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60-616: Nelson Bay Cave on Robberg and Matjies River Cave at nearby Keurboomstrand were inhabited for over 100,000 years by Middle Stone Age man and then later by ancestors of the Khoisan , who were possibly the same people who traded with the Portuguese survivors of the Sao Goncalves shipwreck. Their tools, ornaments and food debris can be viewed in these caves, which are still being excavated. Long before Jan van Riebeeck landed at

120-528: A breccia often found at the contact between Silurian Table Mountain Series quartzite and Cretaceous Uitenhage Series quartzitic sandstone. Excavations were carried out in 1964-5 by Ray R. Inskeep and again in 1970-1 by Inskeep and Richard G. Klein . The geology and geomorphology of Robberg were well documented by John Rogers in 1966. The cave has yielded rich archaeological material covering its intermittent Middle and Later Stone Age occupation dating from

180-450: A behaviour seen in other animal species, such as elephants, wolves, and the fathead minnow . Lasting between 22 and 26 days, incubation begins after the first egg is laid but is not continuous until after the second egg is laid, meaning that the first two chicks hatch at about the same time, and the third some time later. Young chicks are brooded by their parents for about one or two weeks, and often at least one parent stays behind to guard

240-531: A few hundred to more than 125,000  BP . The cave was abandoned between 40,000 and 20,000 BP during the last ice age when the sea level here dropped some 130 metres, the coastline moving about 100 kilometres (62 mi) seaward. From 22,000 to 14,000 BP extensive grasslands covered the coastal plateau in the Plettenberg Bay area with no closed evergreen climax forest. Animals that roamed this grassland included giant buffalo, an equine close to

300-495: A few species do live on islands such as the Galapagos and New Caledonia . Many species breed in coastal colonies, with a preference for islands, and one species, the grey gull , breeds in the interior of dry deserts far from water. Considerable variety exists in the family and species may breed and feed in marine, freshwater, or terrestrial habitats. Most gull species are migratory , with birds moving to warmer habitats during

360-498: A higher level of synchronisation in larger colonies. The eggs of gulls are usually dark tan to brown or dark olive with dark splotches and scrawl markings, and they are well camouflaged. Both sexes incubate the eggs; incubation bouts last between one and four hours during the day, and one parent incubates through the night. Research on various bird species, including gulls, suggests that females form pair bonds with other females to obtain alloparental care for their dependent offspring,

420-534: A mixture of both natural prey and human refuse. The gulls relied substantially on the Henslow's swimming crab ( Polybius henslowii ). Yet, in times when local prey availability is low, the gulls shift to human-related food. These temporal shifts from a marine to terrestrial prey highlight the resilience adult gulls have and their ability to keep chick condition consistent. Human disturbance has also shown to have an effect on gull breeding, in which hatching failure

480-569: A number of years after the break-up. Gulls also display high levels of site fidelity , returning to the same colony after breeding there once and even usually breeding at the same location within that colony. Gull colonies can vary from just a few pairs to over a hundred thousand pairs, and may be exclusive to that gull species or shared with other seabird species. A few species nest singly, and single pairs of band-tailed gulls may breed in colonies of other bird species. Within colonies, gull pairs are territorial , defending an area of varying size around

540-675: A passing vessel while the other made it to Mozambique . A stone that they left behind on Beacon Island, known as the Van Plettenberg Stone , is now in the Cape Town museum. In 1763, the first European settlers in the Bay were stock farmers, hunters and frontiersmen from the Western Cape . A stinkwood navigational beacon was first erected on Beacon Island in 1771. The original was a square block of stinkwood, inscribed with

600-410: A red spot for the larger white-headed species and red, dark red or black in the smaller species. Gulls are a generalist species that can thrive in various environments and survive on a widely varied diet. They are the least specialised of all the seabirds, and their morphology allows for equal adeptness in swimming, flying, and walking. They are more adept walking on land than most other seabirds, and

