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Category: The Ocean

Sharks – ruthless killers or just misunderstood?

Sharks – ruthless killers or just misunderstood?

Defining Sharks Sharks! We all know what they are. However are sharks ruthless killers or just misunderstood? Many movies have been shown portraying them as evil, blood hunger creatures, such as Jaws. However, those types of films did any favours for the general shark population. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that shark attacks on humans are right; however, they have been stereotyped in the incorrect light, and I think we need to hear the shark’s side of…

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Sanccob – all in a day’s work

Sanccob – all in a day’s work

Have you ever heard an African penguins Spheniscus demersus call? Perhaps that is the reason they are know as Jackass penguins; their call sounds very similar to a donkey braying. Another important fact about these flightless aquatic birds is that they (like so many other species) are endangered. The cause of their decline is mainly due to low fish stocks from overfishing. Another threat to their colonies is oil spills. The main colonies which are dotted around the southern coast…

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Microplastics – Are they in your food?

Microplastics – Are they in your food?

You may have heard by now that plastic pollution is a big problem in the environment, particularly our oceans. However, did you know that there could be small pieces of plastic in the food you ate recently? These are called microplastics. Plastics are widely and intensively used by people with wide-ranging applications in numerous industries due to their low production cost, adaptability, lightweight, and durability, among other properties – but all those benefits have some potentially dangerous negatives. What are…

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The Great Ocean Plunder

The Great Ocean Plunder

You know that old saying which goes – There’s lots of fish in the sea … well…312 million kilograms of seafood is consumed in South Africa alone each year and 50% is locally caught. Just on this local scale you could call this the great ocean plunder. This does not include the rest of the world! To be quite honest, I’ve never been a big fan of a piece of fish on my plate, even if it is drenched in…

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Whaling Wars

Whaling Wars

There she blows…There she blows. You may recognise this phrase from Herman Melville’s iconic book Moby Dick, which was published in 1851 at the height of whaling. Only 135 years after this fictional book was published  a temporary moratorium on whaling was put into place. When the International Whaling Commission (IWC) came into power its main objective was to control the whaling so that the majority of whale species populations could recover. The (IWC) later changed its stance to a…

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Protecting Nemo’s Home – our Coral Reefs…

Protecting Nemo’s Home – our Coral Reefs…

What are coral reefs? Coral reefs are the most diverse ecosystems in the world. These marine ecosystems occupy less than one percent of the ocean floor, but are occupied by not less than twenty percent of all ocean going species. Studies estimate that more than 25,000 known species from thirty-two of the world’s thirty-three animal species inhabit coral reefs, this is four times the number of animal species found in tropical rain forests in Brazil and Indonesia. Coral reefs are…

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