Report back - YWGWC outing to Beaverlac

[Chris Shelton]

Firstly I would like to apologize for this late report back, but rather late than never.

I am happy to announce that the YWGWC (Yellowfish Working Group Western Cape) had their first field outing to Beaverlac on the weekend of the 16th to 18th of March.

Before heading out on the Saturday morning, about 15 of us met with a few of the land owners within the conservancy and introductions were conducted all around. Dean Impson ( head of Scientific Services, Cape Nature Conservation) gave us a quick briefing on the planned events for the day and without further ado, we mounted up and drove in convoy down the dusty road to the Ratels River.

Crossing a low water bridge, I couldn't help but notice how low the stream was, with no flow and broken up into pockets of water here and there. From there onwards we lost sight of the stream, in fact we seemed to be heading away from it. After a few km's Dean pulled off the track and we followed suite. The river was nowhere in sight, but Dean assured us that it was there, just over the ridge to our left.

Grabbing our buckets and goodies, we made our way in single file over the rocky crest and picked our way down the overgrown path to the river. We were greeted by a long shallow pool of about 2ft deep, which was literally fed by a trickle . Dean then urged us to head on downstream in search of deeper pools. As we stumbled over rocks and boulders and through nasty bushy bits, I could not help thinking how on earth we were going to transport the fish back to the vehicles, as this was now turning out to be a bit of a mission!

Fortunately, not more than 200 metres downstream, we entered a small gorge, at the bottom of which was a magnificent pool, and from our high vantage point we could see dozens of Yellowfish milling about, the magnifying effect making them appear a lot bigger than they actually were.

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What a lovely sight this was!

Buckets and bags duly despatched, we proceeded to prepare for a bit of snorkelling amongst the Yellows

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Guess who?

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The youngsters joined in too

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and this is what we discovered!

It was absolutely wonderful to witness and observe such magnificent fish in their natural habitat. It really doesn't get much better than that!
In the meantime, Dean prepared his seine net while some of us carried on snorkeling. He swam out in a circle with his net and managed to capture a few small Sawfins and Redfins.

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Eager YWGWC bystanders survey the contents of the net

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And this is what they discovered. Redfin minnow and Sawfin


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In the meantime I continued to swim with the fish. What amazed me is how accommodating they were, accepted us into their environment, quite unperturbed by our presence and quite happy to carry on feeding off scraps of algae from the rocks

We then set to work, herding the fish into the tail end of the pool
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Pierre becomes a bit self conscious

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And then into the buckets they went, ready to be transported to a dam about 15 km away. See if you can spot the Clanwilliam Yellow in amongst the Sawfin!

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And into the truck they went, ready for the bumpy ride to their new home. A very chuffed looking Dean Impson nods his head in approval of the proceedings so far

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The Yellows arrive at their new home

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The smaller group that travelled on the back of the cruiser with the Yellows. From left to right; yours truly, Izak, Brett, Richard, Dean's son (name to follow) and Gary.

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The proud owner of the dam, Richard, looks on as the fish are released.

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And Dean bows us out!

All in all, we had a fantastic time together. The campsite at Beaverlac was enjoyed by all, Swambo's and kids included and the fireside babble went on long into the evenings. From an educational point of view, I found Dean's commentary along the way extremely interesting and enlightening, also pointing out the subtle differences between the Sawfin and the Clanwilliam Yellow.

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John Brink's boys were fascinated by the proceedings. Now this is the age to get them involved because this is the generation that will benefit from the work we do now.

So you see, this is really fun stuff, yet highly educational and necessary! Come on guys, we need more members! Come and join in the action, the fun, the adventure, and help us to make a difference in conserving our Yellowfish for generations to come!

[Chris Shelton]

Quite a few of you guys who were there took photographs. Please share them on here when you get a chance. Thanks!

[cptfly]

nice report Chris, yes I cannot wait for the next event

[Chris Shelton]

Thanks John...nor can I actually. I thought your two very special boys would enjoy seeing themselves on the box....hehe. I have no doubt that you will continue to encourage them the way you do........Happy Fathers Day Boet!

[dpammenter]

nice report back. thanks Chris. hopefully the fish will do well in their new home

[izak]

Thanks for the report Chris.

Hopefully the next outing is soon, I really enjoyed it.

[Yellowfever]

Great report Chris! Was worried that you guys were still swimming in June;-0

I'm planning to be at the YWG AGM 2008 in the WC. Would be good to meet the Streeptrui YWG. My wife and I are due for a trip to the Cape and there is enough wine to keep us busy outside proceedings.

[Scythe]

Out of interrest I would like some more info on this relocation in terms of numbers:

How many fish were caught in total and of what species?
Were they sexed?
-> If so, was a specific ratio for males to females aimed for?

What was done at the new habitat to ensure viable spawning areas are available ?

Will there be any sort of ongoing monitoring to ascertain population survival and/or growth ?

That kind of thing ... who can help me ?

[Pierre]

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Guess who?

Yep thats me, i mean cant you see ?????

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Pierre becomes a bit self conscious

self conscious ??? offcorse i mean you were like the paparatzi after me