Wetland Park welcomes rains
White pelicans at St Lucia
Dave Savides
Although the drought in the region remains severe, the state of the
St Lucia Estuary remains healthy.
This despite seawater flowing into
the lake system for 175 days after the mouth breached in March following
a combination of high seas caused by Cyclone Gamede, strong onshore
winds and exceptionally high tides.
The mouth has since closed
naturally (45 days ago) preventing more sea water from entering the
system.
According to authorities, salinity is fairly stable at 36ppt
(36 grams of salt per litre of water) from March to date.
‘Water
levels have dropped by an estimated 12cm as a result of evaporation,’
said Wetland Park Authority media spokesperson - Pontso Pakkies.
‘Due
to drought and a shortage of rainfall the flow of fresh water into the
system from the catchments has been minimal over the last few
months.
‘This week’s downpours have been a bonus, because historical
records show that when salinity rises above 55 ppt then the system
starts to be stressed.
‘Wetland Park management will continue to
monitor the ecosystems, especially the salinity of Lake St Lucia and
availability of fresh water for game.’
Bird counts in the Wetland
Park are regularly undertaken by staff in order to detect changes in
waterbird population and wetland conditions.
Bird numbers
‘The annual winter water bird count covered 31
wetlands in and adjacent to the Park,’ said Pakkies.
‘They are part
of the winter 2007 African Waterfowl Census whose objectives are to
monitor the waterbird populations throughout Africa.
‘Due to the
drought, six pans are totally dry and five others are in the process of
drying up.
‘In total, 21 000 birds were counted in this survey across
the Wetland Park and adjacent wetlands.
‘Of these over 15 088 were
counted in the Lake St Lucia Estuary with waders making up the majority
at 25% followed by flamingoes at 18% and ducks.
‘Also noted during
the count was the abundance of white-breasted cormorants at Lake Sibaya,
White-fronted Plovers along the seashore between Cape Vidal and Sodwana
shoreline with 427 birds being counted on the 72 km beach.
‘African
Spoonbills, Egyptian Goose, Little Grebe (dabchick), Greenbacked Heron,
Hadeda Ibis and African Pied Wagtail, African Fish Eagle, African Jacana
and Pied Kingfisher were also spotted.’
Results from the bird count
• Waders (including avocet &
stilt) - 5 373
• Ducks - 2 471
• Flamingo - 3 996
• Pelicans -
2 897
• Cormorants - 1 644
• Herons and egrets - 1 779
• Gulls
and terns - 1 104
• Storks, ibis & spoonbills -
1 571
•
Fish eagle - 27
• Other fishfeeders - 145
• Other birds -
468
TOTAL - 21 475
