GEORGE NEWS - When Dr Zanri Strydom was authoring her PhD at the Nelson Mandela University, she was always under the impression that she would have to work at one of the six gannet breeding colonies to be in gannet heaven, but recently she found herself in gannet heaven right here in Wilderness, far from a gannet colony.
Strydom will be sharing the findings on her collection of 12 months of data on gannets utilizing the greater Wilderness waters, at the Garden Route Environmental Education Centre in the Garden Route Botanical Garden on 11 September from 18:00 to 19:00.
"Unlike shorebirds, gannets are seabirds so they are not naturally found on the beach, but rather just behind the waves at sea. The Cape gannet is an endangered seabird species that is endemic to Southern Africa, breeding on only six islands," said Strydom, manager and seabird specialist of Dunefields Private Nature Reserve, located on the coast east of Wilderness.
"Not only are adult gannets utilizing our area as a year-round feeding area, but the young gannets feed here as well.
"This result is extremely exciting for the Garden Route not only because the gannets contribute to our local economy but also because they serve an important ecological role in our area."
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