“State of the Bay” 2024 monitoring programme for Saldanha Bay & Langebaan Lagoon

Monitoring of important ecosystem indicators was initiated by the Saldanha Bay Water Quality Forum Trust in 1999 and cumulated in the “State of the Bay” (SOB) report series, that began in 2006, and which has been produced annually since 2008. This report series serves to draw together all available information on the health status and trends in a wide range of parameters that provide insights into the health of the Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon ecosystem. Monitoring of water quality, sediment quality and benthic macrofauna has been undertaken since 1999, with monitoring of surf zone fish and rocky intertidal macrofauna added to the programme in 2005. Several additional indicators have been added to the monitoring programme over the years, including a summary of the activities and discharges that affect the health of the system and an overview of management and policy development as it pertains to Saldanha Bay and Langebaan Lagoon. Other additions include a discussion on the groundwater resources of the surrounding areas, an assessment of shoreline erosion in Saldanha Bay and surrounding areas, and an overview of known and newly recorded alien and invasive species present in the system. Given the results of 15 years of annual monitoring, and in in accordance with the new approved 10-year monitoring plan for the SBWQFT, some parameters (including sediment quality, aquatic macrophytes and rocky intertidal communities) are now monitored and reported on every second year rather than on an annual basis.

This 2024 report is the 17th in the series and provides an update on the health of all monitored parameters in Saldanha Bay, Langebaan Lagoon and Danger Bay since the 2023 assessment. This report presents the 2024 data in the context of work commissioned by the SBWQFT, historical trends pre-dating the State of the Bay series, a range of other scientific monitoring programmes and studies, as well as trends reported on in previous reports (2006, 2008-2023).