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State of the Bay Report 2010-Final - Anchor Environmental

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Number <strong>of</strong> breeding pairs<br />

26000<br />

24000<br />

22000<br />

20000<br />

18000<br />

16000<br />

14000<br />

12000<br />

10000<br />

8000<br />

6000<br />

4000<br />

2000<br />

0<br />

1988<br />

1989<br />

1990<br />

1991<br />

1992<br />

1993<br />

1994<br />

1995<br />

1996<br />

1997<br />

<strong>Anchor</strong> <strong>Environmental</strong><br />

<strong>State</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Bay</strong> <strong>2010</strong>: Saldanha <strong>Bay</strong> and Langebaan Lagoon 242<br />

1998<br />

1999<br />

2000<br />

Year<br />

2001<br />

2002<br />

2003<br />

2004<br />

2005<br />

2006<br />

2007<br />

2008<br />

Total<br />

Malgas<br />

Jutten<br />

Schaapen<br />

Vondeling<br />

Meeuw<br />

Figure 11.6. Trends in breeding population <strong>of</strong> Cape Cormorants at Malgas, Jutten, Schaapen, Vondeling and<br />

Meeuw islands in Saldanha <strong>Bay</strong> (Data source: Rob Crawford, Oceans & Coasts, Department <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>Environmental</strong> Affairs).<br />

Bank Cormorants Phalacrocorax<br />

neglectus, are endemic to <strong>the</strong> Benguela<br />

upwelling region <strong>of</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn Africa, breeding<br />

from Hollamsbird Island, Namibia, to Quoin<br />

Rock, South Africa. They seldom range far<strong>the</strong>r<br />

than 10 km <strong>of</strong>fshore; <strong>the</strong>ir distribution roughly<br />

matches that <strong>of</strong> kelp Ecklonia maxima beds.<br />

They prey on various fish, crustaceans and<br />

cephalopods, feeding mainly amongst kelp beds<br />

where <strong>the</strong>y catch West Coast rock lobster, Jasus<br />

lalandii, with Pelagic Goby, Sufflogobius<br />

bibarbatus, taken in mid-water (du Toit 2004).<br />

Total population decreased from ca. 9,000<br />

breeding pairs in 1975 to less than 5 000 pairs in 1991-1997 to 2 800 by 2006 (Kemper et al. 2007).<br />

One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> main contributing factors to <strong>the</strong> decrease in <strong>the</strong> North and Western Cape colonies was a<br />

major shift in <strong>the</strong> availability <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> West Coast rock lobster from <strong>the</strong> West Coast to <strong>the</strong> more<br />

sou<strong>the</strong>rn regions, observed between <strong>the</strong> late 1980s and early 1990s to <strong>the</strong> turn <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> century<br />

(Cockcr<strong>of</strong>t et al. 2008). The abundance <strong>of</strong> lobsters was fur<strong>the</strong>r severely affected by an increase in<br />

<strong>the</strong> number and severity <strong>of</strong> mass lobster strandings (walkouts) during <strong>the</strong> 1990s (Cockcr<strong>of</strong>t et al.<br />

2008). The Bank Cormorant has as a result <strong>of</strong> ongoing population decrease been re-classified from<br />

Vulnerable to Endangered (Birdlife International 2011). It is very susceptible to human disturbance<br />

and eggs and chicks are taken by Kelp Gulls and Great White Pelicans. Increased predation has been<br />

2009<br />

<strong>2010</strong>

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