Is Zululand’s coastline in trouble?
From nurdle pollution to dolphin deaths - the headlines paint a bleak picture
WORLD Oceans Day (8 June) was a good time to look at the condition of our own coast and consider the question:
‘Is our ocean in trouble?’
Looking back at ZO news reports of the past year, the picture it paints is not as rosy as we’d like to believe.
Here are some of the ‘lowlights’ of the past year:
The nurdle spill
READ THE ORIGINAL STORY: https://zululandobserver.staging.lnn.caxton.cloud/156136/nurdle-spillage-along-coastline-proves-difficult-handle/
Millions of little plastic balls, called nurdles, ended up on our beaches after a container full of nurdles raptured in the Durban harbour in October last year.
Despite clean-up efforts from environmentally consciencious residents, Alkantstrand down to Mtunzini were littered with nurdles for weeks.
The tiny pellets were strewn for scores of kilometres along the high water mark and proved extremely difficult to collect and dispose of.
Experts feared that the pellets would enter the food chain, as fish and birds would easily mistake it for food.
Dolphin deaths
https://zululandobserver.staging.lnn.caxton.cloud/151377/another-dolphin-dies-shark-nets/
The Humpback is an endangered dolphin species endemic to Richards Bay, but sadly a number of dolphin deaths were recorded in the past year.
It is suspected that the shark nets at Alkantstrand and Newark beaches were responsible for some of these deaths and environmentalists are lobbying for the removal of the nets.
Beach and dune erosion
Richards Bay used to have lovely beaches, but as a result of rising sea levels and storm surges, very little remains of our once sandy beaches and picturesque coastal dunes.
Instead, Richards Bay has lost its lighthouse owing to dune erosion and an abandoned building near the caravan park was destroyed during high tide.
Poaching
https://zululandobserver.staging.lnn.caxton.cloud/160058/gill-netters-rule-waters/
Illegal poaching is a big problem in Richards Bay and the ZO regularly reports on the confiscation of their vessels and equipment.
These poachers harvest fish by the hundreds every night, decimating marine species at a rapid rate.
Whale beachings
While there has been a decline in the number of whale beachings compared to the previous year, there are still concerns that this phenomenon could be directly linked to off-shore seismic surveys and drilling.
2017 saw 10 whale strandings along the KZN coastline, while a staggering 74 whales washed up in 2016 and a further 40 in 2015.
Scientists have proven that seismic blasts can interrupt the communication, reproduction, navigation and eating habits essential to the survival of marine life, including whales, dolphins, turtles, fish and plankton.
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