Strandloper Project

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The Strandloper Project is a citizen science marine research organization based in Sedgefield.
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Core research includes ghost fishing, reef condition, plastic pollution, estuarine monitoring and marine mammal behaviour studies.

19/10/2026

🌿 FROM WILDERNESS TO NATURE’S VALLEY 🌿

The 2026 Strandloper Project Expedition – Exclusive Feedback Evening

Join us for a special evening as we reflect on the 2026 Strandloper Expedition! Discover the stories, experiences and highlights of this remarkable journey from Wilderness to Nature’s Valley, celebrating our beautiful natural heritage and the ongoing conservation efforts in our region.

📅 Date: Tuesday, 27 October 2026 🕡 Time: 18:30 for 19:00 📍 Venue: In Toto Retreat 55 Jan van Riebeeck Street, The Island, Sedgefield

☕ Donation: R100 per person Your donation includes tea and coffee, with proceeds going towards the Strandloper Project and two Sedgefield Conservancies, supporting the conservation of our precious natural environment.

🌱 Come and share in the journey, the stories and the spirit of conservation!

We look forward to welcoming you for an inspiring evening celebrating the beauty of our coastline and the people dedicated to protecting it.

📞 RSVP to Hélia: 082 332 2206

18/10/2026

Green Club Beach Clean Up : youth caring for the environment.

On Saturday, the Green Club had a beach clean up at Leentjies Klip, with a focus of collecting microplastics. Strandloper Project was invited to participate in the walk from Leentjies Klip to the Touw River mouth, and share insights into the origins of microplastics and how to use the survey to record densities of ocean plastic pollution.
The Green Club is an environmental outreach initiated by the Landmark Leopard & Predator Project - South Africa for schools in the Garden Route and overseen by Monica Vacario.
After an introduction to microplastic by members of the Green Club, armed with rick pool fishing nets, bags and empty plastic bottles, the group set off, sieving, collecting and sorting bits of plastic, earbuds, cigarette butts, bottle tops and sweet wrappers.
Progress along the high water mark was slow, with the collection of small plastic items requiring greater care to seperate them from the organic material.
Finishing at Salina's Restaurant, Wilderness, we were met by Massimo who offered warming coffees and hot chocolate drinks to warm us up after the last half hour of walking in drizzle.
Massimo described how Salinas Restaurant has transformed the separation of plastic, tin, glass and wet waste to reduce trash sent to landfill. Not only has their business strategy of waste management reduced the load collected, but more importantly, it has reduced the time that it takes for the trash to be collected.
Well done to everyone that attended the cleanup, and most importantly, it was wonderful seeing youth caring for the environment, especially in the poor weather.

15/10/2026

Stage 9 done, and that is it for this year’s Strandloper Project Research Expedition.

Our planned route for today was from Keurboomstrand to Nature’s Valley. We unfortunately did not make it all the way to Nature’s Valley. We timed our walk to hit a tricky section at low tide. We got this correct, but with a big swell pushing in, even the low tide wasn’t low enough for us to get through the cave safely. We hiked back to Arch Rock, enjoying this beautiful day.

On this section, we did observe and record two sites with evidence of poaching (abalone and alikreukel/periwinkle), we caught the scent of an otter’s den (and found fresh s**t), and counted over 40 Oystercatcher birds.

Our Trashy20 survey on a sandy beach offered up low numbers of microplastics and few chunky items. In general, compared to other locations on other days, the pebble beaches did not have a lot of trash. A few washouts had higher density of plastics like beverage bottles, plastic wrappers, Styrofoam, and crisp packets with less frequent finds of toothbrushes, fishing debris, cosmetic containers, shopping bags, and earbud sticks.

Fishing debris included monofilament and a lot of polyurethane. Much of the polyurethane possibly came from a small ‘shipwrecked’ fishing boat, part of which we saw on a pebble beach.

