Hartbeespoort Dam: NSRI issues urgent safety warning as water hyacinth chokes!

The South African National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) has issued a strong alert to the public regarding hazardous conditions at Hartbeespoort Dam, where rapidly spreading water hyacinth is creating dangerous and unpredictable circumstances for anyone considering launching boats or watercraft.

Hartbeespoort Dam, located in South Africa’s North West Province near the town of Hartbeespoort and roughly an hour from both Johannesburg and Pretoria, is one of the country’s most popular recreational water bodies. Nestled between the Magaliesberg mountain range, it attracts thousands of visitors for boating, fishing, and water sports. However, recurring water hyacinth infestations have become a major environmental and safety challenge.

(c) NSRI

Vast sections of the dam are now blanketed by thick mats of floating hyacinth, which are expected to expand significantly in the coming summer weeks. Seasonal growth, combined with frequent and sudden wind shifts, is causing these dense clusters to drift quickly across the water - transforming previously navigable channels into blocked or impassable routes within minutes.

Key dangers linked to current hyacinth conditions at Hartbeespoort Dam:

• Watercraft becoming trapped in dense vegetation and unable to return to shore.
• Engines overheating or failing due to tangled plant material and hidden debris.
• Concealed hazards such as illegal fishing nets or submerged objects caught within the hyacinth.
• Sudden wind changes pushing large hyacinth mats across the dam, cutting off escape routes.

While NSRI crews remain on standby for critical emergencies, the organisation stresses that conditions are severely compromised and should not be underestimated.

If you still choose to launch a boat, NSRI advises you to:

• Check the latest weather and wind forecasts before departure.
• Closely monitor hyacinth movement before and during your trip.
• Share your planned route and return time with someone on land.
• Carry sufficient supplies and protective gear in case you become stranded.
• Keep a charged mobile phone in a waterproof pouch, wear a lifejacket at all times, and log your journey using the NSRI SafeTRX app.

The NSRI urges all visitors to exercise extreme caution as Hartbeespoort Dam faces one of its most challenging hyacinth surges in recent years.

 

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South Africa: The NSRI releases a "full moon Spring tide safety alert"!

The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), a voluntary non-profit organization tasked with saving lives through drowning prevention in South Africa, has released a full moon Spring tide safety alert. The NSRI, together with South Africa's emergency services, is appealing to bathers, boaters, paddlers, sailors, shoreline anglers and coastal hikers to be cautious around the coastline as the full moon Spring tide causes the daily 2 high tides to be higher than normal and the daily 2 low tides to be lower than normal. This Spring tide peaks on 22 June 2024.

(c) www.nsri.org.za

 

The affect that Spring tide has on the coast, caused by the gravitational effect that the moon has on the earth – causing the 2 daily high tides to be higher than normal and the 2 daily low tides to be lower than normal, – will already be noticeable around the coastline increasing in intensity towards the full moon peak, on 22 June 2024, and then gradually declining in intensity towards the middle of next week.

South Africa: NSRI releases a "Super Blue Moon Spring Tide" alert!

South Africa's National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), a voluntary non-profit organization tasked with saving lives through drowning prevention in South Africa, is appealing to the public to be cautious around the coastline during this Super Blue Moon Spring Tide that has already begun and will peak during the full Moon period from 30 to 31 August 2023. The spring tide will then gradually begin to decline over the next few days into the new week.
Spring tides, which occur at full moon and at new moon every month, can have an increased affect on the strength of rip currents and caution is advised. However, the current spring tide coincides with winter rough sea conditions that are prevailing around South Africa's coastline with cold fronts that have past in recent days and weeks and with storms prevailing deep sea off the coastline, so that the NSRI is appealing to to bathers, coastal hikers, shoreline anglers, boaters, sailors, paddlers and the maritime community to be extra cautious.

