Algoa Bay
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Algoa Bay is a maritime bay in the
Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. It is located on the east coast, east of the
Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
. Algoa Bay is bounded in the west by Cape Recife and in the east by Cape Padrone. The bay is up to deep. The harbour city of
Gqeberha Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipa ...
is situated adjacent to the bay, as is the Port of Ngqura deep-water port facility.


History

The Portuguese explorer
Bartolomeu Dias Bartolomeu Dias ( – 29 May 1500) was a Portuguese mariner and explorer. In 1488, he became the first European navigator to round the Cape Agulhas, southern tip of Africa and to demonstrate that the most effective southward route for ships lies ...
was the first European to reach Algoa Bay in 1488, where he planted a wooden cross on a small island now called St Croix or Santa Cruz island. He gave the bay a name meaning "Bay of the Rock", which was changed in Portugal to ''Bahia de Lagoa'' or Bay of the Lagoon, and which eventually became Algoa Bay. Algoa Bay became prominent for three reasons. Firstly, it was the point at which Bartolomeu Dias realized that he had opened the maritime route to the East for global trade, thereby enabling Portugal to become the worlds first global maritime superpower. Secondly, the mountain ranges around Algoa Bay, became a navigational landmark for rounding the treacherous Agulhas Bank on the route to the East, thereby depicting the midway point on the route to Goa, India (agoa means to Goa). Thirdly, Algoa Bay became known as a landing place for potable water. Joshua Slocum talks about Algoa Bay in his book ' Sailing Alone Around the World' (this is not an historical account):
Nautical chart A nautical chart or hydrographic chart is a graphic representation of a sea region or water body and adjacent coasts or river bank, banks. Depending on the scale (map), scale of the chart, it may show depths of water (bathymetry) and heights of ...
s of the bay caution mariners that "projectiles and badly corroded
mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard are names commonly used for the organosulfur compound, organosulfur chemical compound bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, which has the chemical structure S(CH2CH2Cl)2, as well as other Chemical species, species. In the wi ...
containers have been found in the area between Cape St Francis and Bird Island out to depths of . Trawlers should exercise the greatest caution." The
chemical weapons A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as ...
were dumped in the bay in the aftermath of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. During that conflict, Port Elizabeth was used as a research, manufacturing and storage site for
mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard are names commonly used for the organosulfur compound, organosulfur chemical compound bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, which has the chemical structure S(CH2CH2Cl)2, as well as other Chemical species, species. In the wi ...
ordered by the British Air Ministry.


Geography


Nelson Mandela Bay

The metropolitan municipality of Nelson Mandela Bay, which includes
Gqeberha Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipa ...
, Bluewater Bay, St Georges Strand and Coega, is located on the western shore of Algoa Bay.


Islands

The bay contains six named islands in two groups of three that according to
BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
“are of considerable importance as they are the only islands along a stretch of coastline between
Cape Agulhas Cape Agulhas (; , "Cape of Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the beginning of the traditional dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian oceans according to the In ...
and Inhaca Island in Mozambique." The combined surface area of these islands is said to be . Close inshore, near the new Ngquru harbour development at Coega, on the north-eastern outskirts of Port Elizabeth, is the St Croix group, consisting of a main island of that name and two lesser islets, Jahleel Island just off the Ngqurha breakwater and Brenton Island on the seaward side. The second group consists of Bird, Seal and Stag Islands. All six islands and their adjacent waters are declared nature reserves and form part of the Addo Elephant National Park. The islands are closed to the public. Worthy of mention as an obstacle to navigation is Despatch Rock, due east of the Port Elizabeth suburb of
Summerstrand Summerstrand is a seaside suburb of Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is located south-east of the Gqeberha city centre. It is primarily a residential suburb along with shopping and business facilities. It is also home t ...
. The rock, which is submerged at high tide, is marked with a light. Further south, about southwest of Cape Recife, the western starting point of the bay is Thunderbolt Reef. Though not in the bay, this hazard to navigation has claimed many ships carelessly entering or leaving. Thunderbolt Reef is submerged save for spring low tides and the surf crashing on it can be observed from the mainland.


