the majestic dunes, its gravel plains, the Kuiseb and Swakop rivers have become major tourist attractions and playgrounds for leisure seekers and holidaymakers this area should be harnessed as a piece of gold.

Care and conservation of the dune belt have become increasingly important due to some off-road drivers who wander outside the specially demarcated areas and subsequently thrash the natural life.

The total area between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, which includes the dune belt as well as the Kuiseb Delta, is set to become a protected area. It will either be established as a park on its own or be incorporated into the Namib Naukluft Park.

This, however, does not imply that the different activities in the dune area as well on the beach areas will be stopped. The area will be demarcated properly for different uses and the relevant laws and regulations will be processed under the new Environmental Act and the Park and Wildlife Management Bill.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism already started with stricter and successful law enforcement and monitoring, as was experienced during the past Easter Weekend in March.

Consultants appointed by the NACOMA Project should recommend land uses from the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) carried out for the Erongo and Kunene region coastal zones. They will start working in April and target the Namib Naukluft Park, the Skeleton Coast Park, the Walvis Bay Nature Reserve and the National West Coast Recreation area (NWCRA).

The protection status of the NWCRA will be increased a national park where the same measures as intended for the area between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund will apply.

The consultants will work closely with all stakeholders and do the following:

Government will apply different means such as concessions and a permit system to allow people to utilize and manage different land zones within this area.

More information on the research and recommendations regarding the land-uses of the different areas, and specifically regarding the dune belt, will be posted on NACOMA’s website and be announced in the mass media.

Man remains nature’s worst foe. Vehicle tracks, which crisscrossed the gravel plains and the conservation dune areas between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund and defaced the beach areas in the National West Coast Tourist Recreational Area during the past holiday recess, testified that off-road driving was out of control.

Offenders drove into the no-go lichen area northwest of Wlotzakasbaken, into bird breeding areas and over vegetation. Numerous vehicles tracks were visible northwards up to the Ugab river mouth.

The aesthetic value and natural assets of this once pristine coast are under severe threat and strong action against the demise of the coastal zone should be taken sooner than later.

An aerial survey undertaken by the NACOMA Project and the Coastal Contingency Management Committee along the coast on 10 and 11 January indicated that off-road vehicle damage has been the worst in years. Patterns carved into the sand from above looked in spots like fairy circles while on the contrary they represent indelible lines drawn by a marker across a beautiful and costly painting.

It was estimated that up to 2 000 quad bikes could have been operating along the coast during the holiday season. The many circles or ‘dough nuts’ all over the coastal area were damaging evidence against their drivers. Also the countless tracks of 4x4 vehicles to and on the beach areas emphasized that their drivers did not pay heed to requests to stay on well-used vehicle tracks and not to drive on the beaches in secluded areas.

A comprehensive information campaign by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), the coastal authorities, tourism organizations and the Namibia Coast Conservation and Management (NACOMA) Project prior to the holiday season, seemed to have elicited limited or no behavioural change from off-road vehicle drivers. The campaign included pamphlets handed out at roadblocks, media articles, radio and TV interviews, workshops and various meetings.

The net result was that the aesthetic value has been degraded and more flora and fauna have come under severe pressure.

Government, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET), NACOMA and its stakeholders have now reached the end of the road.  The present state of affairs cannot be tolerated anymore.  A meeting convened by NACOMA and MET on 30 January at Swakopmund decided that Government would through the Ministry of Environment and Tourism ensure that proper and effective means are implemented to end the destructive behaviour and to safeguard the sensitive coastal areas for once and for all.

The Ministry in consultation with the NACOMA Project and its stakeholders has decided to carry out the following actions:

By implementing the above measures the Ministry of Environment and Tourism strongly believes that it will be in possession of the legislation and means to manage the respective areas more efficiently and effectively. The current lack of appropriate land tenure has necessitated the proclamation of the areas to become national parks.

It is hoped that these measures will be finalized by June 2008 and be implemented fully before the end-of-the-year holiday season.

The Ministry will in the meantime ensure that sufficient staff members will join the local MET staff at the coast during upcoming peak holiday periods such as Easter weekend to carry out the necessary law enforcement.

MET will shortly issue a statement to officially announce the above actions and measures.

MET would like to appoint honorary nature conservators to assist its staff at the coast. NACOMA, on behalf of MET, requests stakeholders at the coast to submit the names and particulars of people who could be appointed as honorary nature conservators. They will be empowered to enforce the existing and new legislation.

It remains the approach of NACOMA as well as that of Government, on behalf of whom the project acts, to consult all stakeholders. NACOMA wishes to invite individuals and interest groups to get into contact with its office in Swakopmund.

Inputs can also be made during the regular meetings of the Contingency Management Committee, which consists of MET, NACOMA, the Erongo Regional Council, the municipalities of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, the Namibian Police, the Roads Authority, various tourism organizations and interest groups.

