Pringle Bay seascape

Pringle Bay seascape, originally uploaded by andiwolfe.

There's something magical about the rugged coastline of South Africa. The ancient history of colliding continents, ripped apart as Gondwanaland separated into the familiar landmasses we recognize in the southern hemisphere, makes for some amazing seascape photography opportunities.

These rugged rocks offer not only some spectacular scenery along the eastern edge of False Bay, but they also host an interesting diversity of life. Shore birds forage for yummy things to eat, seaweed and shells are washed up, tide pools brim with crawling and swimming creatures as well as cnidarians, a variety of mollusks cling to the submerged overhangs, and the rocks are covered in isopods. These critters resemble very large (2 - 4 cm in size!) pill bugs that are so familiar to kids in North America.

Having grown up in Oregon with the opportunity to walk that beautiful coastline, I truly enjoy my work in South Africa when I'm doing fieldwork in the dunes to collect Hyobanche. The easiest access to these field sites tend to be from the beach and so I've become pretty familiar with many, many miles of the South Africa coast.

I notice a lot of overall similarities between the Oregon and South Africa coasts in terms of ruggedness and interesting rocks, but the geology is very different. The Oregon coast was shaped primarily by volcanic activities, including basalt sheet flows. The coast of South Africa shows the legacy of plate tectonics and millions of years of uplift of sedimentary layers.

Have I mentioned how much I love doing fieldwork in South Africa???