Soetwater Resort, between Kommetjie and Scarborough on Cape Town’s south peninsula, is an important historical camping site that represents the environmental challenge of finding a balance between conservation goals and community needs.

The area represents some of the last remaining functioning coastal ecosystems in Cape Town and is of great long-term cultural importance. The resort itself, which is set amid “phenomenal coastal biodiversity” according to Gregg Oelofse, Head of Environmental Policy and Strategy at the City, is entrenched in the holiday-plans and psyche of many locals, especially those from the Cape Flats, who go there every year for long weekends or end-of-year seaside breaks.

The resort has one of the highest densities of oystercatchers (shore birds that are endangered in South Africa), and active families of otter and caracal, along with a unique coastal wetland with lagoons. However, it is also next door to the old Witsand landfill site, which although closed for almost 30 years, occasionally ‘leaks’ waste into the area as it has not been capped.

To manage this challenge, the City’s Environmental Resource Management Department (ERM) has begun a process to protect the land, not as a traditional nature reserve but as a coastal conservancy, in which camping and social activity – not only conservation-focused activities such as hiking or bird-watching – are encouraged. “We would like people to continue using the area they way they like to use it, but within a context where the natural habitats remain functional and healthy,” says Oelofse.

Since 2008, Soetwater Resort has had a full-time nature conservator whose task has been to oversee the ecological management of the area as well as the interface between nature and people. And at the end of 2009, the area below the tarred roadway from Slangkop (Kommetjie) Lighthouse to Misty Cliffs became funded as the new Soetwater-Witsand Coastal Conservancy.

For the next three years at least, R300 000 (half from ERM and half from the City’s Solid Waste Department) has been set aside for the management of the coastal conservancy and the landfill site, with Kommetjie Environmental Action Group (KEAG) as the implementing agency. Already the boat ramp in the resort has been upgraded, and stone walls have been constructed in the parking lay-bys. Information signboards have been erected and more are on the cards. Significant alien clearing has been completed, and the KEAG team is also clearing illegal dumping, cleaning up litter and managing the landfill site (taking care of the dunes covering the landfill, and cleaning up any waste leakages). The project will provide at least 2 000 days of employment a year, and the City plans to grow the project on a larger scale.

Bakoven, 14  November 2009: A search was launched by NSRI Bakoven following eye-witness sightings of a red distress flare deployed off-shore of Clifton at 22h39 on Saturday night.

An extensive sea search aboard NSRI Bakoven’s rescue craft Spirit of Rotary – Table Bay revealed no sign of any persons or craft in distress and it appears that the red distress flare deployment was a hoax call with malicious intent.

Simonstown, 15  November 2009: At 08h44 NSRI Simonstown launched their rescue craft Spirit of Safmarine III to go to the assistance of 4 local commercial fishermen aboard their ski-boat Smiley experiencing complete engine failure 3 nautical miles off-shore of Cape Point in 1 metre swell and a 15 to 20 knot South Easterly wind.

On arrival on-scene a tow-line was rigged and their boat was towed safely to Simonstown Harbour where they required no further assistance.

Kommetjie, 15  November 2009: At 16h16 NSRI Kommetjie launched their rescue craft FNB Wavescapes to go to the assistance of a kite-surfer in difficulty off-shore of Kommetjie in a 25 knot off-shore wind.

Andre Baas, NSRI Kommetjie duty coxswain, said that on arrival on-scene a local surfer was found assisting the kite-boarder but in the strong off-shore wind they were making no headway trying to get back to shore.

Andre said that on the arrival of the rescue craft, a quarter of a mile off-shore, the surfer abandoned his attempt to help and he paddled safely back to shore and the kite-boarder, Albert van Jaarsveld, 33, from Cape Town city, was taken aboard the NSRI rescue craft and his kite and board were recovered and he was brought safely to shore where he required no further assistance.

