Beach Patrol 12 April 2015

On Sunday the 12th of April 2015, the Amatigulu Honorary Officers along with Ezemvelo Staff conducted a Beach Patrol in front of the Amatigulu Nature Reserve. In attendance was Calvin Harris, Paul and Marilyn Johnson, Peter Coulon and Selvan Pillay along with 3 staff members. Our aim for the day was to firstly become a regular presence along the coast line in front of the reserve, accompany an Ezemvelo staff member in checking fishing licenses and to do a spot beach bird count. For those who wanted to focus their attention on the reserve, there was an opportunity to inspect the Whale Tower's state and any other areas of maintenance would could assist with.


At 7:00am our convoy departed from the main gate of ANR with a bit of haste as we were in a race against time to conduct the beach patrol before High Tide which was at approximately 9:00am. We took the turn off at the number 12 bridge just North of the reserve, which quickly turned into some light 4x4ing given the rutted tracks and sand dunes (this route should only be tackled by 4x4 vehicles).

Upon arrival at the beach we were please to see no vehicle tracks from civilian vehicles on the beach sand, as driving along the beach in restricted areas is prohibited. Selvan lead the way onto the actual beach whereby we soon came across a group of approximately 15 recreational fisherman. The group had clearly been at this spot overnight as there was a small fire burning with some of the fisherman still sleeping. Selvan along with his staff members proceeded to request fishing licenses from all who were fishing at the time of our arrival. All but two of the group had valid fishing licenses which was pleasing to see. Unfortunately an under sized Salmon had been found in their possession so fines were issued for invalid fishing licenses and the under-sized fish.There was another small group of fisherman further South on the beach too, the group's licenses were also checked with all having valid permits.

Unfortunately the birding was not successful with only a solitary Wooly-necked Stork observed on the beach.