The Skeleton Coast
The Skeleton Coast received its name a long time ago, back in the days of whaling and seal hunting from all the bones found the length of the coast. In these days, it is more likely you will come across the decaying carcass of a ship abandoned at sea, that has been blown onto the coast or that has been ship wrecked on nearby rocks, hidden by the frequent fogs.
Our trip comprised of visits to the Cape Cross fur seal colony and then to Walvis Bay in the hope of finding some flamingos - both Lesser and Greater are recorded there.
Cape Cross was everything I expected - and more. It is the world’s largest breeding fur seal colony.
~ Hectic – many thousands of seals on the extensive beaches. Adult females returning from catching fish at sea to feed their pups. Adult males behaving as the beach masters are expected to (minding their harems, fighting off rival males).
~ Noisy – the braying of the males signifying they were on territory. Females calling to their pups and hungry pups begging for their mothers to feed them.
~ Smelly – OH BOY! Did it smell!
There are walkways open to the public, duly fenced off to prevent the seals and people mixing, but the fencing cannot prevent the pervasive smell. Stale, rotten fish. Pungent, sometimes acrid and penetrating everywhere! So bad that I really felt I was beginning to develop a headache at one point.
Walvis Bay failed to provide the hoped for flamingo image opportunities.
We drove some distance to check out various sections of the coast, but found nothing photographable.
The 11 or so seen were well off, close to the horizon and certainly not likely to show up in a photograph!
There were a number of waders, gulls and terns closer by, which for someone like me was very interesting. I've tried hard to match the species photographed to the reference books I have available (so apologies if I have made any misidentifications. Feel free to message me to put me right if you spot an error).
Our trip comprised of visits to the Cape Cross fur seal colony and then to Walvis Bay in the hope of finding some flamingos - both Lesser and Greater are recorded there.
Cape Cross was everything I expected - and more. It is the world’s largest breeding fur seal colony.
~ Hectic – many thousands of seals on the extensive beaches. Adult females returning from catching fish at sea to feed their pups. Adult males behaving as the beach masters are expected to (minding their harems, fighting off rival males).
~ Noisy – the braying of the males signifying they were on territory. Females calling to their pups and hungry pups begging for their mothers to feed them.
~ Smelly – OH BOY! Did it smell!
There are walkways open to the public, duly fenced off to prevent the seals and people mixing, but the fencing cannot prevent the pervasive smell. Stale, rotten fish. Pungent, sometimes acrid and penetrating everywhere! So bad that I really felt I was beginning to develop a headache at one point.
Walvis Bay failed to provide the hoped for flamingo image opportunities.
We drove some distance to check out various sections of the coast, but found nothing photographable.
The 11 or so seen were well off, close to the horizon and certainly not likely to show up in a photograph!
There were a number of waders, gulls and terns closer by, which for someone like me was very interesting. I've tried hard to match the species photographed to the reference books I have available (so apologies if I have made any misidentifications. Feel free to message me to put me right if you spot an error).