Cape Point, 08th August, 2009: At 09h04 the NSRI Simonstown duty crew were activated following a request for urgent assistance from the 17 foot Dolphin ski-boat Cinnamon reported to be taking water fast and at risk of capsizing, 300 metres off-shore of Buffels Bay, Cape Point, with owner and skipper Brent Miller and his crewman Ian Klopper on-board, in 2 metre swells and a 7 knot South Easterly wind.

It was unknown what was causing their boat to fill with water.

NSRI Simonstown launched both their rescue craft, Spirit of Safmarine III and Eddie Beaumont, The Metro Ambulance and Rescue Services and the Metro Red Cross AMS helicopter were placed on alert.

Chris Fallows, who was at sea on his private boat at the time in the area, was also diverted to respond towards the scene and a Navy harbour patrol boat from the SA Naval Base in Simonstown responded.

NSRI rescue swimmer Craig Lambinon was dispatched to respond to stand-by at Millers Point car park to be picked up by the Metro Red Cross AMS helicopter if the casualty boat had capsized.

The two experienced seamen, using a water extrication pump to pump water out of the boat, were able to get their boat under motor power which further assisted to drain water from the hull and they managed to bring the casualty craft into Millers Point slip-way, safely, prior to the NSRI rescue crafts arrival on-scene and no further assistance was required after they safely recovered the boat onto her trailer.

The water extrication pump alone was not draining water from the hull faster than what it appeared to be filling up.

Once safely recovered it was ascertained that a 50 cm crack in the hull had caused the boat to fill with water. It is unknown what caused the hull to crack but it is suspected that they may have hit a semi-submerged object while under motor power heading out to sea.
The craft was drained of all water, from the hull, once it was out of the water on her trailer.

Brent and Ian said they had been heading out to fish at Rocky Banks, 14 nautical miles off-shore of Cape Point, but after noticing some fishing activity in the vicinity of Buffels Bay they had decided to spend some time fishing at Buffels Bay before heading on to Rocky Banks.

They said that they had both noticed the boat was handling a bit sluggish in the water but didn’t think too much of it and they said that there was no indication that they had hit anything while under power.

On hooking their first Snoek of the day Ian said he opened the fish hatch, to store the Snoek, but was met by a hatch full of water. The 2 men immediately also noticed that the engines were almost completely submerged in the water and that the boat was almost up to her gunnels submerged in water.

Fearing that the boat may capsize and realizing that the hull of the boat was almost completely full of water Ian called the NSRI emergency number and then he called his friend, Chris Fallows, who he knew was at sea at the time in the area, giving their position, their intentions and declaring an emergency.

They managed to start a water extrication pump and, donning their life-jackets and with their emergency capsize kit at the ready, they started the boats engines and managed to nurse her onto a plain heading towards Millers Point. The bungs were removed to assist with draining water from the (now) moving boat but they said that they were both holding their breath fearing that the boat may capsize at any moment.

Because of the bad cellphone reception in the area and because they had lost battery and radio power Ian continued to sms their position and their progress to the responding rescue resources knowing that if they had capsized and if they had lost cellphone reception the responding rescue resources would have been able to find them a lot easier by using their last known position.

Brent, who is a Master Mariner, and Ian, who is the NSRI Kommetjie station commander and an NSRI Class 1 Rescue Coxswain, both from Noordhoek, managed to nurse their boat all the way to Millers Point and arrived without any assistance, safely, at the same time that the rescue resources were arriving on the scene.
Both men are relieved that they had discovered the ingress of water while still close to land and fear a worse outcome may have been inevitable had they headed straight out to Rocky Banks as was their initial intention.

Darren Zimmerman, NSRI Simonstown station commander, said that it was commendable that Ian and Brent had sent us the continuous updates of their position and of their progress and that had the boat capsized this would have made it extremely easy for the rescue resources to find them without any delays. Too often a casualty calls in an emergency and we find them miles away from where they said they were after they’ve tried to rescue themselves without telling the rescuers who are responding to the initial position they gave, said Darren!

