Estuary Care Articles

The Estuary Care Committee would like to send out a plea to all recipients of the newsletter to pay their annual subscription fees and to also encourage all other people they know who enjoy the Kariega and Boesmans Estuaries to join and pay their annual fee.

Dave Curren tells us that on the morning of the 5th October an Estuary Care channel marking crew...

In November an Estuary Care team worked over a number of days to repair the Marina Jetty.

This is work in progress and the team is hoping to reinstall it in early December.

What should you do if you find a penguin/seabird/seal/turtle in distress on the beach?  Thank you to the NRSI for allowing us to link to their newsletter. 

This very neat hole in the sand was found near the Boesmans slipway.  The surrounding area was covered with small, very neat uniform balls of sand which look like pebbles.

We end our December newsletter every year with a reminder that we share this space. This holiday season will be particularly challenging.  However Coastal Kindness, which is a group of local residents who came together in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, has...

The 18 September 2020 was National Recycling Day.   Thank you to Business Day for the two articles which appeared in their 18 September 2020 edition. We believe that every day should be Recycling Day and we invite members of our communities to pick up and dispose...

In late June and July hippo tracks were found on Kenton Main Beach.  Below: These photos were taken by Mel Arnott on 29 June. It’s not known where it came from or where it went but tracks were once again spotted by Nina Beaufort on 27 July (images...

Dave Curran says: ‘In late August a westerly wind driven storm resulted in a strong surge tide in the Kariega Estuary with a consequence being that the slipway jetty broke clean off its mountings. The jetty was found beached on the inland side of the road bridge....

Mr Willem Nel, the Ndlambe Environmental Law Officer has asked us to share the following information. All queries should be directed to Mr Nel. Boat licenses are due and have been since the 1st July 2020 for the new financial year 2020-2021. The licenses are...

What a beautiful way to share our little spot of paradise

This information is courtesy of SANParks

Our new Chairman is Stuart Clarkson. Stuart comes to us from a background in business. He is passionate about the environment and the well-being of our estuaries and strip of coastline. Stuart grew up in Johannesburg and attended King Edward VII School before going...

Our AGM on the 30 December 2019 was well attended. We were privileged to listen to a riveting presentation, which included superb slides, on Conserving the Critically Endangered Pipefish by Dr Louw Claassens, Programme Director of the Knysna Basin Project. Visit...

Dave Curran continues to coordinate the team of volunteers who transport members of the Department of Environment, Forestry & Fisheries (DEFF) on inspection trips up both estuaries. Thank you to Andile Maki of the Department for arranging that Certificates of...

Please join us for our Annual General Meeting Date: Monday 30th DecemberTime: 10:00Venue: Kenton Town Hall Guest speaker: Dr Louw Claassens, Programme Director: Knysna Basin Project Topic: Conserving the Critically Endangered Estuarine PipefishDr Claassens and a...

It is the time of year again when Kenton and Boesmans fill up with visitors and both estuaries are put to maximum use. Please be aware of and abide by the rules for using a boat on the estuaries.  Make sure you have the relevant licenses and are aware of the...

The below information is for all boat owners who use the Boesmans and Kariega Estuaries and particularly to those people who secure their boats to buoys in either of the estuaries. Willem Nel (Environmental Law Officer, Ndlambe Municipality) says: Boat licences are...

What are the differences betweenRecyclable / Compostable / Biodegradable?Recyclable Recyclable or recycling are the most common buzz words out of the three. What it means is that if an item is recyclable it is broken down and repurposed to form something else. It...

On 13 March 2019 at the ProPak Conference at Nasrec, Johannesburg, Executive Director of Plastics SA, Anton Hanekom delivered a speech titled ‘Replacing plastics: blessing or curse?’. He said that the plastic industry is as disgusted at plastic pollution as the...

The World Wildlife Fund has released itsTop 10 plastic offenders in South Africa!

Kenton Ratepayers Association advises on the status of the recycling initiative in Kenton/Boesmans.  Read hereLocal residents should take their recycling to the iWars site in the Boesmans industrial area. Noshipo advises that polystyrene, newspapers and ‘coloured...

Johannesburg’s very first plastic-free grocery store (www.therefillery.co.za), is helping South Africans fill their pantries, while addressing the plastic pollution crisis... Read more here The first-ever commercial flight to produce no landfill waste took to the...

Recent very heavy rains caused a large wash-away at the upper Middle Beach parking area. After each downpour it got worse and was becoming a possible danger to the public. With financial assistance from Ndlambe Municipality Nick Albrightson from Estuary Care has...

On the 22 March two boys found a juvenile Cape Gannet near Main Beach. It was incredibly tame which was a worry because there were a number of dogs on the beach. Estuary Care was contacted. With the help of our lifesavers Arnaldo and Siya they managed to gently...

The meeting was very well attended with 130 members and visitors present. The Chairman Ted Gilfillan opened the meeting by extending a warm welcome to all members and visitors. Apologies: Audrey Barnard, Tom Lawless, James Trubshaw, Verity Hawarden, Peter O’Connor,...

You will have read in our AGM minutes that approval was given to change our Constitution to reflect the name of our organization from Bushman’s Kariega Estuary Care Management Forum to Boesmans Kariega Estuary Care Management Forum.  This...

Chris Nair delivered a presentation on the Sustainability of the Bulk Water Supply to the Kenton on Sea and Boesmans areas. The presentation covered the background on the role of Amatola Water in the provision of bulk water supply to the area, the challenges in...

