Everything about The Skeleton Coast totally explained
The
Skeleton Coast (German: Skelettküste) is the northern part of the
Atlantic Ocean coast of
Namibia and south of
Angola from the
Kunene River south to the
Swakop River, although it's sometimes used to describe the entire
Namib Desert coast. The
Bushmen of the Namibian interior called it the region "The Land
God Made in Anger", while
Portuguese sailors once referred to it as "The Gates of
Hell".
On the coast the upwelling of the cold
Benguela current gives rise to dense ocean
fogs (called "cassimbo" by the Angolans) for much of the year. The winds blow from land to sea, rain fall rarely exceeds 10mm annually (.39 inches) and the
climate is inhospitable. There is a constant, heavy
surf on the beaches. In the days of human-powered boats it was possible to get ashore through the surf but impossible to launch from the shore. The only way out was by going through a marsh hundreds of miles long and only accessible through a hot and arid desert.
The coast is named for the bleached whale and seal bones which covered the shore when the
whaling industry was still active, as well as the skeletal
shipwrecks caused by rocks offshore in the fog. More than a thousand vessels of various sizes and areas litter the coast. Notable wrecks in the region include the
Eduard Bohlen, the
Otavi, the
Dunedin Star, and
Tong Taw.
The coast is generally flat, occasionally relieved by rocky outcrops. The southern section consists of
gravel plains, while north of
Terrace Bay the landscape is dominated by high
sand dunes.
