We’re challenging you to identify our Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) - where in South Africa are we today?
Here are your clues:
- This coastline forms part of one of South Africa’s oldest Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
- It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Some of the country’s southernmost coral reefs thrive here
- Humpback whales migrate past these waters each year (the season is starting - keep an eye out for their migration along our coastline!)
- Loggerhead and leatherback turtles return to these beaches to nest
- Hippos, crocodiles, reefs, dunes, wetlands and open ocean all exist in one interconnected ecosystem
Protected areas like these help safeguard biodiversity, support fisheries, and preserve some of South Africa’s most important marine habitats for future generations.
Think you know where this is? Comment below with your guess!
Image credits: Peter Chadwick via .za/
Sharks know no boundaries - what the future of shark conservation could look like under the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) regime (also known as the High Seas Treaty).
A recent panel discussion at the Sharks International Conference 2026 in Sri Lanka explored how the treaty could strengthen protection for migratory sharks and rays whose ranges extend across territorial waters and international seas.
For migratory species like blue sharks, makos, manta rays and devil rays, protection inside national borders means little if critical habitats and migration routes in the high seas remain unprotected.
Speakers highlighted sharks’ vulnerability once they leave protected national waters, emphasising how effective conservation requires international cooperation to avoid threats from industrial fishing, bycatch, and habitat degradation across geographical boundaries.
For the first time, the treaty creates a legal framework for establishing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the High Seas, with scientists noting that Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) could help identify critical migratory routes and habitats for future protection.
Panelists said the agreement on BBNJ marks a historic shift in ocean governance, but will require careful enforcement, political cooperation and coordination with treaties such as CITES, the Convention on Migratory Species and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Read more via the link in our stories.
Photo: Shortfin mako shark, Cape Point
Image credit: Morne Hardenberg
Happy Fintastic Friday 🦈
Occurring every year on the second Friday of May, Fintastic Friday was launched in 2011 by the US-based organisation WhaleTimes to highlighting the endangered status of sharks, rays, and skates.
This Fintastic Friday we’re spotlighting the bronze whaler shark (also known as the copper shark).
As we move into late autumn and early winter, cooling inshore waters along KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the wider east coast begin to shift marine life closer to shore. This seasonal change often increases sightings of bronze whalers in nearshore waters, where they follow schools of fish moving along the coastline and take advantage of concentrated feeding opportunities.
This timing also overlaps with the build-up to the Sardine Run, one of the ocean’s most dramatic seasonal migrations. As conditions begin to align for the northward movement of sardines along the Eastern Cape and into KZN waters in the coming weeks, bronze whalers are among the early opportunistic predators that respond to these shifting food sources. They often appear alongside dolphins, gannets, and other shark species as the ecosystem gears up for this annual movement of biomass.
The bronze whaler is a key part of this seasonal system - its movements closely tied to temperature changes and prey availability, making it an important indicator of coastal ocean health.
The species is currently listed as IUCN Red List Near Threatened globally, largely due to fishing pressure and slow reproductive rates, which makes these seasonal coastal interactions even more significant from a conservation perspective.
We think Fintastic Friday should be every Friday - our sharks, rays and skates deserve attention, respect, and protection every day of the year!
Image credit: Morne Hardenberg
A recent study on South Africa’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) reinforces something we’ve spoken about before: Ocean protection is not just about how much ocean is protected, but how well it is protected.
In our recent opinion piece, “Quality Over Quantity: Why the 10% Ocean Milestone is Just a Start”, ocean conservation expert Johnny Briggs highlighted the growing gap between MPAs that exist on paper (‘paper parks’) and those that are effectively managed, enforced, and delivering real ecological outcomes.
This new South African assessment echoes that message. While the country has expanded protection to 5.4% of its mainland Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the study found that the majority of these MPAs are fully or highly protected - showing strong potential for meaningful conservation impact when proper regulation and management are in place.
As momentum builds around the global “30x30” targets (protection of 30% of the land and ocean by 2030), conversation expectations are shifting beyond percentages alone.
Effective ocean protection depends on implementation, enforcement, funding, and long-term management - the difference between a protected area existing on a map and one genuinely safeguarding marine ecosystems for the future.
Read the full paper via link in our stories
Image credit: Mark van Coller
Opinion: Quality Over Quantity - Why the 10% Ocean Milestone is Just a Start, by Johnny Briggs
With the recent announcement of protections in the Juan Fernández and Nazca-Desventuradas marine parks, the global community recently reached a key milestone: 10% of the ocean is now within protected or conserved areas. While protecting 10% of the global ocean is significant, protection on paper does not always translate into meaningful conservation. Many Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) still permit destructive activities like industrial fishing and bottom trawling, while others face major challenges around enforcement, funding, monitoring, and long-term management.
Despite the recent progress, only a small portion of the ocean is considered fully or highly protected, highlighting the gap between area coverage and actual ecological impact. Effective marine conservation depends not only on expanding protected areas, but on ensuring they are properly managed, science-led, and supported by local communities.
As the world moves toward the 30x30 target - protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030 - the focus is increasingly shifting from quantity to quality. Long-term success will be measured by healthier ecosystems, recovering biodiversity, and tangible protection for marine life and coastal livelihoods.
Read the full piece via the link in our stories
Image credit: Stefan Andrews | Ocean Image Bank
A new global study has found that bottom trawling - a fishing method that drags heavy nets across the seafloor - has caught more than 3,000 marine fish species worldwide, including many that are threatened with extinction.
Researchers from the University of British Columbia compiled over 9,000 records of bottom-trawl catches dating from 1895 to 2021, although they say the real number of affected species could be nearly double what has been documented so far.
