As Expedition 2020 leader, I am pleased to report that our merry band of Strandlopers arrived safely, albeit exhausted, in Wilderness on the 13th October, completing 156km of another valuable research trek. With the threats of choke points and geological barriers on sections of the route, we only had to take an emergency escape once in torrential rain as we approached the Knysna Heads. Otherwise our route was pretty much as we planned, missing out only a few sections of shoreline when we were forced to the cliff tops.

While we still have to download and analyse the data, from a casual observation, there was a discernible increase in domestic debris as we approached Knysna to some degree and then definitely as we approached Wilderness. The nurdle issue was continuous from Nature’s Valley to Wilderness, though along the rocky shores they were more difficult to find.

In terms of fauna, we had some interesting finds, namely 2 White-chinned Petrels, a Sub-Antarctic Fur Seal, and the carcass of a Kogia Species east of Noetsie.

Unfortunately, due to a combination of sea conditions and remote locations, we did not manage to conduct our anticipated dive surveys. From this experience, we have decided that in the future we will conduct a dive focused expedition instead of attempting to combine dive surveys with the shoreline surveys.

The success of the expedition was largely due to the enthusiasm of the team and the support that we received along the way and I would like to thank each and everyone who contributed to our success.

I will be preparing a number of reports in the coming weeks and will send you a copy. If there are any specific details that you require, please do not hesitate to ask.

We are planning a series of report back presentations which I will inform you of when we have established dates and venues.

Again, thank you for your support for our expedition.

Warm regards,

Mark Dixon