Great White Shark

On our last morning in Cape Town we visited the Two Oceans Aquarium, where as is usual when visiting wildlife or conservation centres, we learned tons.

The Great White Shark, although unpopular with humans who fear it, is now threatened with extinction. However, being an apex predator, it’s decline is already being felt. The large fish it eats are more prevalent, so the smaller fish are less so, causing an algae explosion, which is killing the coral. This in turn will reduce the protection of the coastline and result in increased erosion. Nature is such a balancing act.

There were some other interesting statistics available:
Last year 358 people were killed by kites and 791 by defective toasters, but only 9 by sharks.

On the plus side, I was particularly interested to see that eco bricks are being made and used in South Africa. These are empty water bottles, crammed full of used plastic bags. The eco bricks are used to build the basic structure of a classroom for example, which was then covered in concrete to make it strong.

And we were encouraged to make personal pledges about what we will do to help the environment.