660-560: A suitable surface on which to drop shells, and apparently a learned component to the task exists, as older birds are more successful than younger ones. While overall feeding success is a function of age, the diversity in both prey and feeding methods is not. The time taken to learn foraging skills may explain the delayed maturation in gulls. Gulls have only a limited ability to dive below the water to feed on deeper prey. To obtain prey from deeper down, many species of gulls feed in association with other animals, where marine hunters drive prey to

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720-422: Is 19–21 metres above mean sea level . In the same area are two other Stone Age caves, Hoffman's/Robberg Cave and Matjes River rock shelter which lies about 14 kilometres north at Keurboomstrand . Robberg shows notches, caves and other erosional features caused mainly by wave-cutting at various times in its past, but also due to lithological variation, bedding and characteristics of the bedrock. The cave developed in

780-631: Is a Stone Age archaeological site located in the Robberg Nature Reserve on the Robberg Peninsula and facing Nelson's Bay near Plettenberg Bay in South Africa, and showing evidence of human occupation as far back as 125,000 years ago. The south-facing cave, which is rectangular in shape and roughly 18 metres (59 ft) wide by 35 metres (115 ft) deep, is in quartz- sandstone and quartzites while its mouth

840-427: Is a layperson's term and is not used by most ornithologists and biologists. The name is used informally to refer to a common local species (or all gulls in general) and has no fixed taxonomic meaning. In common usage, gull-like seabirds that are not technically gulls (e.g. albatrosses , fulmars , terns , and skuas ) may also be referred to as 'seagulls' by the layperson. The American Ornithologists' Union combines

900-516: Is a list of the 54 gull species , presented in taxonomic sequence . The Laridae are known from not-yet-published fossil evidence since the Early Oligocene , some 30–33 million years ago. Three gull-like species were described by Alphonse Milne-Edwards from the early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France. A fossil gull from the Middle to Late Miocene of Cherry County, Nebraska , US,

960-468: Is a single-prey specialist, and no gull species forages using only a single method. The type of food depends on circumstances, and terrestrial prey such as seeds, fruit, and earthworms are more common during the breeding season while marine prey is more common in the nonbreeding season when birds spend more time on large bodies of water. In addition to taking a wide range of prey, gulls display great versatility in how they obtain prey. Prey can be obtained in

1020-401: Is an important part of the pair-bonding process. Most gull nests are mats of herbaceous matter with a central nest cup. Nests are usually built on the ground, but a few species establish their nests on cliffs (the usual preference for kittiwakes), and some choose to nest in trees and high places (e.g. Bonaparte's gulls ). Species that nest in marshes need to construct a nesting platform to keep

1080-423: Is darker varies from pale grey to black. A few species vary in this, the ivory gull is entirely white, and some like the lava gull and Heermann's gull have partly or entirely grey bodies. The wingtips of most species are black, which improves their resistance to wear and tear, usually with a diagnostic pattern of white markings. The head of a gull may be covered by a dark hood or be entirely white. The plumage of

1140-704: Is defined on the southern end by Cape Seal at the terminus of the Robberg ( Afrikaans for Seal Mountain) Peninsula, separating the bay from the open Indian Ocean . It is one of the southern cape coast's typical "J-shaped" bays, which is formed by wave action eroding the shales of the Bokkeveld Group between the weather-resistant headlands composed of the Table Mountain Group , both of the Cape Supergroup geological sequence of rocks. To

1200-419: Is directly proportional to the amount of disturbance in a given plot. Certain gull breeds have been known to feast on the eyeballs of baby seals, and directly pilfer milk from the elephant seal 's teat. Gulls are monogamous and colonial breeders that display mate fidelity which normally lasts for the life of the pair. Divorce of mated pairs does occur, but it apparently has a social cost that persists for

1260-464: Is questionable. Before the 21st century, most gulls were placed in the genus Larus , but this arrangement is now known to be polyphyletic , leading to the resurrection of the genera Ichthyaetus , Chroicocephalus , Leucophaeus , Saundersilarus , and Hydrocoloeus . Some English names refer to species complexes within the group: In common usage, members of various gull species are often referred to as 'sea gulls' or 'seagulls'; however, this