Polyurethane, an expanding foam, is poured into hull cavities to provide rigidity and buoyancy. As the boat breaks up, the polyurethane is exposed. It breaks easily into pieces and, like its foam cousins polystyrene and Styrofoam, it is light, it floats, it travels everywhere and it washes up on beaches.

At an alikreukel poaching site, the poachers left behind carbonated beverage bottles, crisp packets, and Twinkies wrappers…

Although we did not make it through to Nature’s Valley today, we were very kindly invited by Nature’s Valley Trust (NVT) and Blue Rocks Café & Grill in Nature’s Valley for dinner. Having dinner at Blue Rocks, a spot that is popular with groups completing the Otter Trail hike, was a treat and a great way for the team to celebrate the end of our adventure together. Our meals were delicious and we were very warmly welcomed. Thank you Blue Rocks and Melissa.

Plettenberg Bay Tourism
NVT
Blue Rocks Cafe and Grill

15/10/2026

Show your age when you take a guess at what this item is...

Found between rocks on a pebble beach is very good condition still.

14/10/2026

Our Day 8 stage took us from Central Beach in Plettenberg Bay, and across Walkers Beach and Lookout Beach to Keurboomstrand. We were very fortunate to be transported safely across the Keurbooms River mouth by the skippers from Orca Foundation. Chanel Visser from CapeNature and the Plett Stranding Network met us on the boat and decided to join us for the rest of the stage.

Three notables for today… Changes to the beach after recent storms, lack of litter and whale sightings.

Lookout Beach is littered with a large amount of driftwood debris. Polyurethane pieces (used for floation in buoys and boats), styrofoam pieces (takeaway cups and containers) and polystyrene bits were prevalent. Bottles, sweet wrappers, cigarette lighters and other plastic wrappers are never absent, but numbers were considerably lower than would be expected for an urban beach. This could be as a result of regular cleanups by groups (there was a cleanup at the end of September) and ploggers (walkers who pick up litter as they go). Interestingly, our Trashy20 survey on this beach (and the next) revealed low numbers of microplastics.

On other side of the mouth, the beach has undergone a radical change. Where the sea-facing embankment was 8-metres high, it is now 1 to 2.5m after the storms. The floods and storms in May and June caused this drastic change to the shoreline and also destroyed the many beach-access staircases. Chanel also explained that one of the reasons that we were seeing so few litter items (chunky pieces and microplastics) is that these have little opportunity to stay on the beach for very long. At high tide, the waves smash into the embankment instead of rolling up an expanse of inclined beach and gently retreating. The waves remove anything lying on the sand. If she receives a call about a stranded bird, seal, turtle or other animal, responders have to be dispatched immediately to reach the animal, otherwise it will be swept off the beach when the tide comes up.

We also observed many nesting birds - gulls, Oystercatchers and White-fronted plovers. As we go into the very busy holiday season, it is very important that nesting sites are protected and that visitors are considerate in maintaining a distance so as not to disturb them.

This post would not be complete without a comment about whales. We had the pleasure of seeing Southern right whales and two Orcas (male and female travelling together) today. Of the Southern right whales, we saw three mother + baby pairs and three pairs of mating adults. The Orcas interacted with the Southern rights on their journey along the coast. To have such sightings from the beach was a treat for us. The people on a whale-watching tour boat got their money’s worth today.

Tomorrow, Thursday, is the last day of this year’s Strandloper Project Research Expedition. Our route takes us across beaches and rocks to Natures Valley.