Also further communication opportunities such as the second round of White Paper meetings to take place during February and March in the coastal regions of Kunene, Erongo, Hardap and Karas should be utilized.

NACOMA is during its lifetime committed to address root causes of biodiversity loss and coastal degradation. It wishes to address the sustainability of the environmental and economic potential of the coast through the mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation and sustainable use into coastal policy, legislative framework, and institutional and technical capacity. Targeted investments for biodiversity conservation in critical ecosystems on the coast are also supported.

The contact details of the project appear on this website under the heading Project Team.

We would like that you remember that we live in the Namib Desert and that drought is a natural occurrence in Namibia!!! For our future and the future of our children, start by not ever wasting water. We present you here some hints:

Yes, there are many other ways to be thoughtful and considerate to our fragile earth. Our population is growing exponentially and our resources dwindling and temperatures souring. We need to ensure to invest in our children and not have more children than we can cope with. We also need to set an example to our children and practice what we preach.

We need to only buy goods with minimal packaging and try to reuse our plastic bags or better still use a cloth reusable shopping bag, this will significantly reduce your waste load. Remember that at present the municipal dump sites are not too well managed and your discarded plastic aided by the wind could contribute to the demise of some poor animal and lead to tourists deciding not to return to the littered country Namibia!

Every individual’s contribution to reducing carbon emissions makes a difference to our collective wellbeing. Each one of us can walk or use our bicycles more, only use cars when absolutely necessary. Ensure that your car tires are well inflated and your engine well serviced, this reduces fuel consumption and reduces Co2 emissions. Please bring your litter home and recycle as much as possible also use energy saving bulbs!

Also remember that in the Namib Desert vehicle tracks can last a lifetime and are often regarded as the worst form of pollution. Tread softly on the desert substrates remaining on well used tracks and better still stay on roads. When driving on beaches or on sand dunes, try to remain on the hard surfaces between tides that washes away or on the windward side of the dunes. Remember that most of the life in the dunes lives on the slip faces, and on the beaches the areas between the high tide mark and the vegetation hummocks has breeding plovers or terns. Many other animals also live in this splash zone. Do not race around but drive slowly, you see more and have the chance of avoiding juvenile birds and other small reptiles or animals. The environment is sustaining us respect it and work with it not against it. It has taken millions of years for plants and animals to survive on this coastline, humans have only inhabited the coast permanently very recently, before that we were nomadic only spending short periods of time here. We are extracting more water from our aquifers than is sustainable, desalination comes with its own set of problems although the technology if improving. The rise in temperatures in the desert and the increase in irresponsible off road vehicle traffic is systematically leading to the destruction of the soil binding lichens (Lecidella sp.) this in turn is leading to an increase in the volume of loose silt and sand that strong winds can transport. We have experienced an increase in extreme wind events so prepare for more intense dust storms especially now with the increase in mining and prospecting activities.

These are just a few thoughts. Please give something back to the earth and feel good about it! Christmas is a time of giving the more you give the more you will get!

Following the annual Ocean Conservancy initiative (http://www.oceanconservancy.org) for a global coastal clean-up, Swakopmund schools guided by the Swakopmund Municipality's Berdine Potgieter and Clive Lawrence joined the party on the 15th of September 2007. Every year, on this date over 100 coastal countries participate with over 500,000 volunteers removing marine litter from over 21,000 kilometres of coastline.

A group of 70 school kids from various schools in Swakopmund offered their services to the community to clean the Swakopmund beaches of litter. Many bags of litter were collected comprising mainly plastic in the form of bottles, shopping bags, caps and lids, straws, cups, glass bottles both broken and whole plus numerous other items of paper, cardboard, cement bags and other items. Very prevalent was also polystyrene food containers and cigarette buts.

There are two types of litter on our beaches, marine litter which comes from ships and land based litter coming from harbours, rubbish dumps, or irresponsible people. It has been estimated that globally about 80% of coastal litter is from land-based sources whereas the remaining 20% is from ocean-based sources. Namibia does not have the volume of shipping traffic close inshore that South Africa does nor the huge number of stormwater drains or licensed pipeline outfalls. However the ships anchored off Walvis Bay often discard litter overboard especially at night or in thick fog to avoid prosecution. During strong winds litter is blown from the harbour or the towns into the desert and then later with easterly winds into the sea.

Litter is a major threat to marine animals and birds, marine turtles ingest plastic mistaking it for jellyfish, over 300 different species worldwide of seabird, turtle, seal, sea lion, whale and fish are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion. The scale of contamination of the marine environment is immense, litter is found from equator to pole, in the Pacific Ocean there is a litter gyre the size of the African continent where plastic has accumulated sometimes up to 20 metres in depth. Plastic forms 90% of floating marine debri. It is an environmental, economic, cultural, health and aesthetic problem.

