False Bay biodiversity under threat

By
Karen Kotze
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With increased upwelling, False Bay has become cooler and key components of the ecosystem have shifted eastward. Shown here (top panels) is the retraction of the once common brown mussel (perna perna) from False Bay into warmer waters eastward and its replacement with the invasive Mediterranean black mussel (mytilus galloprovincialis); and (bottom panels) the expansion of kelp in the bay since the 1980s.

False Bay is a treasure trove of biodiversity that generates more than R900 million in tourism spend for the country’s economy annually, but it’s under threat, according to a scientific review.

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