Pearly Beach is a village in

Overberg District Municipality The Overberg District Municipality is a district municipality that governs the Overberg region in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is divided into four local municipalities and includes the major towns of Grabouw, Caledon, Hermanus ...

in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

Province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. An area where the

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20 ...

(''Eubalaena australis'') comes to calve and mate along its migratory route (June – October). These whales can be seen with their young all along the coastline with Walker Bay just a short distance away. The area is home to the threatened

African oystercatcher The African oystercatcher or African black oystercatcher (''Haematopus moquini''), is a large charismatic wader resident to the mainland coasts and offshore islands of southern Africa. This near-threatened oystercatcher has a population of over ...

which can be seen on the rocky coasts, beaches and at lagoons eating limpets and mussels. It is close to

Bantamsklip Bantamsklip is a rocky stretch of coast approximately 7 km SE of Pearly Beach in the Overberg district of the Western Cape province of South Africa. The site is 23 km south east of the town of Gansbaai. * 1:50 000 map series reference 34 ...

which was a proposed site of a nuclear power station. However, Thyspunt in the Eastern Cape seems to be the most likely location.

Geography

Not far from Pearly Beach is

Dyers Island Dyer often refers to: * Dyer (occupation), a person who is involved in dyeing Dyer may also refer to: Places * Dyer, Arkansas, a town * Dyer, Indiana, a town ** Dyer (Amtrak station) * Dyer, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in Breckinri ...

, a breeding colony for

jackass penguin The African penguin (''Spheniscus demersus''), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. Like all extant penguins, it is flightless, with a streamlined body and wings stiffe ...

s. Not far from Dyers Island is

Geyser Island A geyser (, ) is a spring characterized by an intermittent discharge of water ejected turbulently and accompanied by steam. As a fairly rare phenomenon, the formation of geysers is due to particular hydrogeological conditions that exist only in ...

, a breeding ground for

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

s. As the area around these islands teems with an abundance of sea life, it has become a notorious feeding ground for the

great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. It is nota ...

which frequents its waters in large numbers. Dyers Island is named after Samson Dyer, an American who came to the Cape in 1806, and who lived on Dyers Island where he collected

guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...

for fertilizer.

References

{{Overberg District Municipality Populated places in the Overstrand Local Municipality