St. Croix group

* St. Croix Island at is from the nearest land and rises to . The BirdLife fact sheet states the island is only above sea level. It adds that the island is rocky and “supports minimal vegetation”. The island runs along a northwest, southeast axis and is about wide at its broadest – along the west coast. Its highest point is halfway along the north coast. *Brenton Island () is equally sparsely vegetated and is less than in elevation, and is roughly in size with a northwest-southeast orientation. It is to sea from the nearest point on the mainland and south of St. Croix. *Jahleel, at less than in height, is just over from the closest beach and less than that from Ngquru’s long eastern breakwater. Jahleel is about the same size as Brenton and has a north-south axis. It is west of St. Croix.


Bird Island group

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...
named this group of islands ''Ilhéus Chãos'' (low or flat islands). In 1755, the
East Indiaman East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belonging to the Bri ...
'' Doddington'' was wrecked here while underway from
Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...
to
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. Most of the passengers and crew perished, but a few managed to make it to the islands where they were marooned for seven months until one of their number, a carpenter, was able to make a boat for them. The survivors subsisted primarily on fish, birds and eggs until they were able to reach land. The ship was carrying a significant quantity of gold and silver, some of which was illegally salvaged in more recent times. Bird Island was named by the survivors as they left the island in their boat. Bird Island (), Seal Island and Stag Island lie in close proximity some east of the St Croix group or due east of Port Elizabeth and from the nearest landfall at Woody Cape – part of the Addo Elephant National Park. Bird Island has a lighthouse, erected in 1898 after a series of shipwrecks in the vicinity of the island. Doddington Rock, West rock and East Reef lie just South-West of the group of islands. At , Bird Island is the largest of the Algoa Bay islands – according to ''BirdLife''. It is relatively flat and rises to . Seal Island is in size and lies north of Bird Island. Stag Island is even smaller at and is north-west of Bird Island. "Much of the island group is covered by sparse growth of mixed vegetation dominated by the fleshy herb
Mesembryanthemum ''Mesembryanthemum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Aizoaceae, indigenous to southern Africa. As with many members of that family, it is characterized by long-lasting flower heads. Flowers of ''Mesembryanthemum'' protect their game ...
(fig marigold/icicle plants). Tetragonia (duneweed) and
Chenopodium ''Chenopodium'' is a genus of numerous species of perennial or annual herbaceous flowering plants known as the goosefoot, which occur almost anywhere in the world. It is placed in the family Amaranthaceae in the APG II system; older classifica ...
(goosefoot) form localised thickets that provide cover for some seabirds," the fact sheet says.


