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Nicknamed
fairytale valley during a time when diamonds were supposedly picked up
by the handful, the diamond industry has served as a
double-edged sword for the Sperrgebiet - its exclusion policy leaving
the area scarred but spared from overuse.
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The
cassimbo - a dense ocean fog that advances in great banks at dusk and
retreats at dawn, bringing humidity to the desert.
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The seal
colonies only arrived in Van Reenan’s Bay approximately 80 years ago.
Here, their land based predator is the black-backed jackal
and the brown hyena. |
When
searching for new hunting territory, a jackal can cover tens of miles a
day. It will aggressively expel intruders although these encounters are
rare as a pair will vocalize their presence in the area.
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Cape fur
seals are social animals and highly acoustic, their vocalizations being
particularly important for the reunion of mothers and pups.
Males have a harem but females are free to choose their mates and will
judge them based on the value of their territories.
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A jackal
family heads back to their den after scavenging along the coast. Social
units are usually a mated pair, with sometimes one pup from the
previous litter staying on to help raise the next generation, thereby
increasing pup survival.
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