30 June 2010

I have come to the last room in The Roundhouse, which is also our Honeymoon Suite.Carcharias(Carcharodon carcharias), also known as The Great White Shark, white pointer, white shark or the white death.

It is a large lamniform shark found in coastal surface water in all major oceans and is well known for its size and can reach up to 6 meters (20 feet) in length or even exceeds that, and can weigh 2240 kg or more. I don’t have to tell you a lot about the Carcharias, because it is one of the most feared and the most “loved” animal in the ocean besides the Cetecea.

The Carcharias reaches maturity at around 15 years and only then can they start to reproduce young and they have a life span of over 30 years. He is the Apex predator of the ocean and is known to prey upon a variety of marine animals, such as pinnipedea, Chordates and even smaller Cetecea and is the only surviving species of its genus, the Carcharodon.

The Great White shark has to thank the famous movie “Jaws” for its reputation, but also for the research and in the end the protection they richly deserve.

26 June 2010

Chordata: All mammals are chordates. Mammals include such animals as humans, dogs, monkeys and so on. Vertebrae are something that is found in almost every living thing.

Chordates are well represented in the ocean, freshwater and the land, from the Equator to the high northern and southern latitudes of our earth. The smallest Chordates are about 1 cm in length when matured and the largest that have ever existed are some dinosaurs that reached more than 20 m but the Blue Whale are still with us and can grow to about 30m.

Chordates are active animals, well some of us are, with bilaterally symmetric bodies that are divided into a head, the body and the tail and the most distinctive feature of a chordate is the nerve cord, visceral cleft and arches.

At last something that we can relate to.

25 June 2010

Pinnipedia or Pinnepeds or also known as Seals, Sea lions, and Walruses. This room is specifically designed for family and friends and can sleep up to 4 people.

Some interesting facts about the pinnipeds:

They are divided into 34 species, all of which are assigned to 3 families of the mammalian order Carnivora: The Otaniidae, Phicidae and Odobenidae. The Otariids are 14 species of seal lions and fur seals. The Phicids are 19 species of true seals or also reffered to as the earless or crawling seal. Odobenids is family of single specie, the walrus.

Pinnepeds are specialized carnivores that live in a diversity of marine and freshwater habitats. One feature that unifies these groups are the fact that all must return to land or ice to give birth or breed. They spend a considerable amount of time in the water, because they are more agile there than on land. They are excellent divers and can hold their breath for a long period of time.

These animal or specie, the Cape Fur seal, was hunted by humans on Geyser rock in the 1800 of course this slaughtering is not allowed anymore. Geyser Rock is now one of the islands close to Gansbaai that forms part of the well known Shark Alley and a tourist attraction.

24 June 2010

Astacus: You might wonder what that is and if you are a biologist you will know. Astacus leptodactylus, the Danube crayfish or Galician crayfish. Crayfish, crawfish or crawdads is all members of the super families Astacoidea and Parastocoidea.

These are freshwater crustaceans that resemble small lobsters to which they are related. They are found in water that does not freeze to the bottom and mostly found in brooks and streams where there is fresh water running and have plenty shelter against predators. Crayfish or Astacus can not tolerate polluted water. Ways they breathe are through feather-like gills and they feed on living and dead animals and plants.

In South Africa and also in Australia and New Zealand the term crayfish or Cray refers to a saltwater spiney lobster of the genus Jasus that is indigenous to the southern Ocean while the freshwater species are called yabby or koura from the indigenous Australian.

Astacus or crustacean’s predators vary from fish, birds, and otters to the Whale Shark. They are also very popular as bait for fishermen.

Even though the Astacus is not yet in danger and doesn’t need protection, it still needs our respect and the human population needs to be aware of them so that we don’t have to put them on the endangered list.

Another room of The Roundhouse that is honoring Mother Nature.

The study of crayfish is called Astacology.

There are two categories of Ceteceans, the Mysticetes or Baleen whales and the Odontocetes, including the toothed whale, oceanic and river dolphins and porpoises. In the two categories there are 80 species of cetaceans which are air breathing, warm-blooded mammals that bear live young which nurse their young on milk.

The Mysticetes are named for their feeding tools, which is a series of transverse plates of comb-like baleen which descend from the roof of the mouth. Baleen is made of hard but flexible material, similar to that of human fingernails, rooted in the animal's upper jaw. The baleen act like a sieve, allowing a whale to strain food out of the water which includes small fish and plankton.

