Black December
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Black December
Black December refers to at least nine shark attacks on humans causing six deaths that occurred along the coast of Natal Province in the Union of South Africa, from December 18, 1957 to April 5, 1958. Perfect storm In December 1957 several key factors occurred simultaneously to attract sharks to the Durban area, including: (1) whaling ships operating in the area; (2) rivers had flooded and washed livestock into the Indian Ocean and made the river deltas murky; and (3) recent resort development had increased the number of tourists swimming off the beaches. Adding to the confusion was the lack of adequate shark research and the knowledge to prevent shark attacks in 1957. Attack victims Attempted solutions Tourists fled the Durban area during Black December causing a devastating impact on the local economy. The local authorities desperately made attempts to protect swimmers and surfers from sharks. These attempts included enclosures built from wooden poles and netting; however, bot ...
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White Shark (Carcharodon Carcharias) Scavenging On Whale Carcass - Journal
The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. It is notable for its size, with larger female individuals growing to in length and in weight at maturity. However, most are smaller; males measure , and females measure on average. According to a 2014 study, the lifespan of great white sharks is estimated to be as long as 70 years or more, well above previous estimates, making it one of the longest lived Chondrichthyes, cartilaginous fishes currently known. According to the same study, male great white sharks take 26 years to reach sexual maturity, while the females take 33 years to be ready to produce offspring. Great white sharks can swim at speeds of 25 km/h (16 mph) for short bursts and to depths of . The great white shark is an apex predator, as it has no known natura ...
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Beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shells or coralline algae. Sediments settle in different densities and structures, depending on the local wave action and weather, creating different textures, colors and gradients or layers of material. Though some beaches form on inland freshwater locations such as lakes and rivers, most beaches are in coastal areas where wave or current action deposits and reworks sediments. Erosion and changing of beach geologies happens through natural processes, like wave action and extreme weather events. Where wind conditions are correct, beaches can be backed by coastal dunes which offer protection and regeneration for the beach. However, these natural forces have become more extreme due to climate change, permanently altering beaches at very rapid ...
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South African Navy
The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery protection, search and rescue, and upholding maritime law enforcement for the benefit of South Africa and its international partners. Today the South African Navy is one of the most capable naval forces in the African region, operating a mixed force of sophisticated warships, submarines, patrol craft, and auxiliary vessels, with over 7,000 personnel; including a marine force. With formerly deep historical and political connections to the United Kingdom, the first emergence of a naval organisation was the creation of the South African Division of the British Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1913, before becoming an nominally independent naval service for the Union of South Africa in 1922. In its history, South African naval vessels and perso ...
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Breaking Wave
In fluid dynamics, a breaking wave or breaker is a wave whose amplitude reaches a critical level at which large amounts of wave energy transform into Wave turbulence, turbulent kinetic energy. At this point, simple physical models that describe wave dynamics often become invalid, particularly those that assume linear behaviour. The most generally familiar sort of breaking wave is the breaking of ocean surface wave, water surface waves on a coastline. Wave breaking generally occurs where the amplitude reaches the point that the crest of the wave actually overturns—the types of breaking water surface waves are discussed in more detail below. Certain other effects in fluid dynamics have also been termed "breaking waves," partly by analogy with water surface waves. In meteorology, atmospheric gravity waves are said to break when the wave produces regions where the potential temperature decreases with height, leading to energy dissipation through convective instability; likewise, ...
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Shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorpha (or Selachii) and are the sister group to the rays. However, the term "shark" has also been used to refer to all extinct members of Chondrichthyes with a shark-like morphology, such as hybodonts and xenacanths. The oldest modern sharks are known from the Early Jurassic. They range in size from the small dwarf lanternshark (''Etmopterus perryi''), a deep sea species that is only in length, to the whale shark (''Rhincodon typus''), the largest fish in the world, which reaches approximately in length. Sharks are found in all seas and are common to depths up to . They generally do not live in freshwater, although there are a few known exceptions, such as the bull shark and the river shark, which can be found in both seawater and fresh ...
