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Miller's Point, Western Cape
Miller's Point is a headland and stretch of protected coastline in South Africa. It is located about south of Simon's Town on the road to Cape Point. History Miller's Point got its name when the land was sold to Edmund Miller in 1825, who developed it as a whaling station. However the whaling operations were stopped in the 1850s and, for almost a century, the coast remained unused apart from occasional fishermen. In the 1920s, the land was bought by the Molteno family of Cape Town who used it as a family retreat and closed it off from public access. In 1961, the Moltenos donated the land to the city for conservation. The land has now been integrated into the Table Mountain National Park and the family's manor is now a restaurant complex. Current Use The area around the former manor is now a recreational area, and a portion of the land is leased to the ''Cape Boat and Ski-boat Club''. The rest of the property (extending from the Swartberg Mountains down to the False Bay coast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Sovereign States
The following is a list providing an overview of sovereign states around the world with information on their status and recognition of their sovereignty. The 206 listed states can be divided into three categories based on membership within the United Nations System: 193 member states of the United Nations, UN member states, 2 United Nations General Assembly observers#Present non-member observers, UN General Assembly non-member observer states, and 11 other states. The ''sovereignty dispute'' column indicates states having undisputed sovereignty (188 states, of which there are 187 UN member states and 1 UN General Assembly non-member observer state), states having disputed sovereignty (16 states, of which there are 6 UN member states, 1 UN General Assembly non-member observer state, and 9 de facto states), and states having a political status of the Cook Islands and Niue, special political status (2 states, both in associated state, free association with New Zealand). Compi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nature Reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for purposes of conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research. They may be designated by government institutions in some countries, or by private landowners, such as charities and research institutions. Nature reserves fall into different IUCN categories depending on the level of protection afforded by local laws. Normally it is more strictly protected than a nature park. Various jurisdictions may use other terminology, such as ecological protection area or private protected area in legislation and in official titles of the reserves. History Cultural practices that roughly equate to the establishment and maintenance of reserved areas for animals date bac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leucospermum Conocarpodendron
''Leucospermum conocarpodendron'' is the largest species of the genus Leucospermum, reaching almost tree-like proportions of high with a firm trunk that is covered in a thick layer of cork that protects it from most fires. It has greyish or green narrow or broad inverted egg-shaped leaves with three to ten teeth near the tip and large yellow flowerheads, with firm, bent, yellow styles that stick far beyond the rest of the flower and give the impression of a pincushion. It is commonly known as the tree pincushion in English or goudsboom in Afrikaans. They naturally occur near Cape Town, South Africa. Two subspecies are distinguished. ''L. conocarpodendron'' subsp. ''conocarpodendron'', that has greyish leaves because they have a covering of felty hairs. ''L. conocarpodendron'' subsp. ''viridum'', has green leaves that lack felty hairs. Flowers can be found between August and December. Description ''L. conocarpodendron'' is an evergreen large shrub of high and in diameter with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protea
''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). Etymology The genus ''Protea'' was named in 1735 by Carl Linnaeus, possibly after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form at will, possibly because they have such a wide variety of forms. Linnaeus's genus was formed by merging a number of genera previously published by Herman Boerhaave, although precisely which of Boerhaave's genera were included in Linnaeus's ''Protea'' varied with each of Linnaeus's publications. Taxonomy The family Proteaceae to which ''Protea'' species belong is an ancient one among angiosperms. Evidence from pollen fossils suggests Proteaceae ancestors grew in Gondwana, in the Upper Cretaceous, 75–80 million years ago. The Proteaceae are divided into two subfamilies: the Proteoideae, best represented in southern Africa, and the Grevilleoideae, concentrated in Australia and South America and the other smaller segments of Gondwana that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peninsula Granite Fynbos