(c) https://www.nsri.org.za/

The current spring tide is called a Super Blue Moon Spring Tide, because the upcoming full Moon will be the second full Moon of the month, making it a so-called "Blue Moon". This "Blue Moon" will also be a "Super Moon", because the Moon’s orbit is closest (perigee) to Earth at the same time the Moon is full. It will also be the closest full moon of the year, just 357,344 kilometers or so away.
According to NASA, Saturn will be visible as a bright point five degrees to the upper right of the Moon at sunset in the east-southeastern sky. The ringed planet will appear to circle clockwise around the moon as the night wears on.

South Africa: NSRI releases a warning of rough seas ahead of this weekend’s cold front forecast!

South Africa's National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), a voluntary non-profit organization tasked with saving lives through drowning prevention in South Africa, has issued a warning of rough sea conditions for this weekend (28 - 30 July 2023). According to a weather forecast by the South African Weather Service (SAWS), an intense cold front is expected to affect South Africa's coastline and inland water ways.

(c) https://www.nsri.org.za/

NSRI is appealing to shoreline anglers, boaters, commercial seafarers, and coastal hikers to be aware of rough sea conditions and the impact of forecast weather affecting the coastline and inland.

• Boaters and commercial seafarers should not launch in adverse weather conditions unless absolutely necessary and wear life-jackets when your vessel is underway or during commercial operations at sea.
• Shoreline anglers and coastal hikers should be aware of the daily 2 high tides and 2 low tides and be cautious along the shoreline.
• Bathers, surfers, paddlers, sail boarders and beach goers should be cautious of rough seas, strong winds and strong rip currents during adverse weather affected sea conditions and prepare accordingly without taking risks.
• Do not attempt to cross through rivers and roadways affected by flooding or cross over bridges swamped by flood waters.

South Africa: NSRI releases a full moon spring tide alert!

South Africa's National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), a voluntary non-profit organization tasked with saving lives through drowning prevention in South Africa, has released a safety advisory for “higher-than-normal high tides and lower-than-normal low tides” caused by today’s (06 January 2023) peak of the full moon spring tide. Caution is advised for today, over this weekend and for the first few days of next week.
The concern is that coastal bathers and shoreline anglers who are not aware of the full moon (and new moon) spring tides may be caught off guard. Rip currents can be stronger in places during a spring tide.

The NSRI is appealing to coastal bathers and shoreline anglers in South Africa to be cautious and bathers should only swim at beaches protected by lifeguards, swim in between the safe swimming areas lifeguards post using their red and yellow flags.

South Africa: Increased shark activity along the coastline of the Southern Cape & the Eastern Cape!

South Africa's National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), a voluntary non-profit organization tasked with saving lives through drowning prevention in South Africa, local Municipalities along the Southern Cape and Eastern Cape coastline and marine authorities  are appealing to coastal users, in particular bathers, paddlers, surfers, body boarders and kite boarders, to exercise caution due to increased inshore shark activity. According to the NSRI, over the past weeks and more recently increased shark activity has been noticed along the Southern Cape coastline from Mossel Bay to Plettenberg Bay and the Eastern Cape coastline from Storms River, Tsitsikamma, to Jeffrey's Bay. A large shark, for instance, was spotted in the breaking surfline at Secrets Beach across Commercial Marine (Jeffrey's Bay) on 25 May 2022. Surfers cleared the water without incident.

Plettenberg Bay: Great White Shark spotted in Keurbooms River! (video)

South Africa's National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), a voluntary non-profit organization tasked with saving lives through drowning prevention in South Africa, and the Bitou Municipality are warning the public of a 3.5-metre Great White Shark that was spotted in the Keurbooms River in Plettenberg Bay on 18 May 2022. The shark was discovered by the NSRI Plettenberg Bay duty crew during a routine exercise in the evening hours about 300 meters upstream of the Keurbooms River Mouth - about half way between the river mouth and the N2 bridge. According to Jaco Kruger, NSRI Plettenberg Bay station commander, marine scientists of the SA Shark Incident Committee suspect the shark may be ill or disorientated.

"But the warning is a precaution to alert the public of the presence of a shark in the Keurbooms River and a reminder that at this time of year sharks are known to feed inshore along the coastline and increased shark activity has been noticed along the Plettenberg Bay coastline." Jaco Kruger, NSRI Plettenberg Bay station commander.