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1320-800: The Sternidae , Stercorariidae , and Rhynchopidae as subfamilies in the family Laridae, but early 21st-century research shows this to be incorrect. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2022 found the following relationships between the genera, including the most recent generic change: the placement of Saunders's gull in its own genus Saundersilarus . Creagrus – swallow-tailed gull Hydrocoloeus – little gull Rhodostethia – Ross's gull Rissa – kittiwakes (2 species) Xema – Sabine's gull Pagophila – ivory gull Saundersilarus – Saunders's gull Chroicocephalus – (10 species) Leucophaeus – (5 species) Ichthyaetus – (6 species) Larus – (24 species) This

1380-531: The kittiwakes and Sabine's gull . The large species take up to four years to attain full adult plumage, but two years is typical for small gulls. Large white-headed gulls are usually long-lived birds, with a maximum age of 49 years recorded for the herring gull . Gulls nest in large, densely packed, noisy colonies. They lay two or three speckled eggs in nests composed of vegetation. The young are precocial , born with dark mottled down and mobile upon hatching. Gulls are resourceful, inquisitive, and intelligent,

1440-485: The quagga , springbok and alcelaphine antelopes : blesbok /bontebok, wildebeest , hartebeest and a giant alcelaphine. Bones from all these herbivores have been recorded in the cave's middens . The cave occupants enjoyed a variety of food types, ranging from birds and their eggs including ostriches, mammals, plants, fruits and corms to tidal creatures and shellfish, Perna perna and Scutellastra cochlear being collected most frequently. Cape fur seals from

1500-643: The Cape, Portuguese explorers charted the bay in the 15th and 16th centuries, the first being Bartolomeu Dias in 1487. Ninety years later Manuel de Perestrelo aptly called it Bahia Formosa or the Beautiful Bay. The first European inhabitants were 100 Portuguese sailors marooned here for 9 months when the São Gonçalo sank in the bay in June 1630. The survivors built two small boats, one which linked with

1560-496: The N2. During the apartheid period property within Plettenberg Bay was designated for whites only, with segregation of the beaches and toilet facilities. New Horizons, across the N2, was designated as a settlement area for coloured people in 1968. As the 1980s progressed informal settlements of Xhosa people grew up around the edges of New Horizons and in the area of KwaNokuthula which became a town. Although Plettenberg Bay escaped most of

1620-420: The air, on water, or on land. In the air, a number of hooded species are able to hawk insects on the wing; larger species perform this feat more rarely. Gulls on the wing also snatch items both off water and off the ground, and over water they also plunge-dive to catch prey. Again, smaller species are more manoeuvrable and better able to hover-dip fish from the air. Dipping is also common when birds are sitting on

1680-472: The black-backed gull) was heavily impacted by human fishing discards and fishing ports. Looking further at environmental drivers that structure bird habitat and distribution are human and climate impacts. Looking at waterbird distribution in wetlands, changes in salinity, water depth, water body isolation and hydroperiod altered bird community structure in both a species and guild specific way. Gulls in particular had high associations with salinity levels, being

1740-439: The cave in the 1980s, measures were taken to arrest its deterioration. Seagull This is an accepted version of this page 11, see below Gulls , or colloquially seagulls , are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari . They are most closely related to terns and skimmers , distantly related to auks , and even more distantly related to waders . Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed in

1800-586: The chicks until they fledge . Although the chicks are fed by both parents, early on in the rearing period the male does most of the feeding and the female most of the brooding and guarding. The family Laridae was introduced (as Laridia) by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. The taxonomy of gulls is confused by their widespread distribution zones of hybridisation leading to gene flow . Some have traditionally been considered ring species , but research has suggested that this assumption

1860-411: The coasts near their breeding sites. A big influence on non-breeding gull distribution are food patches. Human fisheries especially have an impact since they often provide an abundant and predictable food resource. Looking at two species of gulls dependent on human fisheries, Audouin's gull ( Ichthyaetus audouinii ) and lesser black-backed gulls ( Larus fuscus) , their breeding distributions (especially