During Whale season we have mostly the Southern Right whale in the bay, which is a Mysticetes. These are plankton feeders and they come to Gansbaai to breed, give birth and nurture their young before going back to Antartic. We also have the Humpback and the Bryde’s whale in our waters which are all part of the Mysticetes family. The Bryde’s Whale resides in our waters all year round and the Humpback Whales are mainly seen at the beginning and end of the Whale seasons are they pass through our waters on the way up to the Mozambique channel to give birth in the warm Indian Ocean waters.

We have many dolphins that visit these waters which fall into the Odontocetes family which as we all know are fish and meat eaters.

The owners of The Roundhouse are very passionate about nature and used these names in honor of these beautiful animals.

The whole of the Southern Ocean was declared a whale sanctuary and despite a moratorium on commercial whaling in these waters, each year over 1000 whales are killed for the commercial market. In order to help secure the future of the whales, the WWF is developing an ambitious conservation programme for endangered species and populations.

The WWF Cetaceans Action Plan aims to ensure that by 2012 a significant reduction of treats to Cetacean populations that are currently endangered or are likely to become endangered, is achieved.

The Great White Adventure Centre support this programme by not only offering shark cage dives, but also whale watching trips.

18 June 2010
A lot of The Roundhouse clients have wondered about the names of our rooms. Let’s take the room Cetecea. This name refers to the Whales and Dolphins – Common Name: Cetaceans; Cetaces.
There is only a few of us that know that these beautiful species are still in danger or vulnerable, regardless of decades of protection. These animals are succumbing to new and ever-increasing dangers. Collisions with ships entanglement in fishing gear are threatening the North Atlantic right whale with extinction. The Western North Pacific gray whale is critically endangered and at serious risk because of intensive oil and gas developments in its feeding grounds.
The reason for this info is because our Whale season has started in Gansbaai and a lot of tourists come here to do some shark cage diving with the Great White Shark and to see the Southern Right Whale.
Let us take note and think of the future of these animals.

How bad the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will turn out to be for wildlife, I wonder. The staff of the Roundhouse and The Great White Adventure Centre is very passionate about the protection of our planet and to read about the oil spill causes a great concern for all. This oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is putting the birds, the Manatee and the Atlantic bluefin tuna in grave Danger.
The birds are in their breeding season and especially vulnerable. Some of the migratory seabirds are also to be seen in Gansbaai when you come over for a Shark cage dive or do some Whale watching.
Let us all hope that this problem will come to an end soon.

Tuesday 15 June 2010

It is so cold today I thought I had to go look for a Polar Bear and then I heard the news. “Snow has fallen on mountains in the Western Cape - including reports of snow on Table Mountain - as a cold front sweeps across the province.” Luckily the weather will turn warmer again thanks to the warm and friendly people coming to Gansbaai to see the famous Great White Shark

14 June 2010
Eco-Tourism has always been seen as an important part of the Western Cape economy – especially over the last decade or so. People of today are more aware of nature and are more inclined to protect nature. That is why the Capetonians don’t mind the wind and rain that is once more been poured over us in buckets.

Today the shark trips have all been cancelled. We are looking at 5 meter swells for the rest of the day, hopefully calming down towards tomorrow. We are re-booking all of our shark diving clients for the end of the week. I suggest that if you can find a tour guide, why not go and relax in a cosy wine cellar in front of a fireplace? Check out the photo. We love photographing the storms here in Gansbaai. Grab your camera and get down to the Gansbaai harbor!

03 June 2010
Yesterday we had a lovely hot autumn day. This morning we had some thunder and lightning and then mother earth took a nice shower. It might be that mother earth wanted to be clean and fresh to welcome the English Soccer Team. The staff off the Great White Adventure Centre also welcomes you.

05 June 2010
What a beautiful morning. Standing with a guest, Oliver Labak, on the balcony of The Roundhouse looking over the calm blue ocean while having a delightful discussion from the whales to finances.

08 June 2010
Brrr!!!! But it’s cold and wet outside. A nice cup of soup in front of a fire place is the only place to be, but with the sun showing his bright smile on occasion we know that the cold and rain will not last. Why not visit Bengueala Restaurant for some comfort food!

09 June 2010
Just as I predicted. The sun is smiling his full bright smile again. I wonder how long it will last. It is after all our winter season, which of coarse means that we get a lot of wind and rain. That is why we have such beautiful green landscapes.

10June 2010
I think the Whales are teasing us this year, because now you see them and then they’re gone. We had 3 Humpback Whales again in our waters and now they have moved on again. I can’t wait for the Whale season to begin next month. Mozambique whale season is also starting soon. If you are heading that way, visit our sister company, Scuba Mozambique.