Page 96 - Atlas Sea Birds Ver1

Species and numbers breeding: White-breasted Cormorant
Year No. of pairs
Bank Cormorant
Year No. of pairs 1991 a 16
1991 a 7 a DFFE (unpublished information)
1996 a 0 Seal Island, Lüderitz
2020 b 0 Coordinates: 26.596 S; 15.154 E
Description: This barren, steep rocky island having a
a Crawford et al. (1999) surface area of about 45 ha is northernmost of three
b MFMR (unpublished information) islands that form the western border of Lüderitz Bay and
rise to c. 40 m above sea level (Rand 1963), the others
Dagger Rock being Penguin and Shark (now connected to the mainland)
Coordinates: 26.492 S; 15.117 E islands.
Description: A rock south of Boot Bay. Seabird guano was collected at Seal Island in 17 years
Conservation status: It falls within NIMPA and has between 1929 and 1983, the total quantity removed from
restricted access (Currie et al. 2009). the island in this period being 1,632 metric tons (Tom et
Species and numbers breeding: al. 2024).
Seal Island was formerly a breeding colony for Cape
Bank Cormorant Fur Seals (Shaughnessy 1984).
Year No. of pairs Conservation status: It falls within NIMPA and has
restricted access (Currie et al. 2009).
1991 a 18 Species and numbers breeding: Species known to have
1996 b 50 bred at the island and estimates of numbers breeding are
shown on Table 2.
a DFFE (unpublished information)
b Crawford et al. (1999) Penguin Island, Lüderitz
Coordinates: 26.614 S; 15.154 E
Description: Another barren, steep rocky island having a

Table 3: Estimated numbers (pairs) of different seabirds breeding at Penguin Island, 1828–2022

African Cape Bank White- Crowned Kelp Hartlaub’s Greater Caspian
Year breasted Crested
Penguin Cormorant Cormorant Cormorant Cormorant Gull Gull Tern Tern
1828 √
1956 0
1958 31
1960 126
1974 157
1976 5000 52
1977 41
1978 18292 229 74
1979 14442 231
1980 1000 1
1981 1100
1985 5222 83 5 663
1986 304 4 395 √
1987 3 113 5 702
1988
1989
1990
1991 0 77
1992 3014
1993 1656 56 31 76 433
1994
1995 106 47 9 413
1996
1997

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