An excellent comprehensive update about the progress made to restore Lake St. Lucias estuarine functioning.

An excellent comprehensive update !!







SPECIAL EDITION NEWS RELEASE

One mouth for Lake St Lucia system


Background Information Document BID 2012/09

iSIMANGALISO WETLAND PARK AUTHORITY

The strategy to allow the uMfolozi and Lake St Lucia estuary mouths to join to form a combined mouth is progressing well. The linking of the two systems via the beach spillway resulted in approximately 16.4 billion litres of fresh water reaching the Lake St Lucia estuary and lifting water levels at the end of the dry winter period. The early spring rains and natural breaching of the uMfolozi mouth, which resulted from the one-in-five-year flood, have created a marine connection for the system. The recent events are both natural and positive and are part of the much broader long term strategy to restore estuarine function to this important nursery for fish and invertebrates. Key to this is to allow these systems to function as naturally as possible. With the Lake St Lucia and uMfolozi systems joined, modelling shows that their combined mouth will be open more often than it is closed.

However, it is unlikely that there will be a rapid recovery of the Lake St Lucia system - one of South Africa’s most important estuarine systems and Africa’s largest estuarine lake (approximately 32 000 ha). Together with reduced water inflow from nine years of below average rainfall, the lake has had little or no water from the uMfolozi river for the past 60 years. The Lake St Lucia system requires large volumes of water before it is able to function within a range considered to be natural and indicative of a healthy system. Over the next two to three years the level of the water in Lake St Lucia will be highly dependent on rainfall, the amount of which will determine how quickly the level rises. This means that a large flood could fill the system quickly or that under average rainfall conditions, it could take a number of years.

Underpinning this management strategy implemented by iSimangaliso in partnership with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, is the work undertaken through the iSimangaliso GEF project. In its final stage, the Project is investigating and formulating a long term solution to restore, as far as possible, the natural hydrological and ecological functioning of this important system. The aim is the ecological restoration of Lake St Lucia and the protection of iSimangaliso’s World Heritage Site values such that ongoing human intervention is no longer needed or minimized. Phase 1 of the GEF project included a scientific review workshop attended by 41 scientists including hydrologists, estuarine ecologists, estuarine hydrodynamic specialists, social scientists and geologists, and stakeholder and public meetings. This research collaboration has already paid off with the new science guiding the ‘combined mouth’ strategy for Lake St Lucia that is currently being implemented.

iSimangaliso will continue to interact with and keep stakeholders and interested parties informed of the state of Lake St Lucia and progress made with the GEF Project. (For more information visit www.iSimangaliso.com and download ‘Lake St Lucia: understanding the problem and finding the solution’.)

Andrew Zaloumis, Chief Executive Officer, iSimangaliso Wetland Park


Beach spillway transfers water

The beach spillway, created to expedite the reconnection of the uMfolozi River with the Lake St Lucia estuary, was opened on 6 July 2012. (For more information on iSimangaliso’s strategy to let the uMfolozi River and Lake St Lucia rejoin refer to the textbox at the end of the document: ‘2011 New lake St Lucia Estuary Management Strategy’).

Between 6 July and 7 September 2012, the water flow through the spillway, as well as the water levels and salinity within the Lake St Lucia estuarine system have been monitored closely by park staff. The monitoring has indicated that the spillway was extremely successful in transferring a large volume of water from the uMfolozi catchment to Lake St Lucia while the mouth was closed.


Plate 1: The beach spillway transferred an estimated 16.4 billion litres of water from the uMfolozi River to Lake St Lucia over 8 weeks.

The amount of water transferred by the spillway during this period was dependent on rainfall in the uMfolozi catchment and by the end of winter the volume of water flowing down the uMfolozi river was significantly reduced. Analysis of the flow data has enabled us to estimate that the total volume of water transported by the beach spillway was approximately 16.4 billion litres while the uMfolozi river mouth was closed.


Table 1: Total volume of water flowing into Lake St Lucia through the spillway during the closure of the uMfolozi mouth

The volume of water transferred through the spillway raised the water level in the Lake St Lucia Narrows by 33 cm. Once levels were raised, the water began to flow northwards from the 20 km long Narrows into Makakatana Bay and the southern portion of the lake.

