The body of the Bryde’s whale that washed up onto the beach last Friday (09^th February 2018) was buried today in Kleinkranz, Wilderness.

It is believed that the adult male whale died out at sea, the cause of death probably being old age as there were no visible injuries anywhere on its body. SANParks took the decision to bury the carcass subsequent to a recent stakeholder planning workshop on Marine Mammals held last week. Marine Ranger for Wilderness, Jonathan Britton explains the complexity of the disposal of a dead whale that has beached so close to a residential area.”Normally we would prefer to leave it to decompose naturally, as the carcass of a whale can provide important nutrients to micro-invertebrates and birds,” he said, “But its close proximity to a residential area makes the whale a bit of a ‘public nuisance’ – mainly because of the smell. Towing it out to sea was also not an option as the floating carcass would be a hazard to boats and ships.  Thus we made the decision to bury the whale on the dune behind the high water line where it can decompose without seepage of rotting flesh into the sea attracting predators such as sharks.”

Britton and Carel van der Merwe, another Marine Ranger for Wilderness, were on the scene to oversee the burying process.Also known as the Tropical Whale or Eden’s Whale, the Bryde’s Whale resembles a number of other whale species’ outward appearance, which often leads to misidentification. They reach a length of between 11.5 and 14.5 m and can weigh between 12 and 20 tons. What makes this whale identifiable to those with a keen eye is the three ridges that run longitudinally and parallel to one another along the top of the whale’s head. These are at the same level as the two blowholes. Because it is a baleen whale, the Bryde’s Whale needs to expand its mouth when swallowing large amounts of water. For this, it has grooves along the lower jaw, which allow it to concertina open and closed more effectively.  This whale is dark grey or black, with white markings on its throat and chin.

Sedgefield is pulling out all the stops to give Miss Universe, our very own Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters, a fantastic home-coming welcome this coming Sunday. Members of the public are all encouraged to line the streets to pay tribute to this young Sedgefield lady who has made the entire South African nation so proud.

Demi will be honoured with a street parade through Sedgefield by the people who have supported her through her incredible journey to the Miss Universe crown. The ‘Home- coming’ is an important part of the Miss Universe calendar, and is certainly seen as an international event that will no doubt be screened worldwide.

A large contingent of media is expected, so it will be another opportunity to show the world how very special Sedgefield is.
“Let’s give Demi-Leigh a rousing welcome home,” says Tourism’s Belinda Hobson, who has been on the organising committee.

Sources say that there will be a strong emphasis on security for Demi-Leigh, her parents, grandparents and the Miss Universe entourage accompanying her in the luxury vehicles generously provided by Audi. Numerous VIPs and dignitaries will be participating in the parade, including the mayors of Greater Knysna and George, who will be there to make the welcome official.

The parade will start at 3pm on the Sedgefield Primary School sportsfield on Parakiet Rd and continue down the Main Service Road which runs parallel to the N2, all the way to Vink Avenue where it will turn left and loop back via Flamingo Avenue and Kingfisher Drive to the Main Service Road and back to the field.

As well as Miss Universe and her family there will be floats, dancers, bands, local schoolchildren, bikers, the Knysna Fire Department and Working with Fire, local NGOs, Sedgefield Animal Matters, and Knysna Tourism all participating to ensure a festive, carnival atmosphere.

Once back at the school field, (where she spent a lot of time playing when she was young schoolgirl) Demi-Leigh will take a moment to talk to the crowds and hand out autographed pictures, before being whisked off to her next official function.

Entertainment after the parade will be provided by singer Shaza Greeff, the Smutsville Brass Band, and the Smutsville Church choir as well as two djs. There will be food and refreshment stalls from 3pm.

After a year that has brought extremes of both tragedy and joy to Greater Knysna, it is so good to reach the December season, which brings a much-needed busy time for many, and an equally necessary unwinding time for others.
And let’s face it – with the B&Bs, holiday houses and restaurants full to overflowing, it gives locals even more opportunities to offer that famously warm Garden Route welcome!
As this is our last newspaper of the year, The EDGE team would like to thank all our local readers, writers and advertisers for their wonderful support over this year (and the 19 years preceding it!).
Here’s wishing you all a (take a deep breath now) wonderfully merry, happy, joyous, relaxing, unbeatable, profitable, special, humbling, debt-free, blissful, quiet, lekker, sharp-sharp, raucous, comfortable, action-packed, generous, peaceful, outrageously wild, humorous, pleasurable, fortuitous, blessed, warm, cool, heartfelt, romantic, whacky, cuddly, entertaining, sober, stressless, fun-filled, fancy, amusing, panic-free, hilarious, wondrous, good-willed, colourful, present-filled, tummy-satisfied, Christmas!
By the time you read this we will have (hopefully) put our trusty computers in ‘Sleep’ mode, closed up offices, set the 27 different alarms, fed the snakes (just saying) and scampered off to the beach. We will be back at the media grindstone refreshed and so much more cheerful on the 4th of January to begin work on our first edition of 2018, so remember to send all your news, views, PHEW!s, and Whoo-hoos to info@edgenews.co.za from that date onwards.
May God bless each and every one of you with the warmest and richest of his love!

After the rain: Swartvlei and Touws River (Wilderness)

Park Manager for the Garden Route National Park, Paddy Gordon has expressed relief that the breaching of Swartvlei and Touw estuaries, which took place on Wednesday 15 November, was so closely aligned to the estuary management plan. He affirmed the significance of keeping the mouth closed until the correct time and level of water measured above mean sea level. Swartvlei was ranked number 7 in South Africa by independent researchers for its biological diversity.