The study found that bottom trawling catches a huge range of marine life, from sharks and rays to seahorses and deep-sea fish, most of which are not intended targets. Scientists warn that the method is highly indiscriminate and can severely damage marine ecosystems by scraping and disturbing the ocean floor.
The findings also highlight how little attention has been given to the biodiversity impacts of trawling. According to the researchers, fisheries management often focuses only on commercially valuable species, while thousands of other species caught as bycatch remain overlooked.
The authors argue that the results strengthen the case for stricter controls on bottom trawling, including limiting where and when it can occur and shifting toward more selective fishing methods.
Read more via the link in our stories
Image credit: Sarah Forster | Mongabay
Happy World Penguin Day 🐧
In South Africa this is a particularly important recognition, as we are proud hosts to Africa’s only penguin species - aptly named the African penguin - now Critically Endangered with a 97% population loss from historical numbers.
They’re residents (and icons!) of our Western and Southern Cape coastlines due to the cold, nutrient-rich waters of the Benguela Current. Their populations are most impacted by shortages in their food (mainly sardines and anchovies) due to overfishing and habitat loss.
The African penguin population isn’t just declining - they’re on the brink of extinction within our lifetime and could become functionally extinct by 2035. They’re also an ‘indicator species’, meaning their health reflects the health of ocean ecosystems, so caring about our penguins is also caring about the future of our oceans.
This World Penguin Day, the call remains the same: support and practice sustainable seafood consumption, increase protection of critical breeding and feeding areas, and back conservation efforts that give African penguins a fighting chance.
Waddle we do without them?
NEWS: West African countries are taking a major step forward in ocean conservation 🌊
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is using the newly implemented High Seas Treaty to propose one of the first Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in international waters.
This proposed MPA would sit beyond national borders, in a highly productive zone that includes the convergence zone of the colder Canary and warmer Guinea Currents, characterised by a strong upwelling and nutrient-rich waters - an area rich in biodiversity but increasingly under pressure from threats like industrial fishing, pollution, and potential deep-sea mining.
The High Seas Treaty, allows countries to establish MPAs in previously unregulated spaces, marking a significant shift towards more coordinated, large-scale ocean protection.
If successful, this initiative could set a powerful precedent - not just for West Africa, but globally - demonstrating how the High Seas Treaty can be used to safeguard broader and deep sea marine ecosystems for the future.
Read more via the link in stories.
Image credit: Dani Escayola / Ocean Image Bank
Last weekend a group of freedivers were treated to the best that Aliwal Shoal has to offer 🦈 Black tip & white tip reef sharks, bull sharks, dolphins, rays, and an incredible diversity of reef life.
Aliwal Shoal is both a Marine Protected Area (MPA) and an Important Shark and Ray Area (ISRA) - two designations that recognise its ecological significance and help guide its protection.
An MPA is a defined ocean space where human activities are managed to conserve marine ecosystems. At Aliwal Shoal, this means regulations around fishing and tourism activities help reduce pressure on the marine ecosystems, allowing habitats to remain intact and species populations to recover and thrive.
An ISRA specifically identifies areas that are critical for the survival of sharks and rays. Aliwal Shoal has earned this recognition because it provides essential habitat for a range of species - supporting behaviours like feeding, cleaning, mating, and seasonal aggregation. Its unique reef structure, nutrient-rich waters, and position along migratory routes make it a hotspot for these animals.
Together, these designations highlight not just what Aliwal Shoal is, but why it matters - both as a sanctuary for marine life and as an example of how protection can sustain ocean ecosystems.
Video credit: Angie van der Hoogen / @freediver.angie / @salt.escape.sa / @wetu_safaris
As of April 2026, 86 countries have ratified the High Seas Treaty, while 145 countries have signed it. Ratification is the formal process by which a country officially agrees to be legally bound by a treaty - a country may sign a treaty first to show support, but it is only once the treaty is ratified that the country is committed to following it.
Now that the High Seas Treaty is in force, countries that have ratified must establish key governance bodies, including a Conference of Parties and supporting scientific panels, while also developing and implementing rules for the designation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in international waters, conducting Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), and ensuring fair access to and benefit-sharing of marine genetic resources.
In addition, national laws must be aligned with the treaty to enable effective and consistent implementation across jurisdictions.
Head over to / for more information on the process of ratification and why this is such an important milestone for the broader protection of our seas.
Image Credit: Kurt Arrigo / Ocean Image Bank
NEWS: We are thrilled to announce that SpOILed has been selected as a finalist for the International Tourism Film Festival Africa (ITFFA) Awards 2026.
Launched in July 2025, SPOILED profiles the everyday heroes who continue to fight to protect South Africa’s oceans from the threat of offshore oil and gas exploration. From the windswept shores of the Northern Cape to the vibrant coastal communities of the Eastern Cape, their stories reveal courage, resistance, and deep-rooted connection to the sea.
Film produced by WILDTRUST and Love Africa Marketing, in collaboration with The Green Connection.
Watch the film on our profile or via the link in our stories.
The High Seas Treaty: Where Are We Now?
The High Seas Treaty entered into force on 17 January 2026, after reaching the required 60 ratifications. This means it is now legally binding international law for countries that have ratified it. Today, 80+ countries have ratified, with over 140 signatories globally. Although South Africa signed the treaty in June 2025, we have yet to ratify.
The process is complicated, but as a reminder, the treaty applies to the high seas - covering 63% of the ocean and nearly half the planet’s surface - yet only around 1% is currently protected. It’s a huge step towards legal protection for biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction.
A legal framework is now in place, and the focus shifts to implementation - keep following for updates and head over to / for more info.
Image credit: Hannes Klostermann / Ocean Image Bank