Spring rain

Early spring rains began with an intense and rapid-forming cut-off low pressure system centred over the eastern part of the country on 5 September 2012 (see weather map below).


Figure 1: Rainfall forecast for 5 September 2012 from SAWS

This weather system resulted in significant amounts of rain falling throughout the park during 4 – 7 September 2012 (see table 2 below).

The uMfolozi River water level rose rapidly and brought increased volumes of water through the spillway for a period of 24 hours before breaching directly into the sea. The spillway was substantially widened and deep water flowed bank-to-bank into Lake St Lucia Estuary (see plate 3 below). By uMfolozi standards this event was a relatively small flood (a so-called one-in-five year flood). The steady rain falling over the catchment lifted the uMfolozi water levels over a 24 – 36 hour period. Rather than bursting out to sea along the most direct route, the rising water levels overtopped the beach sand barrier at a low point and the river opened to the sea in the early hours of 8 September 2012 (see plate 4 below).


Plate 2: The beach spillway was substantially widened by the early spring rains. It connects the uMfolozi, Lake St Lucia and the sea. This photograph was taken during the spring high tide on 17 September 2012

Once the uMfolozi River breached, water flowed southwards from the Estuary through the beach spillway and out through the open mouth. This occurred until the water level in the Estuary dropped to levels below the base of the beach spillway. In the final account, the water level in the Narrows has risen by a total of 25cm, with a corresponding increase in the rest of the Lake, and levels are the highest they have been since November 2011. In this configuration it is likely that the beach spillway will continue to intermittently connect the uMfolozi, Lake St Lucia and the sea. The extent to which this will occur is dependent on sea condition and wave action, the water levels in the Lake and the uMfolozi river and tidal influence.


Plate 3: The now-open uMfolozi River mouth has linked Lake St Lucia to the sea via the beach spillway.

Since these first spring rains broke the winter dry period further rains have been received over the weekend of 14–16 September 2012. These have resulted in good rainfall being received across iSimangaliso (see table 2 below).


Table 2: Early spring rainfall figures in iSimangaliso

Salinity values of Lake St Lucia

These two rainfall events have brought much needed water to fill wetlands and pans, and to recharge groundwater levels. Rivers like the uMkhuze, uMphathe and Nyalazi that flow directly into the Lake are also flowing strongly. Combined with the effect of direct rainfall on the Lake, salinities throughout the system have decreased substantially with the highest salinity values in the north of the system at 53 parts per thousand (Listers Point) and 2 parts per thousand in the Narrows.




Figure 3: Salinity values of the Lake St Lucia system from December 2011 to 14 September 2012

Estuarine functioning

The current configuration of the uMfolozi and Lake St Lucia mouths, connected by the beach spillway, marks the beginning of a period of marine connectivity. Sampling carried out on either end of the spillway by researchers from the University of Zululand in August 2012, confirm this. Juvenile fish that entered the uMfolozi River through its open mouth last year were found to have moved through the beach spillway into the Lake St Lucia system. These fish species are estuarine dependent species that need estuaries to complete their life cycle. Prawns and estuarine dependent fish species like grunter, stumpnose and cob spawn at sea and come into the estuary when they are small juveniles (approximately half a centimetre in size). They leave the estuary as sub-adults. Estuarine residents like goby are spawned and remain in the estuary for their whole life cycle.

Park staff will continue to monitor the fishing effort in the mouth area and members of the public are requested to respect conservation measures implemented to assist the fish and invertebrate stocks to recover.

Birds

Biannual monitoring that takes place as part of the national Coordinated Water Bird Counts (CWAC) project shows that healthy numbers of many species of birds currently use the Lake St Lucia system, with 35 000 water birds counted during the last monitoring trip undertaken by Park staff.


Figure 4: Bird numbers across the St Lucia system from the July 2012 CWAC count

For example, flamingos are currently found in the northern parts of the lake in large numbers indicating the presence of shallow brackish water that supports the type of food they eat. White pelicans are also present in large numbers and have bred successfully with more than 700 large chicks found in this sheltered breeding colony.


