uKian Barker (Tourist operator) eMission Rocks, uchaza ngokuhamba kwezinhlanzi ukusuka kwelinye izwe ziya kwelinye.

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Lapha sibona oNgqongqoshe nezinye izicukuthwane bencokola eHell’s Gate

Leli iqembu losoPhalamende nabanye abahambeli emva kokuyobona ichweba esikhumulweni sezikebhe eCatalina.

Amalungu ePhalamende lakwaZulu Natali amakomidi abhekelene nokongiwa kwezemvelo kanye nelezomnotho nezokuvakasha athathe izi izinsuku ezintathu ehambele iPaki nemiphakathi eyakhelene nayo.

Coelancanths under the spotlight

Tony Ribbinck
Director, ACEP

The African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme (ACEP) hosted the Coastal and Ocean Exploration Conference, which attracted researchers, scientists, marine biologists, environmental educators, conservation managers and museum curators from around the world.
The conference was held last October in East London, considered the home of Latimeria chalumnae. Delegates were able to see the holotype of “Old Four Legs” and listen to Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer who spoke about the incredible find of the “living fossil” in 1938 off East London.
ACEP was launched in response to the discovery two years ago of coelacanths in canyons off Sodwana in the Park. The coelacanth is one of the rare and endangered species for which the park has been listed as a World Heritage Site.
An objective of the conference was to review the progress of the first 18 months of ACEP and to plan the next phase. Importantly, researchers and conservation officials were there to report on the South African coelacanths and their management. Eight park staff attended including managers. It was tremendously useful to have the work of ACEP exposed to the evaluation of the national and international delegates who indicated that the programme had “passed the test” and had achieved remarkably well in such a short time. The conference also provided a wonderful opportunity for planning. The strong delegations from the partner countries in Africa used the opportunity to plan the future science and capacity building.
The conference attracted several of the world’s top marine scientists including Sylvia Earle, executive director of Conservation International’s Marine Conservation Programme, Hans Fricke, a prominent German marine biologist based at the Max Planck Institute for Behavioural Physiology, and Mark Erdmann, Marine Protected Areas Advisor for the USAID’s Natural Resources management Project in Indonesia.
An important decision of the gathering was to endeavour to formally register ACEP as a NEPAD programme.

Comoran delegate Said Ahamada meets Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer who discovered the first modern coelacanth on a trawler in East London harbour