The 26 December 2004 Sumatra tsunami recorded on the coast of West Africa

Analysis of sea-level data obtained from the Atlantic Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS) sea-level station at Takoradi, Ghana, West Africa, clearly reveals a tsunami signal associated with the M_w = 9.3 Sumatra earthquake of 26 December 2004 in the Indian Ocean. The tsunami arrived at this location on 27 December 2004 at approximately 01:38 UTC (which is close to the expected tsunami arrival time at that site), after travelling for more than 24 hours. The first wave was negative (trough), in contrast with the South African stations where the first wave was mainly positive (crest). The dominant observed period at Takoradi was about 42 minutes. The maximum trough-to-crest wave height (41cm) was observed on 28 December at 00:15 UTC. There were two distinct tsunami 'bursts', separated in time by about 14 hours, the larger being the second burst. A small residual lowering of the sea level (～15cm) during the tsunami and for several days afterwards, and a delayed (～4.5 days) lowering of seawater temperature (up to ～4.5°C), was observed, possibly indicating the presence of internal waves through the Gulf of Guinea associated with propagating tsunami waves. The prominent tsunami signal found in the Takoradi record suggests that tsunami waves could also be found at other sites off the West African coast.     

A note on the diet of Cape cormorant Phalacrocorax capensis at Mercury Island,South West Africa,in November 1978

During November 1978, Cape cormorants Phalacrocorax capensis at Mercury Island, off South West Africa (Namibia), consumed practically exclusively pelagic gobies Sufflogobius bibarbalus. The mean number of fish per regurgitation was 52 with a mean caudal length of 48 mm and an estimated mean mass of 1.7 g. The estimated mean original mass of stomach contents was 75 g. These Cape cormorants took significantly smaller pelagic gobies than did bank cormorants P. neglectus sampled concurrently at the same locality.     

Metabolic adaptations and reduced respiration of the copepod Calanoides carinatus during diapause at depth in the Angola-Benguela Front and northern Benguela upwelling regions

Stage C5 copepodids and adult females of the herbivorous copepod Calanoides carinatus were sampled in the Angola-Benguela frontal region and northern Benguela upwelling area off Namibia in February–March 2002, using a multiple opening/closing net system. Respiration rates of C5s collected between 400m and 700m were measured onboard at the simulated in situ temperature of 8°C and at sea surface temperature (SST ≥20°C). These data were compared to the oxygen demand of epipelagic individuals of C. carinatus caught in the upper 30m and incubated at ambient SST. Deep-living C5s consumed 0.21 ± 0.08ml O₂ h^?1 (g dry mass)^?1 at 8°C and 0.96ml O₂ h^?1 (g dry mass)^?1 (range 0.84–1.09) at 25.9°C. These results were substantially lower than respiration rates of 5.23 ± 0.55ml O₂ h^?1 (g dry mass)^?1 in epipelagic individuals incubated at SST. The results reveal a reduction by 96% of metabolic rate in deep-living, diapausing C5s relative to surface-dwelling, active individuals. Only 14.4% of this metabolic reduction is explained by the lower ambient temperature at depth and a Q₁₀ value of 2.34. Therefore, the major fraction (81.6%) of the metabolic reduction is attributable to active physiological changes or processes during diapause at depth. The study emphasises the importance for herbivorous copepods, in areas with a highly variable food supply, to adopt a dormant phase in their life cycle in order to survive long periods of starvation.     

World Maps With Natural Boundaries

The graticule of meridians and parallels is a largely artificial type of map boundary that can detract from the display of irregular features such as oceans. Such natural boundaries as shorelines may be used instead as the boundary of world maps. The principle of natural boundaries has been applied to several examples of equal-area or conformal world ocean maps with single or multiple lobes. By careful selection of the poles and centers, these maps can show both oceans and continents in their entirety on a single map.     

Subsistence fisheries in South Africa: a Preface

A juvenile Subantarctic fur seal Arctocephalus tropicalis was recorded on the Indian Ocean island of Rodrigues and two were seen on Mauritius. These records are at least 2 500 km from the closest breeding colony (Amsterdam Island) and are the most easterly by some 1 800 km of all previous records of vagrants of this species.     

A demonstration of the hydrographic partition of the Benguela upwelling ecosystem at 26°40'S

Continuous CTD data from a series of recent cruises show that the distribution of the water mass characteristics in the central Benguela region from the Orange River mouth (28°38'S) to alvis Bay (22°57'S) is discontinuous in the central and intermediate waters at about the latitude of Lüderitz (26°40'S), Namibia. The central and intermediate water masses at the shelf edge and shelf break north of the Lüderitz upwelling cell have a high salinity relative to the potential temperature compared to similar waters south of the upwelling cell. It is shown that the feed waters for the wind-induced upwelling on the shelf to the north and south of the Lüderitz discontinuity are different in character and source. The distribution of the water masses shows that the shelf-edge poleward undercurrent provides low-oxygen water from different regions in the Atlantic Ocean to be upwelled onto the shelf. North of th Lüderitz upwelling cell, the central and intermediate waters come from the oxygen-depleted Angola Basin, whereas south of the discontinuity those waters are from the interior of the adjacent Cape Basin, which is less oxygen-deficient. This has implications for the dispersion of low-oxygen water and the triggering of anoxic events, and consequences for the biota on the shelf, including commercially important fish species.