Plate 4: Pelicans at Charters Creek

There is also a large number of bird species using the intertidal areas at the open mouth for feeding and resting. Migratory waders such as curlew sandpipers, whimbrels and ringed plovers have recently arrived from the Palaearctic for the summer. They are feeding on invertebrates living in the sand and mudflats, such as worms and small crustaceans. Pelicans and herons are feeding in the shallow water on fish and prawns. Large flocks of terns, predominantly swift terns but also including little terns, Caspian terns and the rarer vagrant Sooty terns are also found in large numbers. The sooty tern has drawn a lot of interest from bird-watching enthusiasts and has been reported on the South African Rare Bird report over the past few months.


Plate 5: Pelicans and terns at the mouth

Where to now?

The strategy to allow the uMfolozi and Lake St Lucia estuary mouths to join to form a combined mouth is progressing well. The linking of the two systems via the beach spillway resulted in approximately 16.4 billion litres of fresh water reaching the Lake St Lucia Estuary and lifting water levels at the end of the dry winter period. The early spring rains and natural breaching of the uMfolozi mouth, which resulted from the one-in-five-year flood, have created a marine connection for the system. The recent events are both natural and positive and are part of the much broader long term strategy to restore estuarine function to this important nursery for fish and invertebrates. Key to this is to allow these systems to function as naturally as possible. With the Lake St Lucia and uMfolozi systems joined, modelling shows that their combined mouth will be open more often than it is closed.

However, it is unlikely that there will be a rapid recovery of the Lake St Lucia system - one of South Africa’s most important estuarine systems and Africa’s largest estuarine lake (approximately 32 000 ha). Together with reduced water inflow from nine years of below average rainfall, the lake has had little or no water from the uMfolozi River for the past 60 years. The Lake St Lucia system requires large volumes of water before it is able to function within a range considered to be natural and indicative of a healthy system. Over the next two to three years the level of the water in Lake St Lucia will be highly dependent on rainfall, the amount of which will determine how quickly the level rises. This means that a large flood could fill the system quickly or that under average rainfall conditions, it could take a number of years.

Underpinning this management strategy implemented by iSimangaliso in partnership with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, is the work undertaken through the iSimangaliso GEF project that is investigating and formulating a long term solution for the hydrological and ecological functioning of the Lake St Lucia system. The aim is the ecological restoration of Lake St Lucia and the protection of iSimangaliso’s World Heritage Site values such that ongoing human intervention is no longer needed or minimised.

The first phase of this component is complete and involved the analysis of the possible management options that will promote restoration of the system. These options have been presented for comment and input to scientists and other stakeholders, such as local communities and ratepayers, the floodplain sugar farmers, the tourism operators, government, NGOs and other interested parties. The stakeholder events included a scientific review workshop attended by 41 scientists including hydrologists, estuarine ecologists, estuarine hydrodynamic specialists, social scientists and geologists.

The project is in its final phase, which includes the appointment of the team of specialists to provide detailed analysis of the selected options. This process will take ecological, social, financial, political and economic considerations into account, and will include environmental authorisation. The consultants’ work is expected to take 12 months. A portion of the GEF budget has also been set aside to finance the implementation of the preferred option. iSimangaliso Wetland Park staff and scientists will continue to monitor the status of the system and its response to the current management intervention

iSimangaliso will continue to interact with and keep stakeholders and interested parties informed of the state of Lake St Lucia and progress made. (For more information www.iSimangaliso.com and download ‘Lake St Lucia: understanding the problem and finding the solution’.)

More great news for KZN North

Black rhino introduction – Playing Cupid


iSimangaliso Wetland Park’s Eastern Shores section has received a boost to its existing black rhino (diceros bicornis) population with the recent introduction of a young pair. Both were abandoned by their mothers under different circumstances, leading to them being removed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife staff with a view to re-homing them. The male, now about 4 years old, has been in a large boma in the company of a long-suffering goat for two years, enabling him to grow sufficiently large to fight his own battles when he seeks out his own territory. He originated from Mun-ya-Wana (Phinda) where his mother, harassed by a cantankerous male over turf wars, turned tail and left him and a sibling to their own devices. The younger sibling died but he continued to make good progress under the watchful eye of dedicated Ezemvelo staff at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi’s Game Capture Centre.




Goats make great companions for young rhinos..until the latter grow up and play becomes a bit rough!




