Whoops-a-daisies - The ugly side of our other 'national flower'
At Dune Daisies, we like nothing better than to walk our dogs on the beach, make the most of the beautiful surroundings and meet our daily fitness goals. We check out the marine life, fill our lungs with ozone and let the sand tickle in-between our toes. It’s all very wonderful – until the soft sand underfoot is replaced by discarded sweet wrappers, cigarette butts, washed up soft drink cans and dumped refuse.
Our ‘whoops-a-daisies’ for this month (and not such a funny one at that) is marine litter.
Millions of tons of plastic and marine waste wash up on the world’s beaches every year (SST). We have all watched appalled at clips of people around the globe wading through literal ‘seas’ of waste. The ocean, beaches, intertidal zones, rivers, estuaries and all that live and depend on them are literally choking on a never-ending deluge of plastic and rubbish. And unfortunately, it is now happening on our doorsteps.
“The greatest threat to our planet is that someone else will save it”
Robert Swan
Here at home, it is estimated that up to a ¼ million tons of rubbish enters South Africa’s oceans as marine litter every year. We are ranked as one of the top marine polluters in the world (UNEP)! Not something to be proud of.Here’s some sobering facts:
- South Africans generate up to 1000 tons of plastic waste each day (SST)
- 80% of marine litter originates on land (UNEP)
- Over half of plastic marine litter is from ‘on-the-go’ food packaging (eg food wrappers) (Ocean Pledge)
- The amount of plastic waste entering the world’s oceans are exponentially growing each year (with an estimated 250 million tons by 2025) (Ocean Pledge)
What can we do in the face of this depressingly enormous problem? First of all – don’t panic! There are LOTS of ways that you, as the individual Dune Daisy reader can make a difference.
Lobby at a provincial/country/global scale
- Take a look at UNEP’s Regional Seas Programme www.unep.org for info on SA’s Sustainable Development Goals and Sea Shepherd www.seashepherd.org, WESSA www.wessa.org.za WWW South Africa www.wwf.org.za and the Sustainable Seas Trust www.sst.org.za for multiple ways to become involved.
Organise a beach clean-up in your area
- There are lots of organised coastal clean-ups, check facebook & Instagram for one near you. The Kromme Trust here in St Francis Bay organises clean-ups www.stfranciskrommetrust.co.za as do the local surf clubs (Slipway Surf Club and Seal Point Boardriders Club). Or else, grab some friends and family members, a few bags and tongs and go pick up.
Sign your own ocean pledge
- Check out www.oceanpledge.org for some life changing, inspiring ways to make a difference.
“The trash and litter of nature disappears into the ground with the passing of each year, but man’s litter has more permanence”
John Steinbeck
Download the Marine Debris Checker
- Part of the Beach Co-op www.thebeachcoop.org, this nifty app allows you to record your beach clean-up activities and contribute towards larger scale research – pretty cool, hey?
Take the Zero to Ocean Hero Challenge
- WWW South Africa has a 5 week challenge you can sign up for – we have, do you have what it takes? www.explore.panda.org
Make July Plastic Free
- Become part of a global movement to reduce plastic use and take the ‘Plastic Free July’ challenge. This website is jam packed full of info and will show you many ways to reduce your plastic usage. www.plasticfreejuly.org
Walking amongst the Daisies - The healing power of nature
Have you ever returned home after a walk on the beach feeling revitalised and bursting full of good cheer? And have you ever watched your kids (or fur babies) sleep ever so soundly after a good run in the park? Yes?
Well, did you realise that you were not simply taking the dog out for a walk or getting fit? You were also visiting mother nature’s medicine chest. One that offers a cornucopia of treatments for not only physical ailments, but anxiety, depression, learning disorders, fatigue … the list goes on.
We are all too aware of the widespread soul ‘sore-ness’ of ourselves, our friends and our communities. Often, a visit to the doctor is the first port of call. Medication, together with (hopefully) some kind of therapy is prescribed. Sometimes this works, most often not.
But how cool is this – doctors around the world have woken up to the fact that pharmaceutically based medication may not always be the answer (or the only one). Those in the know are actually prescribing time in nature as the medicine. Instead of taking the latest antidepressant, a daily walk into the forest or hiking on a nature trail is written on the doctor’s note. Patients in Canada, New Zealand, the UK and Japan have all enjoyed such ‘green prescriptions’. And the benefits of spending more time in nature are astounding, especially for kids.
It’s something that we have always intuitively known, but lost as society has further dissociated from nature. Well, Mother Nature is calling us back – and it’s time to heed her call.
The next time you are feeling tired and a bit cranky (and let’s face it, it happens to the best of us), grab your child, your dog, your bestie or even just your water bottle, and head outside. To the water’s edge, the sandy dune, the fynbos trail or even just to go stand under that gorgeous milk wood tree over there.
And take a moment. And another. And just breathe. And just listen. And just be.
I can guarantee that when you walk back inside your front door that you’ll feel better equipped to deal with what was next on your to-do list.
We really should update ‘mother knows best’ (personally I’m a fake it ‘till I make it kind of mum) to ‘Mother Nature knows best’. Because she really does.