Bathymetry


Ecology


Bird and wildlife

The BirdLife fact sheet adds that 14 species of seabirds, several species of shorebirds and 33 species of terrestrial birds have been recorded on the islands. Eight seabird species were known to breed on the islands in 2007. “These are the only islands off southern mainland Africa where Sterna dougallii ( Roseate Tern) breeds regularly.” The islands are also home to 43% of the global population of the
African penguin The African penguin (''Spheniscus demersus''), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. It is the only penguin found in the Old World. Like all penguins, it is flightless, ...
(''Spheniscus demersus''), the majority of which are on St Croix. St Croix also holds a locally significant breeding population of
Cape cormorant The Cape cormorant or Cape shag (''Phalacrocorax capensis'') is a bird endemic to the southwestern coasts of Africa. It breeds from the coastal area of Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast o ...
(''Phalacrocorax capensis''). Bird Island is one of only six breeding sites in the world for the Cape gannet (''Morus capensis''). “Larus dominicanus (the
Kelp Gull The kelp gull (''Larus dominicanus''), also known as the Dominican gull, is a gull that breeds on coasts and islands through much of the Southern Hemisphere. The nominate ''L. d. dominicanus'' is the subspecies found around South America, pa ...
) and Haematopus moquini (the African Oystercatcher) are found throughout the Algoa Bay complex. The island group is also known to hold large numbers of Sterna vittata ( Antarctic Tern), which in winter roost on the island in their thousands (regularly holding between 10% and 20% of the estimated total Afrotropical non-breeding population).” The island is also home to Cape fur seals (''Arctocephalus pusillus''). Other maritime species present are
humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the monotypic taxon, only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh u ...
s,
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 ...
s,
Bryde's whale Bryde's whale ( ), or the Bryde's whale complex, putatively comprises three species of rorqual and possibly four. The "complex" means the number and classification remain unclear because of a lack of definitive information and research. The c ...
s,
bottlenose dolphin The bottlenose dolphin is a toothed whale in the genus ''Tursiops''. They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus contains three species: the common bot ...
s,
common dolphin The common dolphin (''Delphinus delphis'') is the most abundant cetacean in the world, with a global population of about six million. Despite this fact and its vernacular name, the common dolphin is not thought of as the archetypal dolphin, wit ...
s,
humpback dolphin Humpback dolphins are members of the genus ''Sousa''. These dolphins are characterized by the conspicuous humps and elongated dorsal fins found on the backs of adults of the species. Humpback dolphins inhabit shallow nearshore waters along coast ...
s, African penguins, African black oystercatchers, Cape gannets, Cape fur seals, Cape cormorants, white-breasted cormorants, various shark species and various pelagic birds including terns, skuas, petrels, shearwaters and albatrosses.


Conservation issues

The St. Croix group and a maritime zone around each island became South Africa’s island marine reserve in 1981 and were administered as part of the then-Woody Cape Nature Reserve. Up to then, the islands had fallen under the control of the Guano Islands section of the Division of Sea Fisheries. The Eastern Cape Nature Conservation service, which subsequently became the Directorate of Nature Conservation of the
Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
Province, managed the islands after April 1992 according to BirdLife. The Woody Cape reserve was subsequently incorporated into the Addo National Elephant Park, which boasts that it is home to Africa’s “big seven” – the elephant, lion, leopard, rhinoceros, buffalo and the
whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully Aquatic animal, aquatic placental mammal, placental marine mammals. As an informal and Colloquialism, colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea ...
and
great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocea ...
that inhabit the bay. Conservationists are wary of the Ngqura development which in time, in addition to a deep water port will include a heavy-industry complex. Mooted occupants include an
aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
smelter and an
oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...
. They see the development as posing, according to BirdLife: The NGO notes that the population of the African penguin in the bay has been increasing steadily during the last century. “There are only a few growing colonies in the world, and it is thought that these birds may be relocating here from colonies that are in decline in the Western Cape or farther afield. Certain factors are known to affect seabirds throughout their ranges. Competition with commercial fisheries, especially purse-seining for surface-shoaling fish such as
anchovy An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the Family (biology), family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 speci ...
(Engraulis capensis) and pilchard ( Sardinops sagax), has been implicated as one of the most significant factors causing seabird population declines." The organisation has recommended that marine reserves with a radius of 25 km be created around important breeding islands, and that commercial fishing be banned or restricted in these zones. The fact sheet continues: ''An unpredictable threat, which is difficult to control, is chronic pollution by
crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...
or other pollutants which spill into the ocean when tankers break open, wash their tanks, dump cargo or pump
bilge The bilge of a ship or boat is the part of the hull that would rest on the ground if the vessel were unsupported by water. The "turn of the bilge" is the transition from the bottom of a hull to the sides of a hull. Internally, the bilges (us ...
. The African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) is particularly susceptible to these events, and a single oil disaster has the ability to severely affect populations. It is believed that the breeding sites in Algoa Bay, at the eastern extremity of the species' range, are at highest risk as they are closest to the major oil-shipping routes.''


See also

* *


References


External links

*
Algoa Bay Nature Reserve
{{Authority control Bays of South Africa Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality Maritime history of South Africa