25/04/2025
An interesting sighting during a Strandloper Project reef survey at Gericke's Point.
Always expect the unexpected.
This is not a species combo that you expect to see while snorkeling on an inshore reef in the Garden Route, a tilapia with a backdrop of a spiney starfish.
This is the second time that we have recorded tilapia on our reef survey dives at Gericke's Point. On both occasions, the sightings were made within 10 days of heavy rain, so presumably they have been washed out in the flood pulses following rain. As the Touw Estuary mouth is currently closed, it is safe to assume that the tilapia washed out of Swartvlei Estuary.
On a previous occasion, we had followup observations two weeks after the sighting, indicating that the tilapia survived at least three weeks in the ocean.
While we only saw one induvidual on this survey, on the previous occasion there were between 10 and 12 fish.
