Please note that this is a staging site.
DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.07702023
Cape fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) pup trends at breeding colonies within the proposed Sandveld Coastal Complex Protected Area Management Plan

This report focuses on the trends of Cape fur seal (Arctocephalus pusillus pusillus) pups within the proposed Sandveld Coastal Complex (SCC) Protected Area Management Plan at various breeding colonies. CapeNature is currently in the process of developing a Management Plan for the Sandveld Coastal Complex (SCC) Protected Area, in compliance with the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003 (Act No. 57 of 2003). The SCC harbors significant breeding sites for Cape fur seals at Elephant Rock, Paternoster Rocks, Penguin (Bird) Island-Lambert’s Bay, and Jacobs Rock (also known as Jacob’s Reef).

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.07592023
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Effectiveness of Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area project (2017-2021)

Intertidal rocky shores are the most accessible marine habitats and therefore heavily impacted by harvesting. In recent years, they have also been increasingly invaded by alien species, which compounds the effects of harvesting on rocky shore community composition and functioning. Recent survey data, combined with historical data from 1970, were used to assess temporal changes over the intervening period in rocky shore communities at two sites (Wireless Point and Wireless Island).

(No DOI)
State of the ocean and coasts around South Africa 2016 report card

Please note that the contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record. This report is compiled primarily by staff within the Chief Directorate: Oceans and Coasts Research that resides within the Branch: Oceans and Coasts. Contributors from outside the Department are acknowledged. The Branch maintains and seeks to grow human capacity and infrastructure in all aspects of marine sciences towards improving understanding and management of marine ecosystems. In this report, DEA provides updated information on the status of some parameters for South Africa’s oceans and coasts, ranging from chemical and physical properties to biological assessments. These have been selected as potentially-useful indicators of the change, health and management of South Africa’s marine ecosystems. The format of this report card is aimed at providing a brief overview of the research and monitoring...

(No DOI)
State of the oceans around South Africa: 2014

Please note that the contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record. A series of reports on State of the Oceans around South Africa, produced by Branch Oceans and Coasts of South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs, was introduced in December 2006. The reports initially considered environmental parameters for the purposes of establishing general principles, such as annual cycles, and long-term trends, which may provide insight into the local effects of global warming and climate change. The reports were intended to provide an overview of marine environmental conditions that prevailed during the preceding year, which may be of relevance to the management of South Africa’s marine and coastal resources and infrastructure. To this end, use was made of data from a variety of sources, including websites, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, coastal and...

(No DOI)
State of the oceans around South Africa: 2012

Please note: 1. This report has not been peer-reviewed; 2. The conditions of use outlined in the report are superseded by the conditions specified by the License field in this metadata record; 3. The contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record.This series of internal annual reports was introduced in December 2006 for purposes of establishing general principles (such as annual cycles) and long-term trends (which may provide insight into local effects of global warming and climate change). The reports are also intended to provide an overview of marine environmental conditions prevailing during the preceding year, which may be of relevance to the management of South Africa’s marine and coastal resources. To this end, use is made of data from a variety of sources, including web sites, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, coastal and moored instruments, and...

(No DOI)
State of the oceans around South Africa: December 2011

Please note: 1. This report has not been peer-reviewed; 2. The conditions of use outlined in the report are superseded by the conditions specified by the License field in this metadata record; 3. The contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record. This series of informal biannual reports was introduced in December 2006 for purposes of establishing general principles (such as annual cycles), long-term trends (which may provide insight into local effects of global warming and climate change), and to provide an overview of recent marine environmental conditions which may be of relevance to the management of South African marine resources. To this end use is made of data from a variety of sources, including web sources, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, coastal- and moored instruments and research cruises, and inherent to all of these there is an...

(No DOI)
State of the marine environment around South Africa: July 2010

Please note: 1. This report has not been peer-reviewed; 2. The conditions of use outlined in the report are superseded by the conditions specified by the License field in this metadata record; 3. The contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record. This series of informal biannual reports was introduced in December 2006 for purposes of establishing general principles (such as annual cycles), long-term trends (which may provide insight into local effects of global warming and climate change), and to provide an overview of recent marine environmental conditions which may be of relevance to the management of South African marine resources. To this end use is made of data from a variety of sources, including web sources, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, coastal- and moored instruments and research cruises, and inherent to all of these there is an...