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1920-567: The endangered African oystercatcher which live along the shores. The Keurbooms River estuary is home to the Knysna or Cape Seahorse, Hippocampus Capensis. This is South Africa's only endemic seahorse, and is found only in the estuaries of the Keurbooms, Knysna and Swartvlei rivers. It measures about 12 cm in length, and attaches itself to eel-grass. The Robberg Peninsula is home to a large Cape fur seal colony, seals can often be seen in

1980-400: The exceptions being Sabine's gull and swallow-tailed gulls , which have forked tails, and Ross's gull , which has a wedge-shaped tail. Gulls have moderately long legs, especially when compared to the similar terns, with fully webbed feet. The bill is generally heavy and slightly hooked, with the larger species having stouter bills than the smaller species. The bill colour is often yellow with

2040-468: The genus Larus , but that arrangement is now considered polyphyletic , leading to the resurrection of several genera. An older name for gulls is mews ; this still exists in certain regional English dialects and is cognate with German Möwe , Danish måge , Swedish mås , Dutch meeuw , Norwegian måke/måse , and French mouette . Typically medium to large in size, gulls are usually grey or white, often with black markings on

2100-549: The head or wings. They normally have harsh wailing or squawking calls; stout, longish bills; and webbed feet. Most gulls are ground-nesting piscivores or carnivores which take live food or scavenge opportunistically, particularly the Larus species. Live food often includes crustaceans , molluscs , fish and small birds. Gulls have unhinging jaws that provide the flexibility to consume large prey. Gulls are typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea, except for

2160-422: The head varies by breeding season; in nonbreeding dark-hooded gulls, the hood is lost, sometimes leaving a single spot behind the eye, and in white-headed gulls, nonbreeding heads may have streaking. The gulls have a worldwide cosmopolitan distribution . They breed on every continent, including the margins of Antarctica , and are found in the high Arctic as well. They are less common on tropical islands, although

2220-607: The larger species in particular, demonstrating complex methods of communication and a highly developed social structure. For example, many gull colonies display mobbing behaviour, attacking and harassing predators and other intruders. Certain species, such as the herring gull, have exhibited tool-use behaviour, for example using pieces of bread as bait with which to catch goldfish . Many species of gulls have learned to coexist successfully with humans and thrive in human habitats. Others rely on kleptoparasitism to get their food. Gulls have been observed preying on live whales, landing on

2280-541: The latitude and longitude of Plettenberg Bay and erected to enable mariners to check their location. It was replaced by a stone one by Captain Sewell in 1881. The bay housed a barracks for the Dutch East India Company in 1776. The Governor of the Cape, Baron Joachim van Plettenberg , renamed the town Plettenberg Bay in 1779. In 1869 the barracks was bought by St Peters Church and used as a rectory for

2340-703: The main environmental predictor for waterbird assemblage. Charadriiform birds drink salt water, as well as fresh water, as they possess exocrine glands located in supraorbital grooves of the skull by which salt can be excreted through the nostrils to assist the kidneys in maintaining electrolyte balance. Gulls are highly adaptable feeders that opportunistically take a wide range of prey. The food taken by gulls includes fish and marine and freshwater invertebrates, both alive and already dead; terrestrial arthropods and invertebrates such as insects and earthworms; rodents, eggs, carrion, offal , reptiles, amphibians, seeds, fruit, human refuse, and even other birds. No gull species

2400-452: The nearby colony, bushpigs , bushbuck and Cape buffalo were also eaten occasionally. The various remains resulting in large middens dating back some 5,000 years, while older remains are thought to have been washed away by rising sea levels . Artefacts range from Stone Age tools ( bladelets , bladelet cores, backed bladelets and scrapers, while worked bone and ostrich eggshell beads are also present) to pottery made about 2 000 years ago -