Peninsula Granite Fynbos is an endangered Fynbos vegetation type which is endemic to the city of Cape Town and occurs nowhere else. It is a unique type of tall, dense and diverse scrubland, scattered with trees. It can be found all along the belt of granite that encircles Table Mountain. Natural Distribution This unique vegetation type occurs only within the city of Cape Town, particularly in a band that encircles the Table Mountain range – following the stratum of the Cape Granite Suite. It occurs from Lion's Head in the north, to Hout Bay and Muizenberg in the south. There is also an isolated patch near Simonstown, further to the south. It grows on the gentler, lower slopes of Table Mountain, over rolling hills and valleys - in rich, deep soils formed from eroded granite. Because of the rich soils and gentle terrain, most of this ecosystem has been destroyed to make way for vineyards, wealthy suburbs and commercial pine plantations. In fact, the largest patches of exposed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SS Lusitania
SS ''Lusitania'' was a Portuguese twin-screw ocean liner of 5,557 tons, built in 1906 by Sir Raylton Dixon & Co, and owned by Empresa Nacional de Navegação, of Lisbon. The ship was wrecked on Bellows Rock off Cape Point, South Africa at 24h00 on 18 April 1911 in fog while en route from Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), Mozambique, with 25 first-class, 57 second-class and 121 third-class passengers, and 475 African labourers. Out of the 774 people on board, eight died when a life boat capsized. On 20 April the ship slipped off the rock into of water to the east of the rock. The wreck has become a fairly well known recreational dive site, but at 33 to 40 metres, it is deeper than recommended for the average recreational diver, and the currents and breakers over the reef make it a moderately challenging dive. The sinking of ''Lusitania'' spurred the local authorities to construct a new lighthouse on the Cape Point Cape Point ( af, Kaappunt) is a promontory at the southeast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SAS Pietermaritzburg
HMS ''Pelorus'' ( pennant number: J291) was an built for the Royal Navy (RN) during World War II. Upon completion, the ship became the flotilla leader of the 7th Minesweeper Flotilla, clearing mines off the east coast of England. In June 1944, the flotilla was assigned to sweep one of the beaches during the Normandy landings until she struck a mine the following month. After her repairs were completed, ''Pelorus'' was reassigned to the English Channel and the 6th Minesweeping Flotilla. The flotilla was transferred to the Indian Ocean in 1945 and spent some time escorting convoys. They participated in Operation Collie, a bombardment of Japanese positions in the Nicobar Islands, in July and then swept the Strait of Malacca and the approaches to Singapore in August. After the war, she was sold to the South African Navy and renamed HMSAS ''Pietermaritzburg''. The ship was later converted into a midshipmans' training ship during the early 1960s. She served as a barracks ship f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wreck Diving
Wreck diving is recreational diving where the wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to scuttle retired ships to create artificial reef sites. Diving to crashed aircraft can also be considered wreck diving. The recreation of wreck diving makes no distinction as to how the vessel ended up on the bottom. Some wreck diving involves penetration of the wreckage, making a direct ascent to the surface impossible for a part of the dive. Reasons for diving wrecks A shipwreck may be attractive to divers for several reasons: * it serves as an artificial reef, which creates a habitat for many types of marine life * it often is a large structure with many interesting parts and machinery, which is not normally closely observable on working, floating vessels * it often has an interesting history * it presents new skill challenges for scuba divers to manage the risks associate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Right Whale
The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20° and 60° south. In 2009 the global population was estimated to be approximately 13,600. Taxonomy Right whales were first classified in the genus '' Balaena'' in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, who at the time considered all right whales (including the bowhead) to be a single species. In the 19th and 20th centuries the family Balaenidae was the subject of great taxonometric debate. Authorities have repeatedly recategorised the three populations of right whale plus the bowhead whale, as one, two, three or four species, either in a single genus or in two separate genera. In the early whaling days, they were all thought to be a single species, ''Balaena mysticetus''. The southern right whale was initially described as ''Balaena australis'' by De ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whale Surfacing Behaviour
Cetacean surfacing behaviour is a grouping of movement types that cetaceans make at the water's surface in addition to breathing. Cetaceans have developed and use surface behaviours for many functions such as display, feeding and communication. All regularly observed members of the order Cetacea, including whales, dolphins and porpoises, show a range of surfacing behaviours. Cetacea is usually split into two suborders, Odontoceti and Mysticeti, based on the presence of teeth or baleen plates in adults respectively. However, when considering behaviour, Cetacea can be split into whales (cetaceans more than 10 m long such as sperm and most baleen whales) and dolphins and porpoises (all Odontocetes less than 10 m long including orca tp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/t0725e/t0725e10.pdf FAO Marine Mammals of the World, Suborder Odontoceti.) as many behaviours are correlated with size. Although some behaviours such as spyhopping, logging and lobtailing occur in both groups, others such ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
