Strandloper Project

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Strandloper Project

The Strandloper Project is a citizen science marine research organization based in Sedgefield.
(1)

Core research includes ghost fishing, reef condition, plastic pollution, estuarine monitoring and marine mammal behaviour studies.

26/05/2026

Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin survey

Data of sightings of Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphins at Gericke's Point for Jan to May 2026 show their usual distribution within the bay.
We had a total of 15 sightings, though interestingly, we had no records in February. This latter lack of sightings may be due to the large bait baitballs that had formed further out to sea at the time.

The pods sizes ranged between 1 and 14 dolphins per sighting. Humpback Dolphins do not breach very high out of the water when they surface to breathe, and as such are notoriously difficult to see. Experience in surveying for this species has shown that for every one dolphin seen surfacing, there can still be one or two beneath the surface.

In the second half of May, the Humpback Dolphins were wide spread throughout the bay and not in a tight group. This may have been a response to the flood and storm event in the second week of May.
One entertaining repeated sighting in January was of a young calf that would surface vertically to breathe before slapping down horizontally and diving below the surface.
While it is considered that Humpback Dolphins hunt exclusively over rocky seabeds, new research in Natal has recorded the species hunting in open waters, a possible modification of hunting strategy due to declining inshore fish stocks. We have also observed Humpback Dolphins exploring/hunting the sandy seabed, which may also be a new hunting strategy.

Third image from Buffalo Bay : In contrast to the Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphins, there have been large pods of Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins frequenting the bay, either in pods of 20 to 50 Dolphins, and at times as many as 500 cruising past. In April and May, there have been nursery pods of 15 to 30 Bottlenose Dolphins milling around in the bay, usually for between 40 and 60 minutes before heading out of the bay at speed.

Thank you to everyone that sent in sightings of Humpback Dolphins to compliment our database.

25/05/2026

It was great to meet the Crowther family at Swartvlei Beach yesterday. They had gone for a beach walk and swim (the water was warm as a tropical island to quote Jake).
In the wake of the recent floods, they could not resist collecting washed up plastic pollution on their beach walk. Unprepared for collecting plastic, they had to ask another beachgoer for a bag to carry what they had collected.
As owners of Oakhurst Farm Cottages they were interested in the cycle that results in plastic waste washing up on beaches and how simple tweaks to the management of the disposal of plastic items by businesses and induviduals can greatly reduce the loss of plastic into the ocean.
It was inspiring to hear the enthusiasm on how they plan to modify the collection and separation of recyclable trash generated from their accommodation and farming activities.
Oakhurst Farm Cottages has supported on logistics of our annual coastal research expeditions, and we have always been impressed with the numerous innovations on the farm relating to environmental practices, water management and wildlife corridors.
It is inspiring to discuss their commitment to improve waste management, not only by cleaning trash off the beach, but as a business, fine tuning the recycle and reuse of items from their property, and incorporating their staff in the process.
With the waste management challenges facing the Garden Route, it is vital that businesses and residents make every efforts to reduce the amount of recyclable items being sent to landfills. Done correctly, not will the amount of waste sent to landfills be reduced, but, done correctly, it can even generate a small income stream as an incentive to staff and family members. In some instances, high value plastic items have a higher price than some glass items.

20/05/2026

When the tide goes out.

60 minutes after the tide changed, a tidal wedge of river water pushed through the outgoing tide in the Goukamma River. Inherently, fresh and marine water don't mix in stable water, and the leading river water heading downstream can clearly be seen cutting through the clear ocean water. It is this dynamic transition of water in estuaries that make them such productive aquatic ecosystems.

19/05/2026

Ocean plastic waste washout.

19th May 2026.

A survey hike through the Goukamma MPA by Strandloper Project volunteers has identified a category 7 washout of ocean plastic waste.
The predominant identifiable items are plastic lids, sucker sticks and earbud shafts. Integrated with the plastic pollution is organic material (twigs and small sticks), an indication that the source of this is from inland.
Possible culprit rivers include the Muel, Skaapkop and Gwaing Rivers.

If the tide is suitable this weekend, we will be conducting a beach cleanup at this site.

17/05/2026

Washed out and washed up.

On Friday 15th May volunteers from the Strandloper Project managed to do their first survey of the Swartvlei Beach after the floods and storms of the 6th to 12th May.
The first microplastic (1mm to 10mm pieces) slick has washed up with organic debris that was ejected by the flood pulse into the ocean.
Also, washed up were bits of mud crabs (Scylla serrata). It is always amazing to see how large their pincers are. With the Swartvlei Estuary mouth having been closed for almost 12 months, it would have been a disruption for their reproductive cycle. When ready to spawn, adult mud crabs will migrate from the estuary to the ocean to spawn on deeper reefs. The juvenile crabs, when they reach about 5cm to 7cm across their carapace, they swim back into the estuary to grow to their impressive size. The closure of the estuary mouth does not deter the return of the juvenile crabs as we have recorded them traversing the sandbar from the ocean, but have not recorded the adults walking across to the ocean.
There was also a large wash out of red bait pods (Pyura stolonifera), all deposited along the high water mark, which lends a strong oceanic scent to an outing on the beach.
The storm also washed away layers of sand that covered the fossil dune shelf in the intertidal zone, exposing patches of fossilized prawn burrows that are between 120,000 and 150,000 thousand years old.
We will be monitoring for the wash up of larger ocean plastic pollution in the coming days and to see if the massive flow of water into the ocean along the entire coastline will trigger an algal bloom. Usually when a large flood event opens blind estuaries that have been closed for an extended period of time, an algal bloom flourishes 5 to 7 weeks after the floods.

