How have Benguela marine mammal and seabird populations fluctuated with time?
Before colonization by Europeans, the coastal waters of Southern Africa supported dense populations of southern right whales and the few offshore islands teamed with breeding colonies of Cape fur seals, African Penguins and other sea birds. These large and readily accessible animals were obvious targets for early settlers, who exploited them for food, oil and other products, such as baleen and eggs. As a result these populations have undergone dramatic fluctuations over the past 300 years. Whale and seal populations were driven to low levels by the end of the 19th century, but have subsequently shown remarkable recoveries. At its lowest point, in the 1930s, the South African southern right whale population is thought to have contained a few as 35 adult females, but since becoming fully protected (effectively from about 1971) the population has been growing at a rate of about 7% per annum and now numbers over 3000 individuals. Since the females calve in inshore bays, where they are read
