First Responders
SANCCOB collaborates with conservation authorities, such as CapeNature, South African National Parks (SANParks), City of Cape Town, and Robben Island Museum, as well as the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) to work toward the protection and restoration of the natural habitat essential for seabirds to survive and the marine ecosystem to function. Throughout the years, SANCCOB has worked with government and conservation authorities to implement several management programmes and projects to conserve the African penguin and other seabird species.
SANCCOB supports seven Penguin and Seabird Rangers at four vital seabird colonies (Robben Island, Simon’s Town, Stony Point, and Bird Island in Algoa Bay). We are in the process of adding a Penguin and Seabird Ranger at Dassen Island. These rangers play a critical role in seabird conservation by identifying and rescuing injured, oiled, or abandoned seabirds and eggs and transporting them to one of our two SANCCOB centres. The rangers collect valuable data which is used for scientific research, and they ensure that the natural habitat of seabirds is maintained. They also play an important role in monitoring and ensuring human-wildlife coexistence. The skill and dedication of SANCCOB’s Penguin and Seabird Rangers have saved thousands of critically endangered African penguins and other seabirds that would otherwise not have survived.
Robben Island First Responders
Robben Island is situated in Table Bay and is recognised as a South African National Heritage Site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, based mainly on cultural heritage. It is also protected environmentally by the South African government and managed by Robben Island Museum, while it is also recognised as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) by BirdLife as well as a global Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) by IUCN. The island falls within the Robben Island marine protected area (MPA) of 580 km (proclaimed in 2019).
It is important for SANCCOB to have a Penguin and Seabird Ranger stationed on Robben Island. The Island has the longest standing monitoring of African penguins’ breeding success which was started after the MV Treasure oil spill in the year 2000 to evaluate how oiled and rehabilitated birds cope in the wild. These days, Robben Island acts as an important monitoring site for fishing closures and effects of fish availability on the survival of African penguin.
SANCCOB has one Penguin and Seabird Ranger stationed on Robben Island. Nicholas Ngcathu has recently joined the team after completing a successful internship on Robben Island. He lives on the Island per
Stony Point First Responders
Stony Point Nature Reserve is situated in the coastal town of Betty’s Bay in the Overberg and lies on an old whaling station site. During 2021 it was home to approximately 1,600 breeding pairs of African penguins. Also present in the colony are four species of cormorant; the Crowned cormorant (Least Concern), Cape cormorant (Critically Endangered), White-breasted cormorant (Least concern), and Bank cormorant (Critically Endangered), all of which breed on the outer rocks. The nature reserve is protected environmentally by the South African government and is managed by CapeNature. It falls within the 21 km Betty’s Bay MPA (3 km long, extending 3.6 km out to sea), and forms part of the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve. The public can view the seabirds up close, via a boardwalk through the colony.
Threats to seabirds breeding at this colony include the dramatic decrease in the pelagic fish stocks and competition with commercial fisheries, predation by land-based predators such as mongoose, caracal and leopard, as well as dogs and cats, human-induced disturbance and activity, extreme weather events (heavy rains and flooding), and chronic pollution by crude oil or other pollutants. SANCCOB identified the importance of a full-time Penguin and Seabird Ranger at Stony Point due to the frequency of African penguin chick abandonment incidents, both during extreme weather events and when birds start moulting while still rearing chicks.
Gavin Petersen has been working as a Penguin and Seabird Ranger at the Stony Point colony since 2019, in collaboration with CapeNature. He was awarded the very honourable BirdLife South Africa Owl award in 2021 due to his “inspiring example of how dedicated field rangers can promote the conservation of critically endangered seabirds”. In July 2021, he was instrumental in removing 69 African penguin chicks and 36 eggs from the colony after severe flooding of the nests during bad winter weather.
Simon’s Town First Responders
The Simon’s Town colonies is protected environmentally by the South African government with some areas managed by SANParks and others by the City of Cape Town (CoCT). Simon’s Town is found 35 km south of Cape Town and the 2-ha protected site consists of small beaches. There are several boardwalks, where tourists may observe the penguins up close, and visitors can access some beaches that the penguins inhabit. It is recognized as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) by BirdLife as well as a global Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) by IUCN.
Threats to the African penguins include predation by land-based predators such as genets and caracal, as well as dogs and cats. Although disturbance by tourists may be a problem, there are measures implemented to control excessive disturbance. The education and tourism value of the site is immense with thousands of visitors wanting to view and interact with African penguins. SANCCOB has four Penguin and Seabird Rangers stationed in Simon’s Town due to the level of human/wildlife interaction in the area.
The Simon’s Town Penguin and Seabird Ranger Project has been running since 2016, as a partnership between CoCT, SANParks, SANCCOB, and Nature Connect. Currently, the Penguin and Seabird Rangers are supervised by Mashudu Mashau who is employed by CoCT, while Mikaela Slier, Mpumelelo Mabutyana, Vardaman Hahndiek and Kashiefa Amos are the SANCCOB Penguin and Seabird Rangers on-site.
Bird Island First Responders
Algoa Bay islands are a collection of islands in Algoa Bay: the St Croix group, comprising St Croix, Jahleel and Brenton islands; and the Bird Island group, consisting of Bird, Seal and Stag islands, as well as Black Rocks. The islands are protected environmentally by the South African government and managed by SANParks as part of the Greater Addo Elephant National Park. The group of islands in Algoa Bay are together recognised as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) by BirdLife South Africa, as well as a global Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) by IUCN and fall within the 1,200 km2 Addo Elephant MPA. 1,200 km2 (proclaimed in 2019).
The Algoa Bay islands together host the largest global populations of Cape gannets classified as Endangered on Bird Island. Until recently, St. Croix Island was the world’s largest breeding colony of African penguins but has declined dramatically by over 70% since 2014, likely due to industrial expansion and anthropogenic activities.
Threats to these seabird populations are similar to the other island colonies but with the additional human-related disturbance with an increase in ship traffic associated with the nearby Port of Ngqura, as well as increased risk of oil pollution threats relating to ship-to-ship fuel bunkering permitted in the bay. SANCCOB has responded to three oil spills in recent years (2016, 2019 and 2021) caused by this high-risk activity.
Due to Bird and St Croix islands facing a high risk of oil spills due to the volume of ship-to-ship bunkering in the area, it is essential to have a Penguin and Seabird Ranger stationed at these islands. Zamo Lazola, SANCCOB’s Penguin and Seabird Ranger, is based on Bird Island and assists SANParks with monitoring St Croix Island, which is uninhabited. He plays a crucial role in rescuing and stabilising seabirds on the islands as transportation of birds off the Island can be logistically challenging.
Stony Point Seabird Project
African penguins occur mostly on islands along the coast; however, there are two mainland breeding colonies in South Africa – Stony Point in Betty’s Bay and Boulders in Simon’s Town in the Cape Town Metro. Of these, the African penguin colony at Stony Point is the only colony that has been showing an increase in the last decade, and currently supports 10% of the global African penguin population.
Protecting and managing this colony is therefore vital to the survival of the species. Saving the African penguin also means the continuation of important opportunities for income generation as Stony Point has become a popular tourist destination. Listen to Dr Lauren Waller who describes what SANCCOB is doing in partnership with CapeNature at Stony Point.