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Celebrating Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Day 2025

Cape RADD organised a free guided snorkel on Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Day this year, celebrated annually on August 1st. The day highlights the importance of marine reserves and raises awareness about expanding ocean protection. Community members had the chance to explore the Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area firsthand with a marine biologist guide, experiencing why these areas are so unique and learning about the incredible value of our oceans.

mpa day cape radd

What is MPA Day?

MPA Day was launched in 2021 by several South African organisations to address a significant gap in global environmental observances, as none specifically focused on MPA’s. The date commemorates the historic proclamation of 20 new or expanded MPA’s in South Africa on August 1, 2019, marking a major achievement in marine protection.

According to the MPA Day website there are various goals that MPA Day has set up to accomplish:

We believe in adventure-based learning, using in-water experiences to teach and create lasting memories. On Saturday, 2nd August 2025, we invited community members to join us for a free guided snorkel. Many participants had never snorkelled before or truly experienced the benefits an MPA offers. Have a look at some of the pictures from the event below:

Our MPA – The Table Mountain National Park MPA

Cape RADD conducts various research projects within the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) MPA, with the majority of our activities taking place in this protected area. We align closely with the goals of the MPA Day cause and actively promote these objectives by educating the public about MPA’s.

A map of the TMNP MPA with the protected zone in light blue, and the restricted zones (no-Take zones) in dark blue.

This MPA includes 956 km2 of marine estate and a coastline that stretches 127 km around the Cape Peninsula, from Mouillé Point in Cape Town to Bailey’s Cottage in Muizenberg. The MPA is managed by South African National Parks (SAN Parks) and protects several threatened species, such as African penguins, bank cormorants, and several endemic sharks, fish and invertebrate species.

What is so special about the Table Mountain National Park MPA?

The TMNP MPA is full of history and marine cultural heritage. Archaeological evidence from whiting the MPA indicates that “Strandlopers” (coastal dwellers) were the first humans to inhabit the caves and rock shelters of the Cape Peninsula since the Later Stone Age. Strandloper remains found at the Bonteberg Shelter and found that these early inhabitants had been exploiting West Coast rock lobster Jasus lalandii.

The Cape’s rich and diverse maritime history, and treacherous coastline, have caused numerous shipwrecks off its coast. Today, several of these shipwrecks are found within the TMNP MPA, and many are popular SCUBA diving sites such as the “SS Maori”,“M.V. Aster”, “M.V. Katsu Maru”, the five Smitswinkel Bay wrecks and “SAS Pietermaritzburg”.

However, most importantly, the TMNP MPA protects and conserves a variety of marine species and environments:

Seabirds such as the Cape gannet (Morus capensis) have been declining rapidly in recent decades due to overfishing of their prey, habitat destruction, oil spills, and accidental capture in fishing gear.

Abalone (Haliotis midae) are protected within the MPA.

The common octopus in the TMNP MPA gained fame as the star of the award-winning Netflix documentary “My Octopus Teacher.”

Read more about the TMNP MPA here:

Kock, A.A., Stanbridge, D., Brink, R., Holness, S., Harris, L., Gardner, K., van Wilgen-Bredenkamp, N., Mayekiso, S. and Jones, G. (2022). Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area – State of Knowledge. Internal Report 01/2022, South African National Parks, Scientific Services, Pretoria.

Also check out the MPA day website for more resources: MPA Day – 1 August: Celebrating local actions for global impact

Explore the MPA with Cape RADD

Why not experience this MPA for yourself. In addition to our Marine Science Field Course and research projects, we also run a very popular Snorkel for Science experience. Where you are taken into the TMNP MPA by a marine biologist guide who will explain the benefits of MPA’s and get you involved in one of our citizen science research projects, FinSpotter.

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