(No DOI)
State of the marine environment off South Africa: December 2006

Please note: 1. This report has not been peer-reviewed; 2. The conditions of use outlined in the report are superseded by the conditions specified by the License field in this metadata record; 3. The contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record. This is the first in a new series of informal reports intended to provide an overview of marine environmental conditions off South Africa and it is envisaged that as from 2007 two reports will be produced per year, one in June and one in December. The current report - as will be the case with future issues - is based on data from a variety of sources, including web sources, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, MCM's coastal and moored instruments and MCM's research cruises and inherent to all of these there is an inevitable lag between the time of data capture and the time when the data first become available...

(No DOI)
State of the marine environment off South Africa: December 2007

Please note: 1. This report has not been peer-reviewed; 2. The conditions of use outlined in the report are superseded by the conditions specified by the License field in this metadata record; 3. The contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record. This is the third in a series of informal biannual reports introduced in December 2006, intended to provide an overview of marine environmental conditions off South Africa. The reports are based on data from a variety of sources, including web sources, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, MCM's coastal and moored instruments and MCM's research cruises and inherent to all of these there is an inevitable lag between the time of data capture and the time when the data first become available for use. The lags are all different. For example, wind data from the Cape Point lighthouse is updated monthly, the moored...

(No DOI)
State of the marine environment around South Africa: December 2010

Please note: 1. This report has not been peer-reviewed; 2. The conditions of use outlined in the report are superseded by the conditions specified by the License field in this metadata record; 3. The contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record. This series of informal biannual reports was introduced in December 2006 for purposes of establishing general principles (such as annual cycles), long-term trends (which may provide insight into local effects of global warming and climate change), and to provide an overview of recent marine environmental conditions which may be of relevance to the management of South African marine resources. To this end use is made of data from a variety of sources, including web sources, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, coastal- and moored instruments and research cruises, and inherent to all of these there is an...

(No DOI)
State of the marine environment off South Africa: July 2009

Please note: 1. This report has not been peer-reviewed; 2. The conditions of use outlined in the report are superseded by the conditions specified by the License field in this metadata record; 3. The contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record. This is the sixth in a series of informal biannual reports introduced in December 2006, with the intention to establish general principles (such as annual cycles), long-term trends (which may provide insight into local effects of global warming and climate change), and to provide an overview of recent marine environmental conditions which may be of relevance to the management of South African marine resources. To this end use is made of data from a variety of sources, including web sources, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, MCM's coastal- and moored instruments and MCM's research cruises, and inherent to all...

(No DOI)
State of the marine environment off South Africa: December 2008

Please note: 1. This report has not been peer-reviewed; 2. The conditions of use outlined in the report are superseded by the conditions specified by the License field in this metadata record; 3. The contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record. This is the fifth in a series of informal biannual reports introduced in December 2006, with the intention to establish general principles, such as annual cycles, long-term trends which may provide insight into local effects of global warming and climate change, and to provide an overview of recent marine environmental conditions which may be of relevance to the management of South African marine resources. To this end use is made of data from a variety of sources, including web sources, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, MCM's coastal- and moored instruments and MCM's research cruises, and inherent to all of...

(No DOI)
State of the marine environment off South Africa: July 2008

Please note: 1. This report has not been peer-reviewed; 2. The conditions of use outlined in the report are superseded by the conditions specified by the License field in this metadata record; 3. The contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record. This is the fourth in a series of informal biannual reports introduced in December 2006, intended to provide an overview of marine environmental conditions off South Africa. The reports are based on data from a variety of sources, including web sources, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, MCM's coastal and moored instruments and MCM's research cruises and inherent to all of these there is an inevitable lag between the time of data capture and the time when the data first become available for use. The lags are all different. For example, wind data from the Cape Point lighthouse is updated monthly, the moored...

(No DOI)
State of the marine environment off South Africa: July 2007

Please note: 1. This report has not been peer-reviewed; 2. The conditions of use outlined in the report are superseded by the conditions specified by the License field in this metadata record; 3. The contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record. This is the second in a new series of informal reports introduced in December 2006, intended to provide an overview of marine environmental conditions off South Africa. The reports are based on data from a variety of sources, including web sources, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, MCM's coastal and moored instruments and MCM's research cruises and inherent to all of these there is an inevitable lag between the time of data capture and the time when the data first become available for use. The lags are all different. For example, wind data from the Cape Point lighthouse is updated monthly, the moored...

