Abalone poaching is a hot topic in South Africa, but what is it all about? What are Abalone? Abalone are a large species of snail found in temperate water environments in several areas around the world. They occur in Kelp forests and rocky reefs and play a very important role Read more…
Mike’s Cape Town activity recommendations for students! When Cape RADD students aren’t diving or in class they can take advantage of being on the doorstep of Cape Town, one of the most vibrant and action-packed cities in the world. There is so much to do in Cape Town you will Read more…
This post originally appeared on the Two Oceans Aquarium blog, check it out here! Cape Research and Diver Development (RADD) is a local marine field station specialising in dive training and long-term biodiversity monitoring projects. The Two Oceans Aquarium is pleased to share the Cape ocean community with dedicated citizen scientists and marine Read more…
Great white sharks are one of the oceans most notorious shark species, a top apex predator with one of the most remarkable and eye-catching predatory hunting behaviors documented in the natural world, the Polaris breach. White sharks have often split the publics opinions, filling some people with inquisitive questions Read more…
False Bay, an area of natural beauty and biodiversity! False Bay is one of the most varied and diverse areas in the world for marine life and plays host to an abundance of species large and small, from an eclectic array of colourful nudibranchs, sponges and sea anemones to Read more…
The Cape RADD Big Bad BioBlitz! Attention all SCUBA Divers, Snorkelers and ocean lovers! Cape RADD are excited to be invited to the Cape Town Dive festival as a competition organizer this year! This is Cape RADD’s first time at the Dive festival and we will be running a BioBlitz Read more…
A Citizen Scientist’s Place in Marine Conservation What is Citizen Science? Citizen Science is a relatively new phenomenon whereby ‘non-specialists’ e.g. the general public can get involved with collecting and analysing data on various topics and species alongside scientists. “projects in which volunteers partner with scientists to answer real-world questions “ Read more…
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 Read more…
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 Read more…
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 , Read more…