Estuaries and Lagoons - South African Coastal Information Centre

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ESTUARIES AND LAGOONS ARE BIGATTRACTIONS FOR A VARIETY OFBIRD SPECIES.Grey HeronThese include sea birds and waders as well asspecies such as the red-knobbed coot that feedon water-weed, and fish-eaters like pelicans,cormorants, kingfishers and herons. The beautifulWhiskered Ternpink and white flamingo is one of thelargest birds found in lagoons. Thereare in fact two species of flamingo: thelesser flamingo which is a filter-feeder,Malachite Kingfishersieving water through its moustachelinedbeak to catch plankton, and thegreater flamingo, which feeds by treading the mud in a circular movementand then sieving through the muddy water to catch the invertebrates thatemerge from the disturbed mud. This leaves circular marks, much like theimprints of tyres on the sand.Greater FlamingoWaders mostly breed in the Arctic regions during the brief summer, and aswinter sets in, they migrate southwards to destinations along our coastlineCurlew Sandpiperduring our summer months. Visitors from as far afield as Greenland, Siberia andScandinavia end their journey at Langebaan lagoon, which supports up to55 000 waders annually - over 40% of the total wader population of thesouth-western Cape. Many other estuaries along our coast are also destinations inthis annual migration. Here the birds can rest and fatten up for the return journey.Pied Kingfisher
A DIVERSITY OF WATER-LOVING PLANTS INCLUDINGSALT-MARSH PLANTS, MANGROVES, EELGRASS, REEDSAND AQUATIC WEEDS THRIVE IN ESTUARIES.REEDS AND TALL GRASSES often line the banks at the head of anestuary where the level of salt in the water is low. Here they form thickbeds that help to hold the banks together, and also act as filters bytrapping rain-borne silt and using the nutrients in the water tricklingthrough them. In this way, reed-beds contribute to keeping estuariesclean and preventing over-fertilisation.Harvesting NcemaMANGROVES are tropical and subtropical trees that grow in theintertidal zone of estuaries from Kosi Bay to the Nahoon River in theEastern Cape. There are three common species: the white mangrove,which extends almost to East London, and the black and red mangroveswhich grow as far south as the Transkei.As the only trees adapted to living in salty water, Mangroves face theproblem of being rooted in oxygen-deficient, water-saturated soil, wherewithout enough air they are in danger of being drowned. To overcomethis, they have developed special aerial roots that stick out of the mud.Some are pencil-shaped, others are knobbly elbow-like projections,while yet others have strut-roots that grow high on the trunk and serveboth as a means of absorbing oxygen and as stabilisers to the tree.Associated with mangroves is a wide diversity of plants and animalsthat play an integral role in the estuarine food chain. Mangroves addlarge quantities of dead leaf material to an estuary and this, when itdecomposes, provides nutrients for other organisms in the food chain.Mangrove estuaries are also important feeding and breeding groundsBlack Mangroves
Page 1 and 2: Care For OurESTUARIES & LAGOONSEstu
Page 3 and 4: Along with rainforests and coral re
Page 5: Another unusual fish species is the
Page 9 and 10: for fish and other marine life. Fur
Page 11 and 12: MANAGING ESTUARIES AND LAGOONSTO EV

Estuaries and Lagoons - South African Coastal Information Centre

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