15/05/2026

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14/05/2026

Mouth wide open

In the aftermath of the extensive recent flood events caused by a cut off low system that flooded parts of the Karoo, Langkloof, Garden Route and the eastern Cape between the 6th and 11th May 2026, it was with some relief that the Touw, Swartvlei and Goukamma estuary mouths finally opened. This was the longest period that these mouths have been closed in the past 33 years, with Swartvlei mouth being in a closed state for just 20 days shy of 12 months, and the Touw river a little over a full year.
This extended time of closed phases of these blind estuaries was due to low flows from the respective catchment areas as a result of the extreme drought phase between May 2025 and January 2026, the driest drought for the region since records began in 1888.

Goukamma Estaury Mouth, a blind estuary that opens naturally, closed in April 2025, then opened for two months in mid February 2026, closing in the latter part of April 2026.

Looking at some stats on what happened with the worst flood in 20 years for the area is interesting.

Goukamma Estuary widened to a maximum width of 190m in the peak flood pulse and on the 14th May had settled to a low tide width of 31.3m. The thrust of the flood pulse caused an eastward migration of the mouth with a wash away of the eastern dune embankment at the mouth. The dune wash away ranged between 17.3m and 23.4m. Of concern is that since mid December 2022, the mouth has migrated 170.7m eastwards, washing away the eastern dune which hosts a colony of Kelp Gulls. The mouth is currently less than 115m from the access road to Buffalo Bay, measured from the section of dune that is experiencing the most erosion during flood pulses.

Touw Estuary Mouth
In the peak flood pulse, after mechanical breaching, widened to 97.8m across, and has settled to a low tide width of 22.6m on the 11th May.

Swartvlei Estuary Mouth
Following a mechanical breach, at a water level state lower than normal breaching height, the mouth opened to 164.5m at peak flood pulse and has settled to a low tide width of 65.4m on the 14th May. There was erosion of the embankment that had a westwards wash away of 36.5m. As we approach spring tides, it is incredible to watch the incoming high tide pushing the river flow upstream for over 3km.

04/05/2026

With a collective focus on the weather forecast for the southern Cape with the prospect of flooding in the region.
Considering that the blind estuaries in the region have been in a closed phase since early May 2025, in addition to localized flooding, it is highly probable that the closed estuaries will burst open, ejecting a years worth of accumulated plastic trash into the ocean.
The drought phase since May 2025 through to February 2026 was the driest period since records began in 1888. This intense dry phase has resulted in one of the longest periods that the Swartvlei and Touw River Estuary's have been closed.
One positive consequence of the drought has been that hardly any large plastic items have washed up on the shoreline. This was well documented during our 2025 coastal research expedition between Blombos and Wilderness.
It did not stop the wash up of small plastic items on beaches, plastic pollution that has flowed into the ocean from rivers that have remained open, fed by out flow from municipal infrastructure and larger catchment areas.
In Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has been on a mission to clear storm water drains of plastic waste, and we can only hope that municipalities between Witsand and Plettenberg Bay have been making the same preparations to reduce the flow of plastic form urban centers into the ocean in the event of flooding.

Strandloper Project encourages everyone in the Southern Cape, where possible, to clean storm water drains in their vicinity. Not only will this reduce the risk of local flooding, but it will reduce the amount of plastic that will flush out to sea.
In the event that the forecast does materialize, protect your property first, and then try reduce plastic pollution getting washed to sea.

We will evaluate the situation after this weather system has passed and plan beach cleanups as required.

Be safe, keep dry and stay warm.

22/04/2026

Currently turtle hatchlings have been stranding on Noorhoek Beach and Kommetjie beaches as a result of the storm conditions at sea.
Please be on the lookout for washed out turtles on your beach walks, as some may wash up on other sections of the coastline.
If you do find a stranded hatchling.
1. Do not return it to the ocean.
2. Lift it by scooping it up from underneath and placing I on a soft dry towel or in a dry box with padding.
3. Call the turtle rescue network 083 300 1663 or the local stranding response group and follow instructions on how to proceed with the rescue.
4. Take clear photo of the turtle and a GPS location to share with the rescuers.
5. Keep the turtle dry and at room or ambient temperature till the turtle is collected to be taken tye Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation for rehabilitation.

16/04/2026

The best place to be when a Berg Wind blows.

This pod of Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins spent over an hour cruising just behind the surf zone in the bay between Buffalo Bay and Wildside.
A Berg Wind was blowing, with an offshore wind of between 28°C and 30°C.
Accustomed to thermo regulating to the sea temperature, it did pose the question of what effect inhaling warm dry air has on the respiratory system of cetaceans. Their behaviour was relaxed, submerging for 2 minutes, then surfacing to breathe for 3 to 5 breaths before submerging again. None of their high speed activity and surfing, though two, a juvenile and a large adult, did breech a few times.

Address

Sedgefield
6573

Telephone

+27822135931

Website

http://www.strandloperproject.org/

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