Page 292 - Atlas Sea Birds Ver1

Black Rock, Namibia Sinclair Island
Coordinates: 27.38 S; 15.35 E Coordinates: 27.67 S; 15.52 E
Description: A steep rocky island adjacent to Van Reenen Description: It is the most southerly island colony in Na-
Bay. mibia and is adjacent to the Lion’s Head mainland colony.
Conservation status: Activities are controlled at and Conservation status: Activities are restricted in and
around the island as it falls within NIMPA (Currie et al. around the island as it falls within NIMPA.
2009, Ludynia et al. 2012). There is no commercial har- Ecotourism: None currently but there is potential for land-
vesting of seals. based tourism.
Ecotourism: None currently but there is potential for land- Harvesting status: Seals occurred on Sinclair Island be-
based tourism. fore 1850 (Shaughnessy 1984). They were harvested at
Harvesting status: Since 1977 this colony was consid- Sinclair Island from 1896–1955 (Shaughnessy 1984). A
ered too small and remote for harvesting of seals (Shaugh- concession to harvest seals at Sinclair island was first
nessy 1978). granted in 1974 with an allocation of 4,000 yearlings and
700 adults (Shaughnessy 1978), although a harvest had
Van Reenen Bay taken place in 1973. There is currently no harvesting of
Coordinates: 27.38 S; 15.35 E seals at Sinclair Island. Historical harvesting data for
Description: A mainland colony on a sandy beach oppo- Sinclair Island are shown below.
site Black Rock. The colony had a large concentration Some past records of seal harvests at Sinclair Island.
of fur seals in the late 1990s. However, it subsequently The numbers include yearlings, sub-adults and adults
declined substantially. In 2018, only about 237 pups irrespective of their sex as they were then difficult to
were born there, down from > 5,000 in 1998 (Table 1). distinguish.
Conservation status: There is restricted access as it falls
within the Tsau //Khaeb (Sperrgebiet) National Park (MEFT
2020) as well as within a non-active proclaimed diamond Year No of seals harvested Age class
mining area (NAMDEB). Immatures Bulls undisclosed
Ecotourism: None currently but it has potential for land- 1897 - - 1,718
based tourism as it is close to Bogenfels Arch and Pomona 1900 - 279 -
village, which attract visitors. 1902 - - 530
Harvesting status: The colony was not harvested after
1977 (Shaughnessy 1978) as it fell within an active mining 1903 - - 2,626
area and had restricted access. 1904 - - 2,319
1905 - - 1,354
1906 - - 1,310
1907 107 673 0
1908 0 905 0
1911 752 1,237 0
1912 1,512 2,612 0
1913 3,784 0 0
1917 5,111 - -
1918 6,241 - -
1919 6,476 - -
1920 7,479 - -
1921 - - 9,301
1922 8,234 - -
1923 - - 8,141
1924 - - 7,197
1925 - - 8,681
1926 - - 6,083
1928 12,643 - -
1929 2,602 - -
1931 - 90 -
An aerial view of Black Rock, Namibia 2020 (photo MFMR) 1932 - 50 -
1933 2,717 - -
1934 - 340 -
1935 - 264 -
1936 12,095 339 -
1937 3,393 266 -
1938 1,819 395 -
1939 ±400 585 -
1940 3,000 531 -
1941 6,228 766 -
1942 7,664 723 -
An aerial view of Van Reenen Bay, 2020 (photo MFMR) 1943 9,834 821 -

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