Cape Receife to Bird Island

Recently I joined Rainer from Ocean Messengers on a flight over Cape Receife to Bird Island in a quest to see if we could spot the start of the Sardine Run in Algoa Bay.

Rainer had spotted the sardine run off of the Tsitsikamma coast 3 weeks before and reckoned we could start seeing the sardine run here soon.

Our flight took us out towards Cape St Francis and back along the Rij Banks towards Bird Island before swinging back home.

Flying at an average of 900 feet above the ocean we spotted many ships – oil, manganese and fishing boats, two brydes whales, gannets, Marine and Coastal Management hard at work, but no sardines and no dolphins.

But, all was not lost as I gathered a number of images and present a little bit of information about each of the areas featured in the image gallery below.

Bird Island	Cape Receife	Kapodistrias
NMMU South Campus	SAMREC	Seal Island

Cape Receife:

The 366 hectare Cape Recife Nature Reserve was proclaimed in 1973, and is situated next to the Pine Lodge Holiday Resort off Marine Drive, Summerstrand. A 9 km circular walking trail, the Trail of the Roseate Tern, starts at the entrance gate of the Nature Reserve and offers beautiful unspoilt beaches, natural dune vegetation, rocky outcrops, the Cape Receife lighthouse, an old military observation post, as well as a bird hide. The Reserve is also regarded as one of the best bird-watching venues around Port Elizabeth.

From the beach waves can be seen breaking over Thunderbolt reef, the graveyard of numerous ships, the last being the Kapodistrias on 29th July 1985. On 29th July 1985 the Kapodistrias ran aground in calm weather on the eastern side of Thunderbolt reef just after leaving the Port Elizabeth harbour. She was a 29 000 ton Greek bulk carrier conveying manganese ore, zirconium sand and sugar.

The remains of World War two barracks, erected in 1940 as part of the harbour defenses can also be seen within the reserve.

Entrance permits to Cape Receife are available from Pine Lodge Resort and at the entrance to Cape Recife Nature Reserve. Entrance is permitted with a permit only and zero tolerance for diving thus no entry with diving equipment.

Free entrance for the purpose of visiting SAMREC is available provided that proof of your visit to SAMREC is produced on exit from the Reserve.

Installed with irony on April Fool’s Day in 1851 the Cape Receife Lighthouse is now equipped with a fog signal, radio beacon, a red light and a flashing white light that shines every 30 seconds at a focal plane height of 28 meters above the high water mark. Technology has taken the light range from an original distance of 12 nautical miles to a current sighting range of 29 nautical miles with a light power of 4 000 000 Candelas.

The South African Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre (SAMREC) is to be found within Cape Receife.

In 2000, the South African Marine Rehabilitation and Education Centre (SAMREC), a non-profit organisation, was formed mainly to care for sick or injured African penguins because of their vulnerability. St Croix island in Algoa Bay now houses the biggest breeding colony of African Penguins in the world.

SAMREC moved into their new premises in the Cape Recife Nature Reserve, thanks largely to a grant from the National Lotto. They were able to design the facility from scratch specifically for sick penguins and other birds, with the architect having gone so far as to study prevailing winds so that germs and harmful grass spores would be blown away from the building. The design incorporates a huge concrete area which can accommodate 2000 birds if there is a bad oil spill, as happened in 1998 when an emergency area had to be set up at the harbour.

The Bird Island group:

In 1755, the East Indiaman Doddington was wrecked between Bird and Seal Islands whilst underway from Dover to India. She went down within 20 minutes, with only 23 of the 270 passengers and crew surviving to make it to the islands where they were marooned for seven months until one of their number, a carpenter, was able to make a boat for them. The survivors subsisted primarily on fish, birds and eggs until they were able to reach land. The ship was carrying a significant quantity of gold and silver. Bird Island was named by the survivors as they left the island to make their way to India on the sloop, named Happy Deliverance, that they had built on the island.

Although the perception that the Dodington was a treasure ship ensured that she was never forgotten, the location of the wreck itself was lost, and it wasn’t until 1977, after years of patient research, that the vessel was discovered off Bird Island by David Allen and Gerry van Niekerk. Based on archival research it took Allen only ten minutes to find the wreck once he got into the water. The discovery of a number of bronze howitzers on the site, together with other artefacts proved conclusively that the wreck was that of the Dodington.