Bloubergstrand and Kommetjie – Bulk Carriers swept close to shore:

On Tuesday afternoon at 13h50 NSRI Table Bay and NSRI Melkbosstrand were placed on alert by the Transnet National Ports Authority after the bulk carrier Doce River dragged anchor and drifted close to shore, off Bloubergstrand, before getting her engines started and moving out to deeper waters and out of harms way.

On Monday evening NSRI Kommetjie and NSRI Hout Bay were placed on alert by the Transnet National Ports Authority after the bulk carrier Kiran was swept towards shore in approximately 8 metre swells, off Slangkop Lighthouse, following engine failure, before the salvage vessel Smit Amandla towed the bulk carrier out to sea and to the safety of deeper water.

Struisbaai – Skipper of trawler casualty evacuated:

At 15h31 on Tuesday afternoon NSRI Agulhas responded aboard their rescue craft to 2 nautical miles off-shore of Struis Baai where the skipper of the Long Line Fishing Trawler Golden Eagle had sustained head and facial injuries after a steel door reportedly slammed shut in high winds hitting the skipper on the head.

Shane Kempen, NSRI Agulhas station commander said that the skipper, Loeries Noonies, 45, was brought ashore abourd the NSRI rescue craft and transported to a local doctor for sutures to a laceration to the head, lacerations to both eye-orbits and treatment for a fractured cheek bone.

Hout Bay – Search for a suspected missing man:

At 16h11 on Tuesday afternoon NSRI Hout Bay were activated following eye-witnesses reports of a man suspected of being swept off a Crayfish Bakkie (small open boat) drifting in the bay off Hout Bay near to Fish on the Rocks.

Brad Geyser, NSRI Hout Bay station commander said that a full-scale search, including two NSRI rescue craft, the SA Police Services, the Metro Ambulance and Rescue Services, Hout Bay Surf Lifesaving and the Police Dive Unit, in 7 metre swells, revealed no sign of anyone in any difficulty. The crayfish bakkie was found adrift at sea and has washed ashore on the opposite side of the bay but the crayfish bakkie was upright (it had not capsized) and we suspect it had been swept out to sea after the Spring Tides high tide swept it from its mooring on the shoreline.

Brad said that some other eye-witnesses had claimed that they had seen the crayfish bakkie being swept out to sea with no one on-board.

Brad said that the situation continues to be monitored but no one has yet come forward to confirm that a person is missing.

Gordon’s Bay – Jetty swept away:

At 06h50 on Wednesday morning NSRI Gordon’s Bay launched both NSRI rescue craft to assist to recover a jetty swept away by big swells during the early morning Spring High Tide.

Mark Burton, NSRI Gordon’s Bay station commander, said that the jetty was recovered and will be repaired.

On 30th May, 2009 Ian Klopper, NSRI Kommetjie station commander said: “At 07h32 NSRI Kommetjie were activated following eye-witness reports of two whales found beached and alive at Long Beach, Kommetjie.

Marine and Coastal Management were alerted while our NSRI volunteers responded to the scene to investigate.
On arrival on-scene our NSRI volunteers were met by approximately 7 False Killer Whales already beached and a large group of False Killer Whales in the process of beaching along Long Beach, Kommetjie.

NSRI volunteers from NSRI stations at Kommetjie, Simonstown, Table Bay, Strandfontein, Bakoven and Gordons Bay responded to the scene. The SA Police Services, Marine and Coastal Management, the Metro Ambulance and Rescue Services, Disaster Management, Law Enforcement, CMR (Cape Medical Response), EMT (Emergency Medical Training), the Dolphin Action and Protection Group, Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services, the Police Dive Unit, Navy Divers, Marine Scientists, Metro Police, Cape Town Traffic Services and Provincial Administration Traffic Services responded to assist.