“Managing the system is complex, but the height of the water measured yesterday facilitated the decision made to breach/ open both the Swartvlei and Touws River mouths” he says.

The estuaries were breached subsequent to rainfall yesterday.  The Swartvlei Estuary system was monitored for 24 hours and rainfall was recorded as follows:

• In Farleigh till 07:00 on the 15th of November 2017 – 48.0 mm
• Sedgefield – 63.0 mm

Water height before the rain was at 1.74meters above mean sea level. However by 18:00 it was 1.79m rising to 1.8m by 06:30am

• Touw River’s 24 hour rain measurement at Buffelskop  was 33.0mm at 07.00 and the water level at Ebb & Flow rest camp – 1.99 above mean sea level
• Goudveld (forest)-54mm of rain measured.
• Diepwalle (Knysna forest) – 50mm
• Knysna (Thesen Island jetty)-35mm

Residents from Sedgefield came out in numbers to witness the breaching of the Swartvlei estuary. Channels were reportedly prepared days before and machinery on standby as reported by Jonathan Britton, marine ranger for Wilderness.

Scientist Dr. Ian Russel cautions against opening the mouth too soon as during the open and closed phase there is a unique ecological process that collectively works together to maintain a delicate food web. The estuary mouth will generally close naturally during the low rainfall periods as there is a reduction of the inflow of freshwater.

The closed phase is a time of ‘rest and recovery’ when some interesting and important ecological processes come into play.

(Picture by Mike Wood)

Two local kayakers faced a fisherman’s biggest fear early on Sunday Morning when a four-metre Great White got quite serious about having them for breakfast. When the huge shark hit one fishing kayak so viciously the paddler fell into the water, his fishing buddy truly believed a tragic end was looming…

Experienced fishermen Hanno Smit and Dennis Robson launched their fishing kayaks (or skis) from Myoli Beach at about quarter to five in the morning, well before sunrise. Conditions were perfect for paddling.
“The sea was beautiful,” Hanno told us later, “It was flat, glassy smooth, with very little swell and good visibility. Nice and warm too. Perfect”
They had paddled about 1km out to sea before stopping to gear up. Hanno described to us what happened next.
“We opened our hatches and I was just taking my fishing rod out when we heard this sort of deep, loud explosion,” he said. They did a serious double-take when they saw what had caused it. “It was a great white that breached right over Dennis’s kayak and landed right between us!”
He says at first they were just awestruck, not fully understanding what they had just witnessed. Then they started babbling, almost in disbelief.
“What just happened? Can you believe it?”

But 10 seconds later their excited chattering was interrupted as a shark hit, this time from underneath.
“Whether it was the same one or another one, I don’t know,” Hanno told us, “It hit the nose of Dennis’s kayak from underneath with huge force, and took it right up out of the water, throwing old Dennis right out of his ski!” Hanno went on to describe how the shark seemed more interested in the ski than the now frantic Dennis who was desperately trying to get out the water.
“It kind of rolled with the ski. Dennis was trying to clamber back on to it, but all the time the shark was wrestling with the ski and didn’t let go.”
Finally Dennis managed to get back onto the kayak as Hanno bought his own alongside to steady him. Fortunately, as Dennis got on, the Great White released the craft’s nose.
And then they sat next to each other, holding the boats together and bracing themselves for the next attack.
“After about a minute of nothing happening, I noticed that Dennis’s fishing rod was all tangled up with his paddle leash, so he wouldn’t be able to paddle,” recalls Hanno, “So I took out a knife and freed up the ski.”
The two men then started gingerly paddling back towards the shoreline. For the first 200m they kept the kayaks firmly together in the middle, only using the outer blades of their paddles. “It was very tense, we were anticipating another attack at any moment,” said Hanno.
They then started paddling naturally, with their blades hitting the water on both sides of the kayaks, but still keeping the two craft very close together. Hanno said that they both expected another hit every second of the way back to the beach. Fortunately it seems the shark had lost interest.
Once safely on the sand, and after regaining their composure, the two men closely examined Dennis’s ski. They found several shark size tooth marks as well as two shark teeth still stuck in the hull!
Having had time to think about the terrifying incident, Hanno is convinced the great white was looking to feed rather than just being curious. He explains why.
“From underneath it wasn’t sure what we were. That’s why it breached right over us – to see what we were. And when it saw us moving and screaming it saw us as living things. That’s why it immediately came for the kill.”

The hardened fishermen were both shaken up by this experience.
“We were SO lucky to survive,” said Hanno, “Especially old Dennis. It felt like he was in the water forever, and at some stage he must have been touching the shark because I saw black right next to him! Very, very frightening.”
Hanno feels quite strongly that there has been a definite change in Great White behaviour .
“We have been fishing these waters for 13 years, between 15 and 30 times a year, and up until three years ago we hardly knew that there were Great Whites off Myoli. But the last few years we’ve had regular sightings of them, and this last year they’ve been very aggressive. Bumping us, and coming right up to us with almost no fear.”
He is convinced that this is the result of shark cage diving companies ‘chumming’ (enticing the sharks to come closer by throwing food in the water.)
“That’s made the sharks so at ease with humans and craft – the food factor. Because in reality why else would a Great White come up to a boat?” he said.

Picture:- Dennis Robson, safely back on shore and ecstatic to still have all his limbs after being knocked off his fishing kayak by a 4m Great White Shark.