{"id":1314,"date":"2013-04-26T10:05:57","date_gmt":"2013-04-26T14:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/?page_id=1314"},"modified":"2013-04-26T10:09:08","modified_gmt":"2013-04-26T14:09:08","slug":"bettys-bay","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/travels\/south-africa\/bettys-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Bettys Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

To the South a\"GordonsBay\"<\/a>nd East of Cape Town is a part of the Atlantic Ocean known as False Bay.\u00a0 The area first was visited in the late 15th<\/sup> Century by Bartolomeu Dias (1488). Its name originates from the British Navy who sailed their ships into the area, believing it to be Table Bay, on the other side of Table Mountain, and a safe shelter from the treacheries of Cape Horn.\u00a0 To their surprise, it was neither a bay nor was it particularly a safe haven.\u00a0 In fact, this is the place where all of the video is filmed for many television and movie footage of the Great Whites!<\/p>\n

\"FalseBay_SharkWarningFlags\"<\/a>The waves that approach the shoreline from Muizenberg, to the West, and Gordons Bay (pictured above), to the East, are ideal for surfing.\u00a0 But, to insure the safety of those in the water, Shark Watchers, a paid job, are stationed at the main surfing sites.\u00a0 Their duties are to continuously scan the shallow waters for sharks, particularly the Great Whites during their feeding season in the area, and post appropriate flag warning throughout the daylight hours.\u00a0 The last surfer to be killed and eaten by a Great White was David Lilienfeld (1991-2012) in April 2012.<\/p>\n

\"BettysBay_AfricanPenguinColony\"<\/a>Similar to Boulders National\u00a0 Park near Simonstown, directly opposite Gordon’s Bay to the West, a colony of African penguins (Speniscus demersus<\/em>) inhabits the rocky shoreline area of Stony Point in Bettys Bay.\u00a0 These birds, also, are protected by the laws of South Africa; no natural law protects them from the sharks \"BettysBay_AfricanPenguin\"<\/a>who will feed on them when seals aren’t available.\u00a0 The colony only recently has been established along the lower elevations of the Overberg mountains (pictured in the background), with the first nests appearing in 1982.\u00a0 The species is placed on the vulnerable<\/strong> list of endangered animals because the total current population is estimated at about 170,000 adults which reflects a decline of 90 % in the past 60 years! Some estimates are even lower.\u00a0 Cape Nature claims that there are currently only 36,000 adults of the species, reduced from a high of 1.5 million individuals at the beginning of the 20th<\/sup> Century.<\/p>\n

\"BettysBay_OysterCatcher\"<\/a>The area is a haven for sea birds, several of which are on the endangered<\/strong> list.\u00a0 This includes the Black Oyster Catcher. Four (4) breeding pairs have established recurrent nesting sites along Bettys Bay beach, and these areas are cordoned off to visitors during the mating and rearing season.\u00a0 Juvenile Oyster Catchers feed with their parents on the low tide rocks and then move to the beach under high tide to feed off of the stranded kelp that has washed ashore.\u00a0 According to the Seals and Seabirds Protection Act of 1973, it is a fineable offense to disturb breeding birds.<\/p>\n

\"BettysBay_Comorants_Ibis\"<\/a>Besides African penguins and Oyster Catchers, this part of False Bay is home to Cormorants, Egyptian Ibis, and a diversity of both shore- and ocean-going birds (Avian Reptiles).\u00a0 The Cape Sugarbird, along with Black Eagles, King Fishers, and a variety of swifts and swallows, inhabit the area.\u00a0 Their natural\u00a0 habitat has been enhanced by the creation and development of an UNESCO biosphere reserve, the Kogelberg Biosphere, and the Harold Porter National Botanical Gardens.\u00a0 The Kogelberg is known as the “heart of the fynbos,” home to an incredible 1712 different plant species, making it one of the world\u2019s richest sites of plant diversity.<\/p>\n

\"Sutherland_Sunset\"<\/a> Generally off-the-beaten-path of most tourists, a drive along the eastern side of False Bay, through the various small towns and homesteads, allows you to leave the bustle of the big city, Cape Town, and retreat to the fynbos countryside.\u00a0 The ocean-and-mountain views are spectacular, the possibility to view Humpback Whales or Great White Sharks, in breeding and feeding season, are high, and the roads enjoyable to drive.\u00a0 Just insure that you have sufficient petrol in the tank to get you to the next filling station.\u00a0 It can be a long, hot walk between villages or informal townships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To the South and East of Cape Town is a part of the Atlantic Ocean known as False Bay.\u00a0 The area first was visited in the late 15th Century by Bartolomeu Dias (1488). Its name originates from the British Navy … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":1061,"parent":915,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1314"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1314"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1364,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1314\/revisions\/1364"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ragastal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}