Bird Island, Seal Island and Stag Island lie in close proximity some 40 km east of the St Croix group or 53 km due east of Port Elizabeth and 7 km from the nearest landfall at Woody Cape – and form part of the Addo Elephant National Park. Bird Island has a lighthouse, erected in 1898 after a series of wrecks in the vicinity of the island. Doddington Rock, West rock and East Reef lie just South-West of the group of islands.

The Bird Island complex comprises Black Rock, Stag, Seal and Bird Islands.

At 19 hectares, Bird Island is the largest of the Algoa Bay islands. It is relatively flat and rises to 9 m. Seal Island is 0.6ha in size and lies 360 m north of Bird Island. Stag Island is even smaller at 0.1ha and is 320 m north-west of Bird Island. Much of the island group is covered by sparse growth of mixed vegetation dominated by the fleshy herb Mesembryanthemum (fig marigold/icicle plants). Tetragonia (Duneweed) and Chenopodium (Goosefoot) form localised thickets that provide cover for some seabirds.

14 species of seabirds, several species of shorebirds and 33 species of terrestrial birds have been recorded on the islands. These are the only islands off southern mainland Africa where Sterna dougallii (Roseate Tern) breeds regularly.

The islands are also home to 43% of the global population of the African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus), the majority of which are on St Croix. St Croix also holds a locally significant breeding population of Cape Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capensis).

Bird Island is one of only six breeding sites in the world for the Cape Gannet (Morus capensis). Larus dominicanus (the Kelp Gull) and Haematopus moquini (the African Oystercatcher) are found throughout the Algoa Bay complex. The island group is also known to hold large numbers of Sterna vittata (Antarctic Tern), which in winter roost on the island in their thousands (regularly holding between 10% and 20% of the estimated total Afrotropical non-breeding population). The island is also home to a Cape Fur Seals (Arctocephalus pusillus).

Bird Island and St. Croix Island in Algoa Bay were proclaimed as part of Addo Elephant National Park in 2005. A Marine Protected Area (MPA) was proclaimed around Bird Island to protect important marine resources such as abalone (perlemoen).

Nautical charts of the bay caution mariners that “projectiles and badly corroded mustard gas containers have been found in the area between Cape St Francis and Bird Island out to depths of 400 metres. Trawlers should exercise the greatest caution.”

The chemical weapons were dumped in the bay in the aftermath of World War II. During that conflict, Port Elizabeth was used as a research, manufacturing and storage site for Allied poison gas. The condition of the canisters and projectiles are not currently known. There is no record of any recent incidents.

Bird Island is also a popular nautical rounding point for the annual Bird Island yacht race hosted by the Algoa Bay Yacht Club. This race, The Great Circle Race, is an overnight one that takes sailors from the Harbour, around the Bird Islands, around the Bell Bouy and finishes in the harbour again. If the sailors catch the wind right they can make a fast passage. I have done the passage back from Bird Island in 4.5 hours after taking 12 hours to reach Bird Island – sailing a 27 foot boat, Cooking, we came back in over 20 knots of wind running ahead of big South Easterly swells with the biggest spinnaker up. Broaches were aplenty, soaking wet, tired and salt streaked I recall that trip as the most fun ever had with my clothes on.

Nelson Mandela Bay University (NMMU):

The Nelson Mandela Bay University has six campuses – five in Port Elizabeth and one in George. The main campus is the South Campus which boasts a towering 21-storey administration building. Students at NMMU can study towards diplomas and degrees up to and including doctoral level qualifications. Qualifications are offered in the Faculties of Arts, Business & Economic Sciences, Education, Engineering; the Built Environment & Information Technology, Health Sciences, Law and Science. A number of courses include workplace experience as part of the curriculum.

NMMU’s campuses are:

• South Campus, Summerstrand,
• North Campus, Summerstrand,
• 2nd Avenue Campus, Summerstrand,
• Missionvale Campus, Uitenhage Road
• Bird Street Campus, Central