Direct monitoring of a number of important ecosystem indicators was initiated by the WQT in 1999, including water quality (faecal coliform, temperature, oxygen and pH), sediment quality (trace metals, hydrocarbons, total organic carbon (TOC) and nitrogen) and benthic macrofauna.
The range of parameters monitored has expanded since then to include surf zone fish and rocky intertidal macrofauna (both initiated in 2005) and led to the commissioning of a “State of the Bay” technical report series in 2006.
Anchor has conducted the “State of the Bay” Monitoring programme for Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon annually since 2008.
These reports presents data on parameters monitored directly by the WQT as well as those monitored by others (government, private industry, academic establishments and NGOs).
Their main areas of interest are biodiversity and ecology, hydrological and oceanographic monitoring, ecosystem services, socio-economic studies, environmental and resource economics, conservation policy, strategy and planning, environmental flows, environmental monitoring and natural resource management problems in general.
The staff are associates of the University of Cape Town and have produced more than 200 technical reports and have published over 75 scientific papers and regularly participate in international conferences.
We would like to acknowledge the value and support that we receive from these contributors.
