Saint Helena Bay

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Saint Helena Bay
Mouth of the Berg River at Velddrif

Mouth of the Berg River at Velddrif

Waters Atlantic Ocean
Land mass southern africa
Geographical location 32 ° 42 ′ 0 ″  S , 18 ° 6 ′ 0 ″  E Coordinates: 32 ° 42 ′ 0 ″  S , 18 ° 6 ′ 0 ″  E

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Tributaries Mountain river
Admiralty map from 1871 (St. Helena Bay in the upper half of the map)

Admiralty map from 1871 (St. Helena Bay in the upper half of the map)

The Sankt Helena Bay ( Afrikaans St. Helenabaai , English St Helena Bay , Portuguese Bahia da Santa Elena ) is a bay on the South African Atlantic coast north of the city of Vredenburg in the West Coast district . It was first recorded by Europeans on November 7, 1497 by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama . In addition to Golfo de Sanelena , various name variants followed, such as Golfo de Santa Helena and the British called them St Helen's Bay or St Martins Bay .

description

The bay forms a section of the South Atlantic coast of South Africa, north of Saldanha Bay and the granite massif around Cape Columbine . The Benguela Current carries cold water from the Antarctic waters into the bay and further north. The bay extends from Stompneuspunt in the south, further past the mouth of the Berg River and now along a gently curved coastline. Their end point can be seen near Baboon Point .

The inland, flat coastal zone north of the mouth of the Berg River is called Strandveld . It is an area consisting of sand dunes and is only partially suitable for agriculture. The coast is only reached by the Berg River as a year-round water-bearing river. The tidal current penetrates from the Atlantic up to 24 kilometers deep into the river. Together with westerly winds, sand dunes ( barre ) which are a hindrance to water runoff can form in the estuary .

Individual sections have their own names, such as Stompneusbaai , Vioolbaai , Middle Bay , Jaloersbaai , Hannasbaai , Nordbaai and Slippers Bay .

There are only a few and small towns on the coastline. These include Stompneusbaai , St. Helenabaai , Velddrif with Port Owen, Dwarskersbos and Noordkuil . In the north of the bay there is a protected wetland, the Rocherpan Nature Reserve .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Peter Edmund Raper : Dictionary of Southern African Place Names . Lowry Publishers, Johannesburg 1987 (2nd ed.), P. 286.
  2. ↑ a b c according to OSM.
  3. ↑ Traugott Molter: Water balance and irrigation agriculture in the Cape . Franz Steiner Verlag , Wiesbaden 1966, pp. 13–15.