Due to its proximity to the Agulhas (Indian Ocean) and Benguela (Atlantic Ocean) Currents and the Antarctic in the Southern Ocean, South Africa’s geographic position makes it a special hub of attraction for the marine scientific community.

Researchers have focused on understanding the circulation of these three ocean regions, with a focus on the physics of the currents.

South Africa’s marine biodiversity responds to the diverse oceanographic and topographic environment. As endemism is highest on the south coast, there are several marine protected areas (MPAs) in this area, including 20 recently proclaimed offshore MPAs (Figure 1a).

New MPA network

South Africa’s new MPA network strives to represent the full array of physical and biological diversity and to connect the individual MPAs into a network. On the east coast, the incredibly strong and dynamic Agulhas Current (Figure 1b), and the associated scales of variability associated with its inshore region there, are likely to have a considerable impact on the MPAs.

However, there have been limited transdisciplinary approaches in understanding the representation of oceanographic features (sea level anomalies – Figure 1b, sea surface height – Figure 1c) and their dynamics.

My thesis aims to use the latest remote sensing, modelling and in situ physical data combined with the information known about the biodiversity in the MPAs to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to consider representation, influence and impact of change.

The study is titled ‘Incorporating and connecting multi-scale oceanographic features in marine spatial planning and management’.

More about Caroline

Manare Caroline Sejeng is a registered PhD student at the University of Cape Town, based at SAEON. She is passionate about protecting the environment and has a soft spot for the ocean. As a result, she was motivated to pursue her doctoral studies by focusing on a multidisciplinary approach that links the environmental and oceanography disciplines.

Her choice of study might also be influenced by her upbringing; coming from a landlocked area (Limpopo) and finding herself in the coastal Cape. “My journey is a constant reminder of the phrase, if you’re too proud to follow rivers, how are you ever going to find the sea?” she says.

“The ocean is vast and without limits, so should be our hopes and dreams as young scientists.”