Great Fish River
| Mouth of the watercourse | Indian Ocean  |
|---|---|
| Tributary | Kat River, Tarka River |
| Country | South Africa |
| Edey de administrative territorial entity insyd | Eastern Cape |
| Coordinate location | 33°29′34″S 27°7′52″E, 33°29′39″S 27°8′1″E |
De Great Fish River (dem call great to distinguish am from de Namibian Fish River) (Afrikaans: Groot-Visrivier)[1] be a river wey dey run 644 kilometres (400 mi) thru de South African province of de Eastern Cape. De coastal area between Port Elizabeth den de Fish River mouth be known as de Sunshine Coast. Na de Great Fish River originally be named Rio do Infante, after João Infante, de captain of one of de caravels of Bartolomeu Dias. Infante visit de river insyd de late 1480s.[2]
De name Great Fish be a misnomer, since e be a translation of de Dutch Groot Visch Rivier, wich be de name of a tributary insyd de vicinity of Cradock,[3] wich at ein confluence plus de Little Fish (Klein Visch Rivier) dey form wat be properly called de (Eastern Cape) Fish River.
Course
[edit | edit source]De Great Fish River dey originate east of Graaff-Reinet den dey run thru Cradock. Further south de Tarka River dey join ein left bank. Thence e dey make a zig-zag turn to Cookhouse, from wer e dey meander down de escarpment east of Grahamstown before ein final near-straight run to ein estuary 8 km northeast of Seafield, into de Indian Ocean.[4]
De river be generally permanent, e get water all year round, although ein headwaters dey rise insyd an arid region, den de natural flow fi be sluggish insyd de dry season beyond de ebb den flow of de tidal reaches; now, water from de Orange River system fi be used to keep up ein flow insyd dry periods. De river be tidal for roughly 20 km.[3]
Ein main tributaries be de Groot Brak River, de Tarka River den de Kap River on de left side, den de Little Fish River (Afrikaans: Klein-Visrivier) on de right side. De Great Fish River be part of de Fish to Tsitsikama Water Management Area.[5]
Dams on de basin
[edit | edit source]- Egerton Dam
- Elandsdrift Dam
Climate
[edit | edit source]At de river mouth, de climate be temperate plus around 650 mm (26 in) of rainfall wey dey fall mainly during spring den autumn. Mean temperatures dey range from 12 to 24 °C (54 to 75 °F) plus extremes as low as 2 °C (36 °F) anaa as high as 40 °C (104 °F).
Ecology
[edit | edit source]Insyd de 1970s, a major water project bring Orange River water, via de Fish River, for agricultural den industrial use. De tunnel for dis be a major engineering wey dey undertake, plus de intake at Oviston (an acronym, insyd Afrikaans, for Orange-Fish Tunnel). Oviston be on de shores of de Gariep Dam. A hydro-electric generating plant be placed at de Fish River egress, buh be uneconomic wey e no be in use.
Mixing of waters from two watersheds be environmentally disastrous—much of de Fish River ecosystem now be taken over by Orange River flora den fauna.
Flora
[edit | edit source]At de river mouth, der be Valley thicket, dune thicket, riparian vegetation den fynbos. De eastern Cape giant cycad, de red den de white milkwood be protected trees. Oda significant species dey include de acacia, white pear, Karoo boer-bean, wild banana, dune poison bush, wild plum, coral tree den small knobwood.[6]
Fauna
[edit | edit source]Der be a small population of de endangered Eastern Province rocky (Sandelia bainsii) insyd de Kat River, part of de Great Fish river basin.[7]
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ "Riviere van Suid-Afrika". Archived from the original on 2012-04-30. Retrieved 2012-03-18.
- ↑ Raper, Peter Edmund (1987). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Johannesburg: Human Science Research Council. (public domain)
- 1 2 Toit, Chris Marais and Julienne du (2023-10-11). "Cradock II: The Fish, the Show, the Ghosts & the Trekbokke". Daily Maverick (in English). Retrieved 2024-01-31.
- ↑ O'Keeffe, J. H.; De Moor, F. C. (January 1988). "Changes in the physico-chemistry and benthic invertebrates of the great fish river, South Africa, following an interbasin transfer of water". Regulated Rivers: Research & Management. 2 (1): 39–55. doi:10.1002/rrr.3450020105. ISSN 0886-9375.
- ↑ "Fish to Tsitsikama WMA 15". Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- ↑ "The Landscape of the Great Fish River, South Africa". www.nature-reserve.co.za. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
- ↑ Sandelia bainsii
External links
[edit | edit source]
- Fish to Sundays: Internal Strategic Perspective Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- James MacKinlay diary at Dartmouth College Library
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