During July 2004 an extensive litter survey was conducted between Walvis Bay and Henties Bay where the coastal litter problem persists. As can be seen by the table below the most prevalent litter items are glass and plastic, the measurements are given in kilograms. The litter was collected by volunteers from the Namibian Surfing Association supported by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism.

Figure 3: Beach litter between Walvis Bay and Henties Bay in July 2004

To address the problem attitudes, behaviours and management approaches need to be addressed requiring the involvement of everyone. We all have a role to play, by building awareness of the damage done by litter to our seas and their wildlife including people depending on the marine and coastal environment for their survival. Now is the time to act!

Source of information:
Pocket Guide to Marine Debris, South African Coastal Information Centre - Education & Awareness
http://sacoast.uwc.ac.za/education/educindex.htm

The Erongo Region in Namibia is experiencing a boom in uranium mining as a result of the phenomenal increase in the price of the commodity. Low-grade deposits have become viable, and the investment regime in Namibia has made the country an attractive investment haven for many mining companies, the vast majority foreign and junior companies. These companies are free of the (usually) strict control of mining activities in their home countries which require consideration of post-mining closure and of cumulative impacts. A consequence of this is development that compromises the natural environment and undermines the creation of sustainable economies in local communities.

Figure 1: Uranium prices (source: InfoMine, 2007)

The closure of one substantial mine, like Rössing Uranium, would have a serious impact on the local economy, but the growing eco-tourism sector could generate alternative livelihoods. The real danger lies in the closure of a group of mines close together in both time and space (always a possibility with volatile global commodity prices – see Figure 1). The existing and developing mines in the region are within 100 km of each other and have expected minimum mine lives of around 10 years (see the map of uranium occurrences in Erongo shown in Figure 2). Should commodity prices experience a sustained collapse, large-scale, simultaneous closure could occur, leaving thousands of people destitute. Variable quality of mine closure planning at some sites could also result in extensive environmental liabilities on early closure, burdening the state and resulting in destruction of the sensitive desert ecosystem that is the foundation of the region’s eco-tourism industry.

Figure 2: Uranium occurrences in the Central Namib part of Erongo Region

Overview of Rössing Uranium Mine - Arandis (© Rössing Uranium Mine)

While there is much public debate around environmental impacts of uranium mines, such impacts are not radically different from those associated with other metal mines and, in many low grade mines, radiation levels are close to the public exposure limit of 1 mS/a. This not-withstanding, large scale mining in sensitive desert environments requires comprehensive environmental and social management plans, which should ideally address cumulative impacts.

In Southern African countries a broader framework for sustainable development is frequently absent. Under these conditions cooperation and collaboration between developers (in this case mining companies) is essential.

It is no longer feasible to assess potential impacts on the basis of a single operation, nor can cumulative impacts be assessed on the basis on one operation’s activity. A piece-meal and uncoordinated approach to sustainable development will not result in sustainable growth, effective protection of fragile ecosystems or the conservation of scarce water resources.

The cumulative benefits of employment of the new mines, and extensions to existing ones, will be in excess of 1,000 jobs – conservatively, 6,000 livelihoods. These benefits can be destroyed more quickly than they were created unless strategic avoidance or mitigating measures are established as a matter of urgency. Measures to address the cumulative socio-economic impacts of mining closure cannot be successful if adopted by one mining company. Decisions and actions must be aligned with each other and with national, regional and local development plans. This requires a multi-stakeholder forum to establish guidelines for social and community engagement and it must include all mining companies operating in the Erongo Region, as the unsustainable practices of one company can bring the entire industry into disrepute and undo the potential benefits of mineral exploration.

During the consultative process preceding the granting of a mining license, the vast majority of stakeholder groups raise questions around water: how much is the mine going to use? Where will it come from? How will groundwater pollution be prevented? What are the implications of mining requirements for other users? What programmes do mines have for water-use reduction? Desalination is clearly the only way of avoiding a critical shortage of water, but other concerns around this development include a proliferation of desalination plants along the coast, pipelines across valuable ecosystems and in protected areas and national parks and the impacts on marine systems. Concerns are also expressed about the requirements for additional electricity and the associated infrastructure required to supply it. These questions are best addressed collectively by the broader industry, working closely with government.

Marie Hoadley & Daniel Limpitlaw

Reference: InfoMine (2007) Uranium Prices, http://www.infomine.com/investment/metalschart.asp, accessed 09/2007.

For more information about the uranium mining sector in Namibia, consult the following websites:
- Update on new uranium mining projects in Namibia: http://www.wise-uranium.org/upna.html
- Rössing Uranium: http://www.rossing.com
- UraMin: http://www.uramin.com
- Langer Heinrich Uranium mine: http://www.lhupl.com

For more information about Rössing Uranium Mine expansion and the construction of a desalination plant for UraMin, you can download the following documents: