Blog

SANBI IDentifyit app for identifying endangered species

The South African National Biodiversity Institute – SANBI IDentifyit app is a practical tool for the identification of South African endangered and protected species. The app was created to assist customs officials but we’ve found it to be a handy companion for identifying some of the animals we see on our dives and hikes. How does it work? The SANBI IDentifyit app functions as an elimination key, starting first with a list of all the Read more…

By dylan, ago
Boulders Beach

Cape Town, South Africa – A year-round awesome destination 

Cape Town, South Africa – A year-round awesome destination  I will always remember as a child a knock on my bedroom door from my mother who seemed extremely excited to tell me something, “I’ve just won a family holiday to South Africa, were going to South Africa!”. Unbeknown to me she had been talking on the radio and had bagged us a dream family holiday. Excited was an understatement, I was absolutely thrilled. Even more Read more…

By , ago
mother and calf whales

A brief but finicky matter of bio-mimicry

Bio-mimicry is the utilisation of naturally occurring adaptations of animal and plant species and can improve human advances in many areas such as medicine, industry and architecture. Investigation into bio-mimicry can often offer more sustainable, affordable and simple solutions to human developments through imitating natural design. Bio-mimicry Examples Some examples of species adaptations in the marine environment that have been imitated for human benefits involve: echolocation and electroreception (through the study of dolphins, whales and shark species, Read more…

By Test Student, ago
Great White Shark

A brief insight into shark vision

Shark Senses With an evolutionary period of over 400 million years, sharks are finely tuned to their environment. Sharks have a total of seven senses to interpret changes in their environment. These senses are: auditory perception (sound), tactician (touch), gustatory perception (taste), vision (sight), olfaction (taste), water movement detection (lateral line) and electro/magnetic reception. These senses are used for prey detection, orientation, and predator avoidance White Shark Vision Vision is vital for most sharks particularly Read more…

By Test Student, ago

Coral losses revealed by historic charts

Ghost Reefs A research article published last month in the journal Science Advances details coral losses that are greater than previously imagined. These findings shed new light on the impact of human development on our oceans, a particularly hot topic today as documentaries like Netflix’s Chasing Coral reveal an all too grim story. Led by author Loren McClenachan at Colby College in Maine, the study reports an overall loss exceeding 50% of the area historically Read more…

By dylan, ago

ELMO: New research project!

Exciting new citizen science study! Cape RADD is proud to announce that our students will be participating in a new collaborative research project from the South African Elasmobranch Monitoring team (ELMO). In their words, “ELMO is a citizen science project, which serves as an interactive database to help monitor Southern African shark, skate and ray populations through public participation.” Our students will be assisting the project by collecting data on shark sightings and shark egg Read more…

By dylan, ago

Our Story

Mike and Dylan’s Story Mike and Dylan, Cape RADD course directors, have been working in the field of marine biology for the better part of a decade now. They first met in South Africa on a research internship back in 2009 after completing their undergraduate degrees, became good friends , co-workers, and later, research colleagues. Since then they have both worked on their own research projects focusing primarily on shark deterrents, biomimicry, animal movement and Read more…

By Test Student, ago

Welcome to Cape RADD

Welcome to Cape RADD! We have been working tirelessly over the past year to put together an exciting new field course and in just a few short months we will be launching. The month-long programme is aimed at young biologists, conservationists, naturalists or just the plain old curious-ists who wish to learn or improve their SCUBA diving, develop their understanding of the marine ecosystem and practice scientific techniques. Students will learn the theory behind marine Read more…

By Test Guide, ago