“How fortunate to have witnessed (and filmed) the bronze whaler shark in the Klein River Estuary at the Scout camp in Voëlklip on 11 March,” said Adam Spires.
According to Dean O’Neill, the municipal manager of the Overstrand Municipality, bronzies are not frequently encountered in a temporarily closed mouth system like the Klein River Estuary, “but it is not unusual for ‘open’ systems (such as the Breede River) to have bronzies and seals to feed in it”.
“Healthy estuaries house a great number of different plants and animals and have high ecological value. Without a doubt, the Klein River Estuary is in the healthiest ecological condition it has been in many years,” he said.
Overstrand Municipality, CapeNature and the Klein River Estuary Forum (KREF) have worked very hard since 2010 to get the Klein River system back into such a balanced state.
“The Estuary has been open since March last year – the longest it has been open since 2014, with a deep canal where freshwater mixes with salt water from the ocean – ideal playground for a diversity of species like bronzies and seals to feed with the inflowing high tide and then leaving the safety of the estuary with the outgoing tide,” he concluded.. Thank you, Adam Spires, for sharing this video!