Prior to his release into the wilds of iSimangaliso the male was moved to a boma in iSimangaliso to allow him to ‘acclimatise’ to different surroundings.




After a few weeks the male was darted and gently lifted out of the boma to be released into his new environment.


Fortuitously for him, during his waiting period in the iSimangaliso boma, a young female at Ithala Game Reserve was reported as similarly abandoned by a notoriously “bad mother”, known for her non-maternal tendencies. Although less than three years old, she was mature enough to survive independently and declared an ideal mate for the male, and a plan was made to set them on the course for a potential relationship.




Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Chief Veterinarian, Dr Dave Cooper and Wildlife Act’s Chris Kelly fitting a foot collar to the female black rhino. This will enable her movements to be tracked with data regularly uploaded to the computer monitoring system.




The female black rhino being let out of the crate.


According to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Chief Veterinarian, Dr Dave Cooper, “Black rhino are unfortunately their own worst enemies. They are highly intelligent, fiercely territorial, inquisitive and tend to attack first and ask questions later. Single males are a nightmare for us because they cannot be introduced into an existing population – that would be their death warrant. And of course, a lone male is not a happy chap either. iSimangaliso already has black rhino but has plenty of space and ideal habitat for more, and an area was chosen some distance from the known population in the hope that he would not encounter opposition in the near future.


With the attraction of a nubile young rhino-wench, we are holding thumbs that they will find each other to be good company and form their own new territory and perhaps start a family.”


The relocation went off without a hitch, and it seemed that Cupid was spot-on as their spoor confirmed that the two had met up. Lucky guests on two different concessionaire night drives unexpectedly encountered the animals the following night; however the female decided to do a bit of extra sightseeing, surprising park staff with her unexpected midnight grid crossing from the main Park into the Game Park section of iSimangaliso later that night, as well as iSimangaliso CEO Andrew Zaloumis on his early morning cycle (which he quipped afterwards “turned out to be a faster ride than usual!”). She was hastily re-caught by the Game Capture team and once again placed in the bosom of the Eastern Shores, with extra measures in place to deter a repeat escape.




Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Game Capture Officer-in-Charge, Dumisani Zwane, eases the female onto a truck to be taken back into the Eastern Shores after her nocturnal wanderings.


Due to the current wave of rhino poaching throughout South Africa, security in iSimangaliso is paramount with staff on full alert. Both rhinos have been fitted with foot collars, donated by Wildlife Act who undertake tracking and monitoring activities in iSimangaliso, and they are being closely observed to ensure their safety.


Andrew Zaloumis said, “We have an abundance of big game including buffalo, elephant, hippo, crocodile and rhino – some of the many attractions in this fantastic section of iSimangaliso. We welcome visitors to enjoy the experience and to remain vigilant and aware of their surroundings. If one is fortunate enough to encounter black rhino on a game drive, drivers should retreat and maintain a safe distance (at least 30m) as black rhino are rather fond of using cars as punching bags,” he said. He also gave thanks to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s Game Capture team for their efficient and flawless relocation as well as their quick reaction to the brief “escape”.


Visitors are reminded to heed park rules and signage, and be aware that even in areas where it is permitted to exit vehicles, such as the viewing decks, picnic sites and hides, this is always at the visitor’s own risk.


For further information and pictures please contact iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority Media Officer Siyabonga Mhlongo at siyabonga@iSimangaliso.com or 0716809792.

Job opportunity St. Lucia

SHAKAbarker tours is looking for qualified and registered guides with PrDP. You will guide on the hippo & croc boat cruise on the St. Lucia Estuary, and do walking safaris, snorkeling safaris, game drives and bicycle tours in the St. Lucia and iSimangaliso Wetland Park area. For more info email Kian Barker at info@shakabarker.co.za. Interested? Send your CV to the same email address.