“Nature itself is the best physician”
Hippocrates
Dune Reading
Hardman, Isabel (2020), The Natural Health Service, Atlantic Books, London, UK ISBN978-1786495907
Dig Deeper
Wild Green Sally (Nature writer and conservationist)
“You should sit in nature for 20 minutes a day … unless you’re busy, then you should sit for an hour.”
Zen saying
Animal assisted: petting farms / building relationships with dogs and horses
Arts & crafts: creativity outdoors (in a park/forest) for inspiration or using natural materials such as clay, grass in an outdoor setting
Conservation: pairing of protecting spaces in nature with physical exercise
Dark nature: stargazing at night
Green exercise: running/bike riding in nature
Therapeutic horticulture: growing food in community gardens
Wilderness therapy: group hiking, making shelters
Lighting the Daisies - The Seal Point Lighthouse
Surrounded by gentle trails, idyllic rock pools and vibrant reefs, the Seal Point Lighthouse is irrefutably the most elegant and gracious lady in our community (and believe me, the competition is stiff). She maintains her perfect posture even with waves crashing at her feet and wind whipping her form. With her generous warm glow, it’s hard to imagine that at one point she was said to be loneliest lighthouse in South Africa.
Her story began in 1875. After nearly two centuries of shipwrecks, it was time to cast a little light on the situation. Cape St Francis is situated on the most south-eastern point of the South African coastline. It is the point where skippers need to alter their course if navigating around the country. Many ships take a shortcut and come close to land. Sadly, many come a little too close and came a cropper.
The designer of the Bird Island Lighthouse, Mr. J. Flack, and the lighthouse builder, Mr. B. Godfrey, were appointed to build a lighthouse at Seal Point and made the arduous trip by ox-wagon from Port Elizabeth taking a week to get here. Construction began on the structure using local rock and sand (some say you can still see where they removed blocks from the surrounding outcrops). They laboured at it for a couple of years until it was finally complete in 1878. Sadly, Mr. Flack died of typhus a year into the project and never got to see his lady all aglow.
At first there was nothing else in the area, only the lighthouse. The lighthouse keepers were supplied with provisions by local farmers, but lived a relatively solitary existence. Gradually, people began to explore the area and a few even decided to build holiday homes. Who would have thought it would become the thriving community it is now?
The Seal Point Lighthouse has now become a hub of activity thanks to a group of local entrepreneurs. The bottom floor of the lighthouse consists of two wings, each housing elegant and luxurious accommodation. The central portion of the lighthouse displays pictures of the old lighthouse keepers and the far end is used as a pop-up shop during the season.
Buy a ticket at the amazing Nevermind kiosk next door to climb up to the top of the lighthouse. Unless the weather is shoddy, it’s open daily from 10am to 3.30pm. As the stairs are rather narrow, only a limited number of people can go up at the same time, so be sure to check out how many people are before you. I went up with my 8 year old daughter and, although she really enjoyed the experience, was a little scared going up and down the last few flights of stairs which are very narrow and steep. Of course, the thrill of being at the top and the magnificent view wiped out her fear.
There is a small, old building next the lighthouse that is under conservation protection, but am sure will be renovated into something fabulous soon. We’ll keep you posted!
PS There are three buildings next to the lighthouse. Formerly a penguin rehabilitation centre run by SANCCOB, the closest one to the lighthouse is the fabulous Nevermind restaurant. Nevermind never disappoints and appeals to all – from the tiny tots to the connoisseurs. The furtherest building from the lighthouse is called Salt. Salt has a yoga studio used by local instructors and smaller private therapy rooms. Doing yoga with a view of the the Cape St Francis Beach is indeed a special experience.
Dig Deeper
- It took 839 days to build.
- At 27.75m, our lighthouse is one of the highest stone masonry structures in South Africa.
- She was illuminated for the first time on 4 July 1878.
- The strength of the illumination is measured in candlepower – initially it burnt 15 000 candles visible for 28 nautical miles. By 1931, the candlepower had increased to 2750 000 (still only visible for 28 nautical miles)
- Currently, the light is automated and monitored in Port Elizabeth.
- The fog horn tends to sound after load-shedding.
- All it’s 154 steps are encased in the lighthouse, only the last couple of flights are more like step ladders.
Whoops a Daisies
Sadly, this stretch of coast has seen many shipwrecks. Apparently, if you factor in all the shipwrecks known and divide it by the length of the coastline, there would be a wreck every kilometre. We pay tribute to the lives lost at sea, by naming the streets of Cape St Francis after various shipwrecks. If you would like to see a few pictures of the ships that came a cropper, visit Jill’s Groovy Scoops, grab a scoop of deliciousness and check out the mini-museum in the shop.
Dune Reading
The Seal Point Lighthouse Official Website : Find all the details about accommodation, Nevermind, tower tours and much more here.
The Heritage Portal: A more comprehensive history of the lighthouse.
The Lighthouse’s Facebook page: News about all the happenings at the lighthouse and in it’s surrounding cottages.
The St Francis Kromme Trust: Shipwrecks: This website has an amazing amount of information about the local area, including some fascinating stories about some of the shipwrecks.
Surfline: The real story of Cape St Francis: Craig Jarvis writes a wonderful story about the how things evolved in Cape St Francis.
Simpson, RN, The Monument Around Us, 2006: NL Hulett: An essential read about the story of the Hulett family and St Francis.