Doran Herringer and his team of volunteers undertook a clean-up of the Boesmans estuary on Sunday 30 December 2018 sponsored by The Sandbar Floating Restaurant and The Diner on the Square Restaurant. Doran reports that ‘Alan Louw's barge was used with...

On the morning of 7th January 2019, a small very tired penguin was found off Middle Beach Kenton on Sea. Tired but still plucky trying to snap at any finger nearby. After a few calls the penguin chick was on its way and by 11h00 it was safe at Sanccob in Port...

On the 28th January 2019 at 06:00 Deon Nel, a visitor from Pretoria staying with the Crandons, was swimming in the waves between Middle and Main Beach. Whilst wading through the waves amongst the regular Wave Warriors, he felt something attach itself around his...

Estuary Care ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (Please join us) Date Saturday 22nd December Time 10:00 Venue Kenton Town Hall  Guest Speaker Mr Chris Nair - TOPIC:   Amatola Water: Bulk Operations & Sustainability of Water Delivery Service to the Albany Coast Following...

Dave Curran has organized and coordinated a most successful programme to transport the Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) rangers up the two estuaries and he reports that

Look out for the new Estuary Care signs at the Kariega & Boesmans slipways and at the Kenton Marina. It came to our attention that signage at both slipways was out of date.  Using the map of the two estuaries from the old Boat Licence Guide, we designed new...

Bill Northrop and his team have been maintaining signage in both estuaries throughout the year. They are particularly busy now in preparation for the holiday season. We have no doubt that this vital work is greatly appreciated by all who use the estuaries. Thank...

Estuary Care is becoming increasingly concerned about ooze from septic tanks and overflowing conservancy tanks, belonging to private homes situated along the banks of both estuaries, running into the estuaries. We have measured very high levels of pollution along...

In early October we had a visit at the Kenton slipway of a large healthy puffadder which had evidently swum across the estuary. Thank you to Fred Joubert for the photos below And in November an elephant was filmed crossing the Kariega estuary near the causeway....

During the September equinox very high seas were experienced along our coast. This caused huge tidal surges in both estuaries. Fortunately, no damage was reported and we are proud that the Boesmans jetty, which Chester repaired earlier this year, stood up to the...

The 2018 Rhino Run will be held on 16 September. Look out for Estuary Care committee members, identified by our new bibs, helping at this event.

On the 28 July at about 10:30 in the morning Chris & Lisette Ovens were walking near the mouth on the Kasouga side of the Kariega Estuary when they saw a Southern Right whale rolling around just behind the waves.

Thank you to the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity for the magnificent and very interesting poster. Click the button below to open the poster.  You will need to zoom to read the text. Click here to visit the SAIAB...

Much is being written about plastic pollution in our rivers, estuaries, dams, lakes and particularly in our oceans. It is estimated that 12 million tonnes of plastic gets dumped into our oceans every year and from the ocean surface to our deep oceans it is having a...

It states on their website that South Africa is confronted with numerous socio economic problems, including poverty, inadequate housing, sanitation & water supply to name but a few. The problems have resulted in a rapid decline in environmental management and...

Once again we were pleased with the attendance at our Annual General Meeting.

There were two floats in December. The first one on Wednesday 27th December was from Bell’s Cove to the mouth and as anticipated was well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by floaters and spectators.  The second float, which as usual drew a very large crowd, was on...

It’s a Horse Mussel Atrina Squamifera.  Atrina squamifera, one of several species known as the horse mussel, is a species of bivalve pen shell. It is a marine mollusc in the family Pinnidae and is endemic to South Africa. This species is found from Saldanha Bay to...

You will recall from an article What is a Nurdle in our December 2017 newsletter that there was a horrendous spill of these small non-biodegradable plastic pellets into the Durban harbour in October last year. Sky News provides more information. Sadly Nurdles are...

Thank you Dennis Laubscher for the interesting visuals on the Dry Bones Valley Dune migration.    

This article, published in The Economist, may be long but it is well worth the read. It is a sobering account of the scourge of plastic in our oceans and will make us think of what can I do about it? For a start become conscious of when and how you are using...

Bill Northrop and his volunteers continue to update and upgrade signage and channel markers in both estuaries. This was particularly necessary after our huge tidal surges towards the end of August.  

Chester Wilmot has undertaken remedial construction work on slipways and on both jetties.  Daphne McNeil and her team of Human and Nicholas Albrightson and under Chester’s guidance, despite soft misty rain, repaired the towpath on the east bank of the Boesmans...

Peter Reed will continue to manage water testing in both estuaries. Click here to read an article from our June Newsletter on Sewage Solutions. We hope it will encourage homeowners along the banks of our estuaries to invest in a more efficient sewage disposal...

We, together with Bushman’s River Ratepayers Organisation, continue to contact Amatola Water with the request that they share the costs of repairs to the rotting Gabion baskets that hold the rocks which make up the wall on the western bank of the Boesmans...

We sent an email to our members in early September advising of Ndlambe Municipality’s boat mooring regulations in the Boesmans Estuary. The regulations actually apply to both sides of the estuary. This issue is out of our hands and all queries should be addressed...

Estuary Care members and concerned members of the public have expressed rising concern at the ever increasing sedimentation occurring in the Boesmans Estuary as well as the dune advancing up Dry Bones Valley. Below is an edited version of the reply from Mr Tim...

We have noted that the mounds of flood-deposited rubble on the west bank of the Boesmans Estuary are diminishing, particularly after the recent high tides. You might recall that the initiative to have these mounds removed was stopped last year by the Public Service...