2460-463: The nest dry, particularly species that nest in tidal marshes . Both sexes gather nesting material and build the nest, but the division of labour is not always exactly equal. In coastal towns, many gulls nest on rooftops and can be observed by nearby human residents. Clutch size is typically three eggs, although some of the smaller gulls only lay two, and the swallow-tailed gull produces a single egg. Birds synchronise their laying within colonies, with

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2520-677: The nesting site from others of their species. This area can be as large as a 5-metre radius around the nest in the herring gull to just a tiny area of cliff ledge in the kittiwakes . Most gulls breed once a year and have predictable breeding seasons lasting for three to five months. Gulls begin to assemble around the colony for a few weeks prior to occupying it. Existing pairs re-establish their pair-bonds , and unpaired birds begin courting. Pairs then move back into their territories, and new males establish new territories and attempt to court females. Gulls defend their territories from rivals of both sexes using calls and aerial attacks. Nest building

2580-432: The next 70 years. Today it is the privately owned Old Rectory hotel & spa In 1787/88 Johann Jerling erected a timber shed commissioned by the Dutch East India Company ; the remains can still be seen and are preserved as a provincial heritage site . In the 1830s, Plettenberg Bay was a stopping point for ships travelling through during the winter time, heading to India.[6] As of 1833, the population of Plettenberg Bay

2640-522: The north, the Tsitsikamma and Langkloof Mountains keeps the moisture on the southern slopes of the mountains and prevent the temperature extremes of the interior reaching the bay. The town is highly seasonal, with a large proportion of second homes used exclusively during peak holiday periods. Popular with domestic and foreign tourists alike, many make it a stop along the garden route to visit local attractions such as Robberg Peninsula Nature Reserve,

2700-577: The northwest coast of Spain revealed a shift from a sardine to crustacean-based diet. This shift was linked to higher fishing efficiency and thus overall fish stock depletion. Lastly, closure of nearby open-air landfills limited food availability for the gulls, furthering creating a stress on their shift in diet. Between the years of 1974–1994, yellow-legged gull populations in Berlenga Island, Portugal, increased from 2600 to 44,698 individuals. Analyzing both adult and chick remains, researchers found

2760-602: The original indigenous forest are to be found in the gully of the Keurbooms River, home to Knysna Loerie and Fish Eagles. Robberg Peninsula is essentially a Fynbos reserve. Plettenberg Bay hosts one of the largest seagull breeding colonies along the South African coast at the mouth of the Keurbooms River , named after the indigenous keurboom tree . There are many pelagic birds in the area as well as

2820-409: The pottery shards and remains of sheep and cattle tell of Khoikhoi farmers who occupied the cave in recent times. Graves have been found near the mouth of the cave, the remains being in a fetal position, and decorated with shells and ochre . Study of the skeletons gives insight into the cave dwellers' diet as revealed by their teeth, and the environment of that time. Because of collapsing sections of

2880-494: The rocks, ski boats launched from Central Beach, or in Keurbooms estuary. The sea life activity both surface and sub-surface varies considerably as either deep water upwelling brings cold water into the Bay, or warm water eddies over from the Agulhas Indian Ocean current offshore. A distinctive flower-shaped sea shell called a pansy shell is endemic to this part of the coast, and is used as the symbol representing

2940-399: The smaller gulls tend to be more manoeuvrable while walking. The walking gait of gulls includes a slight side to side motion, something that can be exaggerated in breeding displays. In the air, they are able to hover and they are also able to take off quickly with little space. The general pattern of plumage in adult gulls is a white body with a darker mantle; the extent to which the mantle

3000-524: The surf off Robberg Beach. Great white sharks , attracted by the seal colony, can also be spotted from the high ground of Robberg Peninsula. Southern right whales are a common sight in the bay during their breeding season from July to December. Bryde's whales frequent the bay throughout the year being the most sighted during the summer months. Humpback whales migrate past during July and December. Killer whales (orca) and sei whales are occasionally sighted. Whales can be viewed from various viewpoints in

