Department of Statistical Sciences
University of Cape Town
| Avian Demography Unit
Department of Statistical Sciences University of Cape Town |
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ADU travels, expeditions and eventsStory & Photographs by Marienne de Villiers (Takeover Conservation Officer, 2004) To read about Takeover 2003, click here
There’s a ship lying reamed and rigged in the harbour, Tomorrow for old Cape Town she sails, Far away to that land of endless sunshine, Far from this land of rainy skies and gales, And I shall be aboard that ship tomorrow, Though my heart be full of tears at this farewell, For you are beautiful, And I have loved you dearly, More dearly than the spoken word can tell Paraphrased from the song, The Last Farewell These were the words echoing in my head as I perched on a black lava rock overlooking Transvaal Cove, entrancing the curious paddies with the slightly off-key notes of my harmonica and gazing in vain for a final glimpse of the killer whale that had been frequenting the bay a few days before. The beauty of Marion is that she cuts you down to size – the sight and sound and smell of tens of thousands of King Penguins at Kildalkey Bay, the helpless feeling as a 120 km/hr gust of wind knocks you off your feet, the immensity of a two-ton bull elephant seal as he glares at you out of a bloodshot eye – these are all guaranteed to vanish petty human concerns such as the extra kilogram you picked up during the 5-day voyage to the island or the latest petrol price hike in South Africa.
But mighty though Marion is, she is at our mercy. Through habitat modification or destruction, the introduction of alien species, or the disturbance of her wildlife, we can change her irrevocably. While the over-wintering teams on Marion are small (around 10 members), large numbers of people and cargo are delivered to the island during the annual takeover voyages and these are thus times of high environmental risk. As Conservation Officer, I was fully occupied during the first and last weeks of the takeover, monitoring the offloading and unpacking of cargo, the transfer of fuel from ship to base, helicopter operations, litter and trampling of vegetation around the old base and at the site of construction of the new base), and the issuing of permits and the inspection of field huts. Several field sites were targeted for cleanups (the old hut site at Kampkoppie, the Dam and the Hydroshack), and these were enthusiastically tackled with the help of eager volunteers (see acknowledgements below).
One of the Team 61 members who arrived on the island in April and would be staying for 14 months was Mariette Bause. As the subject of her PhD, co-supervised by John Cooper, Marthan Bester, Les Underhill and I, Mariette was to investigate the effects of human disturbance on a number of seabird and seal species on Marion. Once the initial flurry of offloading and unpacking had died down, we set off on an 8-day hike to show Mariette around the island. Our four-person team also included Bantu Hanise and Wilfred Chivell. Unlike the unfortunate band of birders who left the base two days before us in gale force winds and rain, we set off on a glorious sunny sub-Antarctic day, earning us the title of “the Fairweather hikers.”
Apart from providing opportunities to discuss experimental designs and practice behavioural sampling methods, the round-island also provided some unforgettable sights: grey landscape sculptures glimpsed through the mist on top of a lava slope called Kaalkoppie, Sooty Albatrosses soaring above the penguin-studded beach at Ship's Cove, two young Wandering Albatrosses concentrating raptly on their intricate courtship dance, and a pair of perfect Kerguelen cabbage twins, cool green against a pink scoria slope.
The last few field expeditions after the round-island were shorter but no less memorable. These included a stay at Grey-headed hut on the south side of the island, where Mariette recorded the behavioural reactions of Grey-headed Albatross fledglings to researcher and helicopter disturbance. While the wet weather made life difficult at times, the compensations included hilarious evening conversations by candlelight in a hut assaulted by merciless gusts of wind and rain, Captain B’s Delicious Pot-bread, a never-ending supply of lemon creams, and more spectacular Marion views.
The Agulhas has returned to Cape Town, and Marion Island has been left in peace for a while with her small complement of 15 team members. But this will not be the Last Farewell for me: watch this space!
thinking about where you might be" - Newi Makhado Thanks to DEA&T for the opportunity to visit Marion Island and for supporting Mariette
Bause's PhD project. Also, thanks to Wilfred Chivell (Dyer Island Cruises), Greg Hofmeyr
(University of Pretoria), Shiraan Watson (DEA & T) and Isabel Ansorge and her band of eager
Oceanographers (Oceanography Department, UCT) for their help with the country cleanups. Special
thanks to Bantu Hanise and Nico de Bryun (Marion 60 team) for guiding us around the island.
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