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Surfing
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitable for surfing are primarily found on ocean shores, but can also be found in standing waves in the open ocean, in lakes, in rivers in the form of a tidal bore, or in wave pools. The term ''surfing'' refers to a person riding a wave using a board, regardless of the stance. There are several types of boards. The Moche of Peru would often surf on reed craft, while the native peoples of the Pacific surfed waves on alaia, paipo, and other such water craft. Ancient cultures often surfed on their belly and knees, while the modern-day definition of surfing most often refers to a surfer riding a wave standing on a surfboard; this is also referred to as stand-up surfing. Another prominent form of surfing is body boarding, where a surfer rides ...
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Human Swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that results in directional motion. Humans can hold their breath underwater and undertake rudimentary locomotive swimming within weeks of birth, as a survival response. Swimming is consistently among the top public recreational activities, and in some countries, swimming lessons are a compulsory part of the educational curriculum. As a formalized sport, swimming is featured in a range of local, national, and international competitions, including every modern Summer Olympics. Swimming involves repeated motions known as strokes in order to propel the body forward. While the front crawl, also known as freestyle, is widely regarded as the fastest out of four primary strokes, other strokes are practiced for special purposes, such as for training. ...
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Economy Of South Africa
The Economy of South Africa is the third largest in Africa and the most industrialized, technologically advanced, and diversified economy in Africa overall. South Africa is an upper-middle-income economy, one of only eight such countries in Africa. Following 1996, at the end of over twelve years of international sanctions, South Africa's Gross Domestic Product (nominal) almost tripled to a peak of US$416 billion in 2011. In the same period, foreign exchange reserves increased from US$3 billion to nearly US$50 billion, creating a diversified economy with a growing and sizable middle class, within two decades of ending apartheid. Although the natural resource extraction industry remains one of the largest in the country with an annual contribution to the GDP of US $13.5 billion, the economy of South Africa has diversified since the end of apartheid, particularly towards services. In 2019, the financial industry contributed US$41.4 billion to South Africa's GDP. In 2021, South Africa ...
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Karridene
Karridene is a small resort in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is now part of eThekwini. Seaside resort at the mouth of the Umzimbaza River, 37 km south-west of Durban, between Illovo Beach and Umkomaas. History Named after Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Karri-Davis, a mining magnate and owner of the ground where it was laid out. See also *Black December Black December refers to at least nine shark attacks on humans causing six deaths that occurred along the coast of Natal Province in the Union of South Africa, from December 18, 1957 to April 5, 1958. Perfect storm In December 1957 several key fac ... References Populated places in eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality {{KwaZuluNatal-geo-stub ...
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Margate, KwaZulu-Natal
Margate is a coastal resort town in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province, about 20 kilometres southwest of Port Shepstone. The river which flows into the sea at Margate is called "Nkhongweni" ''(place of entreaty)'' as the original inhabitants of the area were reputed to be so mean resulting in travellers begging for hospitality. It is one of the major hubs for tourists who are looking to visit the eastern coastline of South Africa. History In 1908, Henry Richardson, an English surveyor laid out the town and named it Margate after another seaside resort on the northern coast of the county of Kent, in the United Kingdom. Margate hit the world headlines in 1922 (although this date is often disputed and stated as 1924) when an enormous, white, furry creature (dubbed "Trunko" due to it having an elephantine trunk) was washed up on the beach. The "Margate monster" was too decomposed to be identified. Geography Margate is located on a series of hills overlooking the Indian Ocean with the alti ...
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Scottburgh
Scottburgh () is a coastal resort town located on the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It situated south of the mouth of the Mpambanyoni River ''(confuser of birds).'' History Named after Natal Colony Governor John Scott, in 1860 it became the second township at the end of Durban but was initially known as ''Devonport''. Scottburgh then became a very promising port as well as a new attractive location for sugar farms and sugar mills. In about 1850 the town started to attract immigrants especially from Great Britain and Ireland, known as the ''Byrne Settlers''. They came to take advantage of the good harbours, to export their sugar both internally and overseas. Scottburgh became an independent municipality in 1964. Geography Location Scottburgh is situated on the Umdoni Coast sub-region of the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, approximately 53 km south-west of Durban and 58 km north-east of Port Shepstone. Neighbouring towns of Scottburgh (excluding those part of G ...
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