Earth-Touch Expeditions

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Back in the guano on Malgas - 05:56 am

31 Jan 2010

It’s remarkably nice to be back on Malgas. Nevermind leaving the comfortable guest house in Saldanha with its clean sheets and bubble baths. We’ll be back to extreme basics here but at the same time, there’s something immensely appealing about being back here.

The weather is perfect – low wind and therefore smooth sailing to get here. That’s a big plus as Malgas can be a lot trickier to get onto than Jutten Island, and the probability of some gear being swept away by the strong current increases dramatically. But not today. The kelp drifts slowly in a negligible swell.

A pair of terns (which I’m still trying to identify. Swift? Caspian? Antarctic? Any ideas?) refused to move as the ladder was lowered and got a free ride down to the waves.

Kelp gulls line the fringes of the island and main nesting colonies. On this island, I see them as more villainous than on Jutten. I may have the wrong perception, but already – having been here only a few hours, I’ve seen two gannet chicks being taken apart by them. They are major predators here.

The Cape cormorants don’t seem to be nesting in any great numbers here this time but they certainly use the island as a roost and we’ll see plenty more in the early morning and evenings as they come and go from foraging at sea.

As on Jutten, there are a number of buildings in a group at the one end of the island – remnants from the days of guano collectors. But now, apart from one – which is luckily the main house, the buildings here belong to the birds. They’re well used as shelter and roosting sites.

But, the main attraction here, is the Cape gannet colony which takes over the majority of the island. It’s always a special sight. The sounds and smells let you know exactly that this is a highly important breeding colony.

I’m slightly uneasy though. I don’t think it’s my imagination – although I’ll check it against the footage we got last year, but I’m positive there’s a very real and significant drop in the numbers of gannets here this year. Perhaps many have finished breeding and their chicks have fledged. Or perhaps, the seals and pelicans which have been so active around this island, have begun to really take their toll. We’ll explore these options.