Water-bound reserves help keep marine creatures and ecosystems safe.
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are the ‘nature reserves’ of the sea, conserving marine biodiversity to protect threatened species and ocean health. South Africa is home to 41 MPAs that play a vital role in ocean conservation. Here are some of the best.
iSimangaliso MPA
Translation: Miracles and wonder.
Location: Maputaland, KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.
Fast fact: This was South Africa’s first World Heritage Site and is South Africa’s biggest coastal MPA.
Marine life: Coelacanths, leatherback and loggerhead turtles, hard and soft corals, a myriad of reef fish, whale sharks, mantas, marlins, thresher sharks, spider crabs, sea pens, deep-water rock lobsters, and glass sponges.
This MPA, which forms part of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, is home to the rediscovered coelacanth, a fish that has existed since the dinosaurs. This is also an important nesting ground for leatherback and loggerhead turtles. The beautiful coral reefs off Sodwana are enjoyed by thousands of local and international scuba divers. The offshore waters are teeming with game fish, which attract many recreational ski-boat anglers every year. Although pelagic game fishing is permitted in zoned areas, no bottom fishing is allowed, which protects reef fish.
Pondoland MPA
Translation: Waterfall wonderland.
Location: Pondoland Coast, Eastern Cape.
Fast fact: This is South Africa’s second-largest coastal MPA.
Marine life: Many threatened and endemic linefish including red steenbras, black musselcracker, seventy-four, Scotsman, and dageraad. A unique giant kingfish aggregation. Gannets, sharks, dolphins, and whales associated with the annual sardine run.
This unique 90km stretch of the Wild Coast is home to many threatened and endemic reef fish located within the 1,237km² protected area, extending from the Mzamba River south of Port Edward to the Umzimvubu River at Port St Johns and about 10km offshore (to the 1,000m depth contour). Some of the country’s healthiest estuaries are protected within this MPA, which is characterised by rocky shores backed by grasslands and forests that form part of the Pondoland Centre of Endemism.
Tsitsikamma MPA
Nickname: The crown jewel of South African MPAs.
Location: Garden Route, on the border between the Eastern and Western Cape.
Fast fact: This is the oldest MPA in Africa.
Animal life: Roman, dageraad, red steenbras, humpback and southern right whales, bottlenose and humpback dolphins, Cape cormorants, terns, kelp gulls, oystercatchers, and Cape clawless otters.
Established in 1964, this 294km² MPA is an invaluable national asset, extending 60km from Groot Rivier East to Groot Rivier West and 5.6km out to sea. This wild coastal stretch is characterised by dramatic cliffs and rugged rocks, with forests home to ancient yellowwood trees and fynbos grasslands, all protecting endemic species of the warm temperate Agulhas Ecoregion.
De Hoop MPA
Nickname: Whale Trail.
Location: Near Cape Agulhas, Western Cape.
Fast fact: Considered to be one of the world’s prime whale-watching destinations.
Animal life: Southern right, Bryde’s, and humpback whales, bottlenose and common dolphins, important linefish including galjoen, blacktail, zebra, white musselcracker, white steenbras, dusky kob, shad, and many species of sharks and rays including great whites, smooth hammerheads, common smoothhounds, spotted gully sharks, eagle rays, and many invertebrate species.
The beautiful beaches and fynbos of this 289km² MPA make this a tourist haven, extending 48km from Witsand to Skipskop on the southern Cape coast and extending 5.6km out to sea. Considered one of the best places in the world for shore-based whale watching from May to June when southern right whales calve, up to 350 southern right whales have been recorded at one time. Migrating hammerhead sharks, mega-pods of dolphins, and flocks of Cape gannets feasting on sardines can also be seen. Intertidal rocky platforms and rocky subtidal reefs are also home to incredible marine life.
Text | Supplied
Photography | Matthieu Gallet
For more information, go to mpaday.org.