3060-462: The surface when hunting. Examples of such associations include four species of gulls feeding around plumes of mud brought to the surface by feeding grey whales , and also between orcas (largest dolphin species) and kelp gulls (and other seabirds). Looking at the effect of humans on gull diet, overfishing of target prey such as sardines have caused a shift in diet and behaviour. Analysis of yellow-legged gull's ( Larus michahellis ) pellets off

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3120-519: The town as well as from Robberg Peninsula. Plettenberg Bay also boasts three species of dolphins which visit the bay throughout the year, these being the bottlenosed dolphin , the common dolphin and the endangered humpback dolphin . The bay falls within the Agulhas Bank ecoregion (bioregion), specifically within the Agulhas inshore ecozone. There has been a long history of sport fishing from

3180-504: The town. Looking for these shells on the beach at low tide is a popular activity amongst visitors and locals alike. Plettenberg Bay is typified by an extremely mild maritime temperate climate with very few rainfall or temperature extremes. It is located within the Knysna Afromontane Forest biome, containing temperate gallery forest, supported by the mild temperatures and high, evenly distributed rainfall. The bay

3240-582: The violence associated with the end of apartheid, the assassination of Chris Hani in April 1993 led to a protest march into the town from KwaNokuthula, during which industrial premises on the outskirts of the town were burnt to the ground. Formal segregation ceased with the repeal of the apartheid laws, but the consequences of the previously segregated property ownership remain highly visible to this day. Local vegetation varies from Cape Fynbos to Knysna-Amatole montane forests further inland. The best examples of

3300-448: The water, and gulls may swim in tight circles or foot paddle to bring marine invertebrates up to the surface. Food is also obtained by searching the ground, often on the shore among sand, mud or rocks. Larger gulls tend to do more feeding in this way. In shallow water gulls may also engage in foot paddling. One method of obtaining prey involves dropping heavy shells of clams and mussels onto hard surfaces. Gulls may fly some distance to find

3360-444: The whale as it surfaces and pecking out pieces of flesh. Gulls range in size from the little gull , at 120 grams ( 4 + 1 ⁄ 4 ounces) and 29 centimetres ( 11 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches), to the great black-backed gull , at 1.75 kg (3 lb 14 oz) and 76 cm (30 in). They are generally uniform in shape, with heavy bodies, long wing, and moderately long necks. The tails of all but three species are rounded;

3420-460: The winter, but the extent to which they migrate varies by species. Some migrate long distances, notably Sabine's gull , which migrates from the Arctic coasts to winter off the west coasts of South America and southern Africa, and Franklin's gull , which migrates from Canada to wintering grounds off the west coast of South America. Other species move much shorter distances and may simply disperse along

3480-720: The world's largest free-flight aviary Birds of Eden , Sea Kayaking and Whale Watching, as a base to start the coastal Otter Trail , Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary or a host of other outdoor activities on offer. Although George and Port Elizabeth Airports are both within 1 and 2.5 hours drive away and offer frequent domestic and select international flights, CemAir also restarted regular direct flights from Plettenberg Bay Aerodrome to Cape Town International Airport and Johannesburg's OR Tambo Airport in 2014, enhancing accessibility by air. The following primary and secondary schools are located in Plettenberg Bay. Nelson Bay Cave Nelson Bay Cave also known as Wagenaar's Cave

3540-554: Was built on the site of the whaling station. This was replaced by the iconic Beacon Isle Southern Sun Resort which opened for business in December 1972. This building, designed by André Hoffe, has a layered atrium which pays tribute to the Guggenheim Museum of Frank Lloyd Wright. Between 1960 and 1990 Plettenberg Bay holiday resort expanded dramatically, extending along Robberg Beach ('Millionaire's Row'), and back towards

3600-402: Was estimated around 400, with half being white , according to diplomat Edmund Roberts who visited the area. Edmund Roberts noted that the bay had a large abundance of cattle and sheep. He also recognized "the excellence of its butter" and a timber industry. A whaling station on Beacon Island closed down in 1916. Parts of the iron slipway are still visible today. A hotel called The Beacon Isle

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