Page 310 - Atlas Sea Birds Ver1

An aerial view of a section of the Robberg Ledges seal colony
Point but being extirpated by 1908. About 11 seals were
seen at Seal Point in 1994 (Stewardson and Brett 2000).
Seals now occupy a larger area on the eastern side of the
peninsula (Huisamen et al. 2011). Cape Cormorants nest
on ledges above the seal colony (Crawford et al. 2016);
An aerial view of the Cape Infanta seal colony see the white guano stains on the photograph. There is no
competition for space between the seals and cormorants.
31. Seal Island, Mossel Bay Aerial surveys of the colony were initiated in 2005 when
Coordinates: 34.151 S; 22.119 E 21 pups and 5,177 older individuals were counted on
Status: Breeding photographs. An average of 577 pups were counted on
Description: This rocky island is situated in Mossel Bay, four surveys conducted from 2011–2020.
on the south coast. This colony has been in existence Conservation status: The colony is situated within the
since the 13th century when Portuguese sailors esti- Robberg Provincial Reserve proclaimed in terms of Section
mated 3,000 seals to be at the island and captured a few 6 of the Nature and Environmental Conservation
for meat supplies (Muller 1938). The seabird fauna, in Ordinance,1974.
particular the African Penguin, has disappeared from the Eco-tourism: Unregulated swim-with or snorkel-with seal
colony (Shaughnessy and Shaughnessy 1978, Shelton et activities are conducted at the colony.
al. 1984). Production averaged 1,255 pups on four surveys Harvesting status: Seals were harvested from 1840 to
from 2011–2020. 1843 and again from 1851–1857, after which there are
Conservation status: The island was declared a Provin- few records of harvests (Stewardson 2001). No harvesting
cial Nature Reserve in terms of Section 6 the Nature Con- takes place now.
servation Ordinance, 1974 (Official Gazette 4524, 1988).
Access is restricted to researchers under a permit. It is 33. Beacon Island
managed by Cape Nature. Coordinates: 34.061 S; 23.380 E
Eco-tourism: Boat-based, eco-tourism tours are conduct- Status: An extinct former colony.
ed around the colony. Description: An island at the mouth of Piesand River
Harvesting status: Harvesting was sporadic but ceased in in Plettenberg Bay that is now connected to the mainland.
1977 (Wickens et al. 1991). Conservation status: It is not protected.

32. Robberg Ledges Eastern Cape Colonies
Coordinates: 34.151 S; 22.119 E
Status: Breeding 34. St Croix Island
Description: This mainland colony is situated on rocky ter- Coordinates: 33.799 S; 25.770 E
rain on the eastern side of Robberg Peninsula, near Pletten- Status: A former breeding locality.
berg Bay. Seals historically occurred at Beacon Island, Description: A rocky, steep island, 12 ha in size that lies
Plettenberg Bay but that colony is extinct (Table 1), and at toward the west of Algoa Bay.
Seal Point on the Robberg Peninsula (Stewardson 2001). Conservation status: It falls within the Greater Addo
Huisamen (2012) referred to accounts by Metelerkamp Elephant National Park (GAENP) and has restricted ac-
(1955) and Ross (1971) of 3,000 seals occurring at Seal cess.

35. Black Rocks, Algoa Bay
Coordinates: 33.836 S; 26.258 E
Status: Breeding
Description: This small, rocky island is part of the Bird Is-
land group of islands at the east of Algoa Bay off Gqeberha.
Islands at the west and east of Algoa Bay were historically
occupied by seals (Rand 1972). Records indicate that in
1822 over 17,000 seals were killed at St Croix and Bird
is- lands in Algoa Bay, so the population then was much
larger than the present one (Stewardson 2001). Currently,
seals only breed on Black Rocks but they haul out at other
An aerial view of the Seal Island, Mossel Bay seal colony islands too (Stewardson et al. 2012).

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