By 09h30 a total of 55 whales were counted beached on Long Beach and all attempts were made to make the best use of the 11a.m. high tide to return the animals to the sea.

Private individuals volunteered front-end loaders following an appeal made by the NSRI on radio and television news broadcasts and the City of Cape Town provided a further 4 front-end loaders while members of the public streamed to the scene to assist.

Marine Scientists, directing the rescue effort to save the whales, instructed volunteer rescuers on how to move the animals through the surf in an effort to refloat them.
Front end loaders were used in an attempts to move whales, that were hard aground, back into the surf.
It was investigated the possibility of loading whales onto the back of 4×4 vehicles to be driven to Simonstown Naval Dockyard where Navy officials had volunteered the use of Navy boats to transport the whales out into the deep off False Bay but the effort proved too difficult due to the rapidly deteriorating health of the whales which by this stage were suffering obvious dehydration and breathing difficulties and distress.

Many of the whales that were ushered out to beyond the breakers by volunteers appeared to return to the beach, further along the beach, or were seen being washed up on rocks.It is unknown if any of the whales ushered out to sea survived.
Eventually the whales, including those that had re-beached themselves, spanned a 2 kilometer area from Long Beach towards Noordhoek Beach.

During the rescue effort a female volunteer member of the public suffered suspected fractured ribs after being pinned between a whale and rocks. A number of public volunteers had to be rescued by the NSRI after getting into difficulties in the rough surf while assisting to swim whales out to beyond the breakers.
Many public volunteers were rescued by other public volunteers after getting into distress in the waves.

Late this afternoon a decision was reached by Marine and Coastal Management Scientists and Whale Research Scientists to perform humane euthanasia on those animals whose health had deteriorated considerably.
Approximately 35 whales were subject to humane euthanasia performed by the Scientists while NSRI volunteers, Police officers and Law Enforcement officers monitored public safety.

The most humane way to perform euthanasia on whales is to shoot them through the brain and this was successfully performed on those whales suffering on the beach. We wish to stress emphatically that the most humnane effort was employed to prevent further suffering of these animals.

At least 10 whales died naturally, during the course of the day, on the beach, and we suspect that some of the whales, returned to the sea, may have already been in too an advanced stage of health deterioration to survive and some of these whales, we believe, were washed up against rocks or remain in the surf line.

The NSRI and officials wish to thank the massive support from the public and businesses during this tragic event. Calls came in from all over South Africa from people willing to get to Kommetjie to help but due to the early massive support we had already received we appealed to people to rather stay away in order to avert over crowding.

We are urging people who were on the scene today and who may be traumatized by the events of today to seek trauma counseling and support and we express our sincerest thanks to everyone who was on the scene trying to help, they were all positively involved in a massive humanitarian effort to save these whales and they deserve commendation.

Despite many theories on why marine animals beach it has not been determined what caused these whales to beach today.”

SUNDAY UPDATE:

We are urging surfers and bathers to exercise extreme caution in and around Kommetjie and neighbouring beaches due to possible increased shark activity.

Shark researcher Alison Kock confirmed that sharks may be attracted by the chum slicks and by whale carcasses possibly still floating in the area which may attract feeding sharks.

Alison said that there is strong data supporting increased shark activity to an area where there are Cetacean strandings.
The onshore wind may prevent this but caution and vigilance should be exercised.

Essentially Long Beach has been closed to the public by the authorities for at least the next few days but we are strongly urging bathers and surfers to exercise caution if entering the water at Kommetjie or at neighbouring beaches.

NSRI Kommetjie have launched our rescue craft at 11h00 today to attempt to recover a whale carcass from rocks at Kommetjie Lighthouse.

We will attempt to tow the carcass to Kommetjie’s Long Beach for removal by the City of Cape Town officials.

The recovery of whale carcasses continue on the beach today and at least another 3 carcasses washed ashore during the night.