(No DOI)
Annual plankton report 2017 - 2018

Please note that the contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata. This report is a collation of documents and outputs from a variety of plankton monitoring activities conducted on the west, south and east coasts of South Africa and in various parts of the Southern Ocean (during annual relief voyages to South Africa’s Antarctic and sub-Antarctic research bases) over the past financial year 2017/18. It includes pertinent (plankton-related only) sections of scientific Cruise Reports, CPR tow summaries, contributions to the State of the Oceans and Coasts around South Africa 2017 Report Card, contributions (as oral and poster presentations) to scientific conferences, symposia and workshops, and book chapters and scientific papers submitted to peer reviewed journals in various stages of the publication process.It should be noted that in most cases, the samples of plankton...

(No DOI)
No Download
Annual State of the Oceans reports

A series of reports on State of the Oceans around South Africa, produced by Branch Oceans and Coasts of South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs, was introduced in December 2006. The reports initially considered environmental parameters for the purposes of establishing general principles, such as annual cycles, and long-term trends, which may provide insight into the local effects of global warming and climate change. The reports were intended to provide an overview of marine environmental conditions that prevailed during the preceding year, which may be of relevance to the management of South Africa’s marine and coastal resources and infrastructure. To this end, use was made of data from a variety of sources, including websites, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, coastal and moored instruments, and research and monitoring cruises. Intrinsic to all of these data series is an inevitable lag between the time of sample collection or data capture and the...

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26052159
Processed Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) casts collected during the 2019 Marion Relief Voyage on SA Agulhas Voyage 036

The South African component of the international South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation project (SAMOC-SA) aims to characterise the time-mean and time-varying components of the SAMOC in the South Atlantic Ocean and monitor the variability of the main Southern Ocean frontal systems associated with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), south of Africa. The Crossroads monitoring line, directly under the altimetry track N198, is sampled annually during the Marion Relief voyages, using a combination of CTD stations and XBT casts, where the XBT casts are done, at set intervals, between CTD stations to complement the CTD data. Here we present 57 processed XBT casts collected along the Crossroads Transect, between 10 May 2019 and 14 May 2019, during the 2019 Marion Relief Voyage.

DOI: 10.15493/dea.mims.26052211
Marion Island Relief on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 036, April 2019

The 2019 Marion Relief Voyage offered the 7th opportunity to conduct multi-disciplinary, shipbased marine research focusing on links and interactions between air and sea, ocean physics, chemistry, biogeochemistry and biology, including microbial, planktic and benthic communities on board South Africa’s polar research and supply vessel MV SA Agulhas II en route to, and around, the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward archipelago. The overall aim was to continue contributing to an oceanographic observation and monitoring system directed by South African research institutions in support of South Africa’s needs – and where possible, in support of global requirements of inter alia the Global Oceans Observing System (GOOS), the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP). With the declaration on 9 April 2013 of the Prince Edward Islands (PEIs) as...

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.15142023
Marion Island Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 066, April 2025

The 2025 Marion Relief Voyage 066 offered the 13th opportunity to conduct multi-disciplinary, ship-based oceanographic research on board the SA Agulhas II en route to, from, and around, the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands (PEIs). The ship-based research was conducted as a joint multi-institutional, multidisciplinary effort with scientists, research technicians, interns and students from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment: Oceans & Coasts Research (DFFE-OCR), Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment: Specialist Monitoring Services (DFFE-SMS), Bayworld Centre for Research and Education (BCRE) and the University of Cape Town (UCT), all collaborating to achieve a variety of research and monitoring project objectives. The voyage took place between 17 April 2025 and 27 May 2025.

DOI: 10.15493/DEA.MIMS.15162023
Processed Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) casts from the Marion Island Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 066, May 2025

Here we present 74 processed Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) casts collected along the Crossroads Transect, between 16 May 2025 and 18 May 2025, during the 2025 Marion Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 066. The South African component of the international South Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation project (SAMOC-SA) aims to characterise the time-mean and time-varying components of the SAMOC in the South Atlantic Ocean and monitor the variability of the main Southern Ocean frontal systems associated with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), south of Africa. The Crossroads monitoring line, directly under the altimetry track N198, is sampled annually during the Marion Relief voyages, using a combination of CTD stations and XBT casts, where the XBT casts are done, at set intervals, between CTD stations to complement the CTD data.

