Endangered Loggerhead turtles have finally settled down to their nesting and created records on the Northern KwaZulu Natal coastline.

With careful monitoring over the project area, morning and night to ensure the safety of these huge sea creatures, the Loggerhead and the Leatherback turtles have responded by breeding almost entirely within the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, which is a designated marine protected area and a World Heritage site.

Numbers have declined in other areas due to the consumption of tutle meat and eggs by poverty-stricken communities and fishermen’s abandoned drift nets drowning the imprisoned turtles.

One of the most facinating places to visit on your tour of South Africa is the St Lucia Wetlands. The diversity of wildlife and outdoor activies will have you wishing you could stay forever! Imagine wandering through coastal forests fringed by white, sandy beaches watching the whales and dolphins perform for you in the surf, whilst if you are incredibly lucky, in the warm summer evenings in the months of October to March, you may well find the baby turtles emerging from their nest sites on their dash to the sea. What paradise!

Take a look at South Africa – The Good News for the full article on the safe haven for sea turtles, where you’ll discover more about the WWF/Green Trust Turtle Monitoring and Community Development Project.

Reading this story of safari in South Africa, I thought how well it is written and offers a different view of the traditional game to be found in South Africa.

Look away now, if the killing of game is not your thing, but if you can bear it, the story makes interesting reading. Take a look here and let me know your thoughts. Should any game be hunted or have we become a world in which we shy away from anything distasteful just because it’s been “Disney-fied”? Fluffy animals look cute on a cinema screen, but is that the reality – I think not. What do you think?

Do you live in the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany or Italy? Well, you are in for a treat all this week on National Geographic they are showcasing the best of South Africa.

In a partnership with SA Tourism, colourful cultural celebrations, perilous pursuits of extreme adventure, daring wildlife expeditions and facinating historical explorations will leaving you longing to see South Africa for yourself.

“From the comfort of their living rooms, viewers across Europe will dive with sharks off the South African coast, stalk leopards in the Mala Mala bushveld, and fly over the continent on one of the most epic adventures ever filmed – all over a one week period,” said Deborah Armstrong of National Geographic.

You have been warned – don’t miss it!

Great White Sharks are set to be the subject of an expanded shark-spotting programme which warns surfers and swimmers about their approach.

Trained spotters scour the ocean near popular beaches and sound the alarm if they see one of these mighty predators.

In the only programme of its kind in the world, South Africa manages to balance protecting the great white sharks and beachgoers alike and stress that people pose a far greater risk to sharks than the other way around.

With binoculars and special glasses the trained spotters stand on the hills surrounding popular beaches, sound the siren and clear the water of people when one is seen.

Most swimmers and surfers are grateful for the attention given to both their safety and to that of the sharks. Over the last three years the system has worked so well that they are going to adopt it on other beaches.

Many spotters come from disadvantaged or homeless backgrounds and it offers a real job incentive.

On average there is just one shark attack on humans per year in Cape Town and six in total in South Africa. However, the great whites continue to hit the headlines because of close shaves due to the increasing number of surfers and kayakers.

In the False Bay waters above Muizenburg last year, spotters sighted 165 great whites. So far this year 69 have been spotted, but this will increase rapidly with fast encroaching summer season.

Len Compagno, a shark expert who provided scientific advice to the 1975 movie “Jaws” says that “sharks don’t make a living preying on people. If they did we would have serial man-eaters out there”. Len has continued to regret the impact that the film “Jaws” had on public opinion.

Great Whites are the only shark species that survive in the freezing Atlantic seas off Cape Town. The number of great whites in South Africa is believed to have stabilised at around 1,200 since 1991, although these figures are unreliable due to the vast distances the sharks swim. There is a drive to tag the sharks in the waters around Cape Town to monitor their movements.

Can’t help thinking about the Cornish Huers around the turn of the 20th century. Just like the shark spotters they stood on the hillsides about the bays and shouted down to the people standing on the shore to warn them of the approach of the herring shoals. Just goes to show that good ideas never die!