Plettenberg Bay Tourism
ORCA Foundation

14/10/2026

Bay of Whales

Starting our 8th stage of the Strandloper Project 2026 expedition, we saw a pair of mating Southern Right Whales off Lookout Beach.
Once we had been ferried across the Keurbooms Estuary mouth by Orca Foundation and Ocean Blue Adventures, messages started coming through various Whatsapp groups of a pair of Orcas attacking a mother calf pair of Southern Right Whales off Keurboomstrand.
The attack continued for over two hours, with Cape Nature marine ranger Channel Visser receiving constant updates and enquiries about the Orca activities.
While hiking, we passed two mother calf pairs of Southern Right Whales behind the breakers, and then four adult Southern Right Whales mating.
Around midday, news came through that the Orcas had, having failed to make a kill, started to swim towards Plettenberg Bay, heading in our direction.
500m from us, the huge dorsal fin of the male Orca broke the surface, reaching about 1.8m above the water, heading towards the mating group of whales.
The Orcas came in at a leisurely pace, approaching from the rear of the whales. Even for their size, Southern Right Whales can turn in a tight arc, and as defense, flick their tail with tremendous speed.
The combination of head on charges, broadside turns, and tail flick soon had the Orcas diving down and under the whales to continue westwards.
Within minutes, reports, from a whale watching boat, came in that the pair had stopped to try their luck at the next mother calf pair of Southern Right Whales, though that didn't last long.
When we arrived in Keurboomstrand, no less than two mother calf pairs and two mating Southern Right Whales were performing behind the surf break right in front of our accommodation venue.
It is days like this that make the effort of expeditions worthwhile.

14/10/2026

Our Strandloper Project team had the pleasure of bumping into Everol from the Plett Shark Spotters. He is stationed at Robberg Nature Reserve.

It was wonderful to see that Shark Spotters are back on duty (only since last week). When you visit, strike up a conversation with the Shark Spotter on duty before setting off on the Robberg hike. The Shark Spotters are also environmental educators and they will gladly share valuable information of the marine fauna that can be seen along the trail.

At their umbrella, they have a SnapScan QR code so that you can donate directly to Shark Spotters NGO to cover salaries, operating costs and educational initiatives. Funding through donations and sponsorships from local businesses helps to provide continuity for the programme, supports local employment, and allows Shark Spotters to continue working towards safer beaches and a safer ocean space for everyone who enjoys them.

Photo: Our Strandloper team hanging out with Everol (Shark Spotter on duty) at Robberg Nature Reserve on Tuesday afternoon.

Plettenberg Bay Tourism Robberg Coastal Corridor Protected Environment

13/10/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝟳𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿'𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 took us on the Robberg Coastal Corridor to the Robberg Nature Reserve and then along Robberg beach to finish at Beacon Isle in Plettenberg Bay.

There were two stand-outs for us:

The first is that the section surveyed today was, in general, not as trash-rich as most of what we’ve seen this past week. We are aware that clean-ups have been done in accessible areas, and this makes a big difference to remove eye-catching items. Visible waste can also be missing because the currents right now are just not dumping trash on this section of shoreline. It was uplifting to observe a low density of microplastics on Robberg beach.

The second stand-out feature of today’s route was the geological journey through time. We were surrounded by incredible rock features. Making an appearance was breccia rock, which looks like a giant has mixed sharp, angular rocks with a coarse cement. The breccia here formed during continental splitting. Also present was conglomerate rock. This rock type is made up of rounded pebbles bound by a fine-grained matrix that cements the pebbles together. This turns to rock and over time the surface of the conglomerate is rolled, rounded and smoothed by wave action. Walking through, on, over and past caves, arches, shelters, stalactites, flowstones, fossilised ripples and fossils was a treat.

Our thanks to The Girls on the Square for our dinner tonight. They prepared a delicious chicken-mango curry for our team.

On Wednesday, we start from Beacon Isle and hike towards Keurbooms. If you see us, come say hello.

Robberg Coastal Corridor Protected Environment
Plettenberg Bay Tourism

13/10/2026

Trashy20 surveys are important for data collection as the items found tell a story about where waste is coming from. We do Trashy20 surveys every five kilometers and what we find varies greatly.

The survey featured in this video was conducted on Robberg beach. There were no chunky items (probably removed by beach cleaners) but we did find microplastics and nurdles (great to see low density of these).

In this short video we show you how to do a Trashy20 survey. Give it a try at the high water mark the next time you go to a beach and let us know what you find.

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Sedgefield
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+27822135931

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http://www.strandloperproject.org/

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