22 April 2011 - Namaqualand Information

Shipwrecks along the
Cape Agulhas Coastline
The Agulhas bank was the most dangerous
passage of the voyage for Eastern sea traders
between Europe and India during the early
years of sailing around the southernmost tip of
Africa. The Agulhas Bank became the
graveyard of mariners and the Cape Agulhas
coastline the coast of shipwrecks. (E.H.
Burrows)
DUCHESS OF BUCCLEUGH
(British wooden barque, 404 tons, built 1843),
en route from Calcutta to London; cargo:
indigo, rice, sugar and silk; run ashore on a
sandy beach close to the Ratel River mouth,
13/06/1850. (Cape Town Mail, 15/06/1850;
Lloyds Register of Shipping, 1850-51; Shipping
Register, Cape Archives, C.C. 2/17)
GLORIA DEO
(Italian barque, 977 tons), en route from
Singapore to Falmouth; cargo: rice and rattans;
wrecked on a reef in front of the Ratel River,
19/06/1882; 15 survivors. (Cape Argus, 3,
5/07/1882; Shipping Register, Cape Archives,
C.C. 3/7/2/3)
For more information on shipwrecks:
BURROWS, Edmund H. 1994. Overberg
Odyssey: People, Roads & Early Days.
Swellendam Trust.
TURNER, M. 1988. Shipwrecks and salvage in
South Africa – 1505 to the present. Cape
Town: C. Struik.
FAUNA
Elf, Shad, Pomatomus saltatrix
Spawning season: September-February,
peak in October-December
Length at 50% sexual maturity
(geslagsrypheid): males 24 cm TL; females 25
cm TL
Age at 50% sexual maturity (geslagsrypheid):