(No DOI)
Processed CTD data from the Marion Island Relief on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 036, April 2019

The 2019 Marion Relief Voyage offered the 7th opportunity to conduct multi-disciplinary, shipbased marine research focusing on links and interactions between air and sea, ocean physics, chemistry, biogeochemistry and biology, including microbial, planktic and benthic communities on board South Africa’s polar research and supply vessel MV SA Agulhas II en route to, and around, the sub-Antarctic Prince Edward archipelago. The overall aim was to continue contributing to an oceanographic observation and monitoring system directed by South African research institutions in support of South Africa’s needs – and where possible, in support of global requirements of inter alia the Global Oceans Observing System (GOOS), the Southern Ocean Observing System (SOOS), the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP). With the declaration on 9 April 2013 of the Prince Edward Islands (PEIs) as...

(No DOI)
Raw SDS data from the Marion Island Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 007, April 2013

This is raw Scientific Data System (SDS) data from the Marion Island Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 007, 10 April to 16 May 2013. The 2013 Marion Relief Voyage 007 on board South Africa’s new polar research and supply vessel, the SA Agulhas II, afforded yet another opportunity to conduct multi-institutional (DEA, DAFF, UCT, SAEON, Rhodes University) and multi-disciplinary ship-based oceanographic research that focused on links and interactions between air and sea, ocean physics, biogeochemistry, plankton and benthic communities and island-based top predators. The overall aim is to establish an oceanographic observation and monitoring system directed by South African research institutions in support of South Africa’s needs – and where possible, the global requirements of the Southern Ocean Observation System (SOOS), CCAMLR, ACAP, etc., by documenting ship-board observations in the oceanic environment around the Prince Edward Islands in a holistic manner, from the sea...

(No DOI)
Raw Echo Sounder data from the Marion Island Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 007, April 2013

This is raw Echo Sounder data from the Marion Island Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 007, 10 April to 16 May 2013. The 2013 Marion Relief Voyage 007 on board South Africa’s new polar research and supply vessel, the SA Agulhas II, afforded yet another opportunity to conduct multi-institutional (DEA, DAFF, UCT, SAEON, Rhodes University) and multi-disciplinary ship-based oceanographic research that focused on links and interactions between air and sea, ocean physics, biogeochemistry, plankton and benthic communities and island-based top predators. The overall aim is to establish an oceanographic observation and monitoring system directed by South African research institutions in support of South Africa’s needs – and where possible, the global requirements of the Southern Ocean Observation System (SOOS), CCAMLR, ACAP, etc., by documenting ship-board observations in the oceanic environment around the Prince Edward Islands in a holistic manner, from the sea floor, through water...

(No DOI)
Raw SADCP data from the Marion Island Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 007, April 2013

This is raw Shipboard Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (SADCP) data from the Marion Island Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 007, 10 April to 16 May 2013. The 2013 Marion Relief Voyage 007 on board South Africa’s new polar research and supply vessel, the SA Agulhas II, afforded yet another opportunity to conduct multi-institutional (DEA, DAFF, UCT, SAEON, Rhodes University) and multi-disciplinary ship-based oceanographic research that focused on links and interactions between air and sea, ocean physics, biogeochemistry, plankton and benthic communities and island-based top predators. The overall aim is to establish an oceanographic observation and monitoring system directed by South African research institutions in support of South Africa’s needs – and where possible, the global requirements of the Southern Ocean Observation System (SOOS), CCAMLR, ACAP, etc., by documenting ship-board observations in the oceanic environment around the Prince Edward Islands in a holistic...

(No DOI)
Processed CTD data from the Marion Island Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 007, April 2013

This is processed Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) data from the Marion Island Relief Voyage on the SA Agulhas II Voyage 007, 10 April to 16 May 2013.The 2013 Marion Relief Voyage 007 on board South Africa’s new polar research and supply vessel, the SA Agulhas II, afforded yet another opportunity to conduct multi-institutional (DEA, DAFF, UCT, SAEON, Rhodes University) and multi-disciplinary ship-based oceanographic research that focused on links and interactions between air and sea, ocean physics, biogeochemistry, plankton and benthic communities and island-based top predators. The overall aim is to establish an oceanographic observation and monitoring system directed by South African research institutions in support of South Africa’s needs – and where possible, the global requirements of the Southern Ocean Observation System (SOOS), CCAMLR, ACAP, etc., by documenting ship-board observations in the oceanic environment around the Prince Edward Islands in a holistic manner,...

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