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What you need to know about shark nets in South Africa
Shark nets are just what they sound like: Sprawling underwater barriers designed to remove sharks from public beaches. Unsurprisingly, there is a price for bather protection, and sharks have been paying it for decades.
Kid-friendly sustainability: Small habits that make a big difference
Teaching children to care for the planet doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, some of the most impactful lessons come from simple habits woven into everyday life.
Our Turtle Conservation Centre released four turtles into De Hoop Marine Protected Area
Our Turtle Conservation Centre team released turtles Nori, Stella, Pebbles, and Cinnamon into the De Hoop Marine Protected Area! Each of the turtles has had a fascinating and unique rehabilitation journey at our Foundation’s Turtle Conservation Centre, so their release into the stunning De Hoop MPA was extra-special.
Celebrating 30 years of wonder with reflection and new beginnings at the Two Oceans Aquarium
On 13 November 2025, the Two Oceans Aquarium officially turned 30, marking three decades of ocean magic, community connection, and unwavering dedication to marine conservation. And, true to our spirit, the celebrations began long before the evening’s formalities.
Sustainable New Year’s resolutions from the Two Oceans Aquarium
If you’re looking for meaningful New Year’s resolutions that benefit both you and the environment, here are practical eco-friendly habits you can start adopting today .
Thirty years beneath the surface: The story of the Two Oceans Aquarium
When the Two Oceans Aquarium first opened its doors on 13 November 1995, Cape Town gained a world-class celebration of the ocean’s wonders. Nestled at the meeting point of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, few places in the world are better positioned to showcase such a unique and vibrant convergence of marine life.
Tracking our turtles: Nori's first satellite tracking update
Nori, the green turtle, was recently released into the De Hoop Marine Protected Area and we are finally sharing her first satellite tracking update!
Birdmouth wrasse
Birdmouth wrasses are small, elongated fish that display strong sexual dimorphism (males and females look different). Males are vivid blue-green with yellowed fins. Their snouts grow disproportionately long, often with bulbous protrusions. Females are significantly smaller, with comparatively drab colouration. They are yellow-brown with white underparts. Their snouts are also elongated, but more slender than the male’s. Birdmouth wrasses use their elongated snouts, which have small mouths on the end, to prey on small invertebrates in cracks and crevices. They are abundant around Indian Ocean reefs, particularly on the African coast.Short-spined urchin
Short-spined urchins are large, well-rounded sea urchins, completely covered in short, white spines. Long tube-feet extend well beyond their spines.They inhabit beds of seaweed, where they use their tiny tube-feet to camouflage themselves by holding straps of seaweed, rocks or other debris over their bodies (as pictured). This behaviour gives them their international name of “collector urchin”.Short-spined urchins are opportunistic feeders, and feed voraciously on algae, seagrass and bacterial mats. Their behaviour is unaffected by the day-night cycle, and this is unusual amongst urchin species. This unusual behaviour has made short-spined urchins useful for rehabilitating coral reefs which have been infested by alien seaweed species.These urchins are nutritious and edible – regularly preyed upon by humans, octopuses and puffer fish.Boxfish
The yellow boxfish may be small, but it packs a punch! This little fish is the type species for the genus Ostracion – this means it is the “base” species for the boxfish family and is permanently the first association with the genus. Ostracion means “little box” and describes its cube-like body. Its species name, cubicum, refers to its boxy shape.
Cape knifejaw
The Cape knifejaw is a dark, oval shaped fish that can grow to almost a meter in length. Their colouration is generally a dark grey, with lighter coloured mouths and underparts. Juvenile Cape knifejaws are bright yellow, with black, vertical bands over their eye and in front of their tail. The knifejaw’s teeth are fused to form a beak-like structure. They are omnivores and feed on a variety of food sources around near-shore reefs. Their beak is used to break up sea squirts, sponges and red algae. Cape knifejaws become territorial when they mature and form pairs that hunt together. The Cape knifejaw is endemic to South Africa, ranging from False Bay to Thukela. Cape knifejaws are on the SASSI Red list.Jacopever
The Jacopever is a distinctive fish, its colour is highly variable, usually with pink-red blotches and irregular dark patches that form excellent camouflage in deep water. Their short, but stock bodies are protected by sharp spines along their dorsal fins and pectoral fins. It is an ambush predator that uses its cryptic colouration and the darkness of the depths at which it lives to ambush smaller fish and invertebrates that swim past it. Its spines contain venom that is used to protect the jacopever from larger predators. Venom is known to be harmful to humans. This fish lives at great depths on sandy continental slopes, ranging from 50m to over 1km in water depth. Jacopevers are widely distributed throughout the Atlantic, ranging from South Africa to Venezuaela, Iceland and the Mediterranean Sea. The jacopever is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. Due to its procurement as bycatch of unsustainable trawling methods, this is a SASSI Red listed species in South Africa and should not be eaten.