In The Picture: The Eastern Shores of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park

Todays 'In The Picture' features one of the gems of the KZN North Region: the iSimangaliso Wetland Park! The iSimangaliso Wetland Park is the ‘new’ name for the Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park, and is considered the oldest game reserve in South Africa, being established in 1895. In December 1999 it became South Africa’s first Natural World Heritage Site. It got this title for a reason: The 332.000 hectare park, stretching from just South of the town of St. Lucia all the way up to Mozambique, contains three major lake systems, 8 interlinking ecosystems, 700 year old fishing traditions, most of South Africa’s remaining swamp forests, Africa’s largest estuarine system, 526 bird species and 25.000 year old coastal dunes – amongst the highest in the world. It is a park where one can see elephants and whales or turtles in one day, where one can dive in the morning, go on game drive in the afternoon, and go on a turtle walk on the beach in the evening.

That might sound all nice and well, but in reality it is still very much a park in development. But in this fact lies the beauty in my opinion. We can see this development, we can be a part of it. Only 18 years ago they started to remove all 14.000 hectare of alien pine trees, the stumps of which can still be seen in some places. We can see them rotting away, and we can see new vegetation over successive generations. Elephants, cheetah, wild dog etc have been reintroduced again to different sections of the park, and new tourist roads are continuously being built to make it more accessible for tourists. And although it is officially a 332.000 hectare big single protected area, it is currently still ‘divided’ by wilderness areas, inaccessible areas, and stretches of disputed community land, resulting in the fact that it has multiple sections with different entrance gates. What it comes down to: If you enter the iSimangaliso Wetland Park in Mkhuze, don’t think you’re gonna be able to drive to the beach and see whales, but you have a good chance of seeing cheetah and elephant. If you enter the park at Kosi Bay, you might not see any mammals but in the right season you might see loggerhead and leatherback turtles. So if you plan a visit, think about what you would like to do and see, and then see which section of the park can meet your needs and deliver your wishes. Because of this we have decide to make this blog post a bit of a sequel. In various weeks I would like to show you the different sections in a photo essay, which will allow you to make an informed decision as to which section of the park you would like to visit, if not all ;-)

For today, I would like to show you the ‘Eastern Shores’ of the Park. This section lies to the East of the Lake St. Lucia (hence the name), and in turn has the Indian Ocean on its East side. The Eastern Shores is the most popular section for bush & beach lovers, as a typical day here includes a game drive in the morning, lunch and a few hours on the beach at Cape Vidal, and then a afternoon game drive back to St. Lucia town. Highlights include:

Superb landscapes & sweeping vistas of the wetland savanna, which looks like no other savanna in South Africa. In fact, the openness of vast grasslands with only here and there a tree looks more like the classic East African Savanna, than like the usual ‘more bushy’ South African savanna.

[Typical Landscape]

Catalina Bay is a section of the St. Lucia lake, and is always worth a visit for bird lovers. Plenty of crocodile and hippo can be seen there too.

[Catalina Bay]

Chances of seeing elephant, cheetah, wild dog and lions here are remote to zero, as the latter three don’t occur here yet, and the elephants only cross the lake a couple of times a year to explore the Eastern Shores. The other days of the year one can find them on the Western Shores. However, the Eastern Shores has a large population of disease free buffalo which are often encountered, as are the rhino’s. For me one of the greatest assets are the magnificent kudu often found here out in the open. They have huge horns, and also the waterbuck are very impressive. The smaller relative of the Waterbuck, the Southern Reedbuck is very common here and easily observed. With a bit of luck one might encounter one of the many leopards in the area.

[Greater Kudu]

[Southern Reedbuck]

[Leopard]

The narrow strip of coastal forest running along the coastal dunes are home to the Sykes’ (or Samango) Monkey, which are quite habituated to humans (and photographers!).

[Sykes’ Monkey]

Once one drives over the dunes to visit Mission Rocks or Cape Vidal, a complete new world opens up. Beautiful beaches, both sandy and rocky, are great for fishing, snorkeling, surfing, swimming, sunbathing and of course photography. It is amazing how much colourful life lives on those rocks, and for the photographer patient enough hermit crabs come out of their shell, and ghost crabs out of their burrows. It can be really rewarding to sit dead still for a while.

Talking about little critters, the herpetofauna is great here to, thanks to the high diversity of ecosystems, of which most are relatively wet. For the photographer with a keen eye and the right equipment in terms of flashes, softboxes, tripods and remote releases, little frogs and chameleons are happy to pose and can yield really nice photos.

Enough for today, next month more about the Western Shores of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

Kind Regards,

Nick van de Wiel