DEAD WHALE WASHED ASHORE AT JAKKALSPUTZ
(22 April 2008)

A dead fin whale, apparently a young male of about 15 meters long and with an estimated weight of between 16 and 20 tons, appeared on Friday in the Walvis Bay harbour from where it was towed back to deeper waters, only to be washed ashore again on Sunday at Jakkalsputz. 

Adult fin whales can reach a length of up to 25 meters and occur throughout the world, although they are not usually seen in Namibian waters. 

No cause of death could be identified as there are no clear evidence of injuries.  Bloody gashes on the body suggests that sharks and other predators already started to feed on it. 

This leaves the Ministry of Fisheries with a dilemma - how do you dispose of such a massive carcass - something that can take months to decompose? Fortunately Jakkalsputz is not often visited by campers this time of the year.

BAN ON QUAD BIKES & 4X4'S - OR NOT?
(6 March 2008)

Much has been said about the complete destruction quad bikes and other off-road vehicles caused to our beach and desert environment during the past December holidays amidst purposeful steps by NACOMA (Namibia Coast Conservation and Management Project) to formulate a national policy for the conservation and management of the coastal zone, including the dune belt and gravel plains of the Namib Desert from Walvis Bay to the Ugab River.

Despite a comprehensive public campaign the past holiday season by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and NACOMA to inform drivers of off-road vehicles how to conduct themselves and where they were allowed to drive, violation of all rules and regulations were so extreme that the Ministry of Environment and Tourism decided to take immediate action and to speed up the process of legislation.

In a press release in February 2008 the Ministry declared as follows:

"An urgent halt has to be called to uncontrolled off-road driving in the dune belt areas between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund as well as in the National West Coast Recreation Area to minimize and eradicate any further damage to Namibia's ecologically sensitive coastal areas.

The Ministry .. wishes to express its grave displeasure and concern about the derogation of the coastal environment due to these uncontrolled activities of quad bikes and other off-road vehicles.  The Ministry condemns in the strongest terms the behaviour and conduct of the drivers of off-road vehicles during the past holiday season...
The MET and its stakeholders have now reached the stage where they need to act accordingly and strongly.

To ensure that proper and effective means for coastal environmental management are implemented to end the destructive behaviour and to safeguard the sensitive coastal areas, the MET in consultation with line Ministries and other stakeholders decided to carry out the following actions:

• The Ministry of Environment and Tourism will submit a notice to Cabinet to proclaim the area between Walvis Bay (including the Kuiseb Delta) and Swakopmund (up to the Swakop river Mouth) as a protected area.  This area will either be incorporated into the existing Namib Naukluft Park, or be proclaimed on its own.....

• Government through MET will also increase the protection status of the National West Coast Recreation Area to become a national park and apply the same measures as intended for the area between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund."

It is especially the last part that affects Henties Bay and the fishing grounds and desert areas up to the Ugab River.

The measures they mention does not mean that there will be no access to these areas or that a ban is placed on quad bikes and 4x4 vehicles in the area.  It means that the areas will be zoned for different uses and that concessions and permits will allow people to utilize different land zones in these areas. 

They hope to have these measures finalized by June 2008 and fully implemented before the 2008 December holiday season.

What this means in practice and how exactly it is going to impact the accessibility to the beach for fishing is not all clear but we will keep you posted as new information comes to light. 

OMDEL DAM
(15 February 2008)

Water inflow into the Omdel Dam is very irregular and the dam is dry most of the time.  Namibia is experiencing a good rainy season since the beginning of February 2008 and the Omaruru River was in flood during the weekend of 9/10 February and reached the dam during the weekend. 

These photos were taken on Thursday, 14 February.

On Monday, 11 February the water level was at 46.08m, which means that it is now almost 5% full (5% being 46.25m). 

WATER LEVEL/CAPACITY
Measurements on the abstraction tower are given in meters which indicate as follows:
 

FLAMINGO MIGRATION
(February 2008)

In Henties Bay residents and visitors are becoming aware of the migration of greater and lesser flamingos by their squawking at night, a jarring sound that fills the quiet night air and our hearts with joy because we know the rainy season in our normally dry country has started. 

Unfortunately in Henties Bay you don't see flamingos because we have no lagoon or wetland where flamingos can feed and live.  There are however big populations of greater and lesser flamingos living at the Walvis Bay lagoon and the saltpans.  But they do not breed there.  Until now there were only three breeding sites in the whole of Africa: Lake Natron in East Africa, Etosha Pan in Namibia, and Makgadikgadi (Sua Pan) in Botswana.   With the help of man-made nests the Kamfers Dam near Kimberley now also serves as a breeding site. 

Unfortunately little is known about the breeding patterns and migration of these birds as they migrate at night and their breeding sites are on very saline sites, inhospitable to man, which makes it difficult to study them.  The breeding season is between October and July depending on the rainfall and therefore does not happen every year, or are attempted but often aborted due to the lack of enough water for a long enough period.

It can be accepted that the birds living at Walvis Bay mostly migrate to Makgadikgadi to breed as the water inflow to the Etosha Pan is erratic and only four major breeding attempts were undertaken at Etosha in 40 years.  This can only happen in above-normal rainy seasons when the pan holds water long enough for the birds to breed and the nestlings to grow to maturity.  When the pan dried up earlier than usual in June 1969, the lack of water forced the adult flamingos to depart, leaving flightless chicks to starve to death. A rescue operation caught 20,000 chicks and released them into Fisher’s Pan. This pan dried up prematurely two years later and the young birds marched 30 km north. The chicks were fed along the way by the adults flying to and from the water. In August, the chicks moved again to the last remaining water in the Ekuma Delta.

Rapid drying of the Sua pan in 2000-2001 also forced many chicks to walk for over 50 km to the last remaining water in the north of the pan, with an estimated 3000 Lesser Flamingo chicks surviving compared to the more than 30,000 the previous year.  These are heartbreaking scenes sometimes seen in television programs. 

DECEMBER IN HENTIES BAY!
(January 2008)

One of the charming characteristics of Henties Bay is the habit of private homeowners to decorate their houses with Christmas lights, transforming it into a fairyland at night.

26 December was, as always Henties Bay's busiest day of the year when thousands of holiday-makers flocked to the town for the Penguin Angling Bonanza, the touch rugby, the Miss Touchies beauty contest and the concert of the popular Bok van Blerk.  

The biggest attraction, however, was the sunny weather and the never-ending beach where there's plenty of space for all the anglers, families and sunbathers - a beach that even then looks deserted, a rare sight at any coastal holiday destination!

Although fishing was not what was hoped for excellent prizes were up for grabs and everyone tried his or her utmost best to get that big one out there!  And a few definitely succeeded. 

With a kabeljou of 9,33 kg York von Finkenstein of Windhoek got the first prize of N$35,000.00.
The largest steenbras weighed 8,005 kg and the heaviest dassie was 1,315 kg.

And as an added bonus even Bok van Blerk made his appearance in the angling tent to remind people of his show later that night - a show that attracted a crowd of between 3000 and 4000 people!

SIGNPOSTING OF ANGLING SPOTS
(December 2008)

After lengthy negotiations with Roads Authority The Henties Bay Tourism Association eventually got permission to signpost some of the more popular angling spots along the coast.  With the help of the 4x4 Off-Road Academy and members of the Tourism Association 12 angling spots were signposted on 13 and 14 December to be ready for the holiday season.

See our page Angling Spots for photos and more information.

CLEAN-UP OPERATION:  8 DECEMBER 2007

Only a handful of people turned up for the clean-up operation, but with a lot of enthusiasm we cleaned 22 kilometer stretch of beach from Jakkalsputz to the Omaruru River mouth and collected a truck full of litter.  With good organization and teamwork we finished the job in about 4 hours.
 

We want to express our sincere gratitude to each and every-one who helped with this operation as well as the Henties Bay Municipality who collected the bags and took it to the rubbish dump.

The Association herewith appeal to all our visitors and holiday makers to help us keep the beach, river and desert environment clean so that each and everyone can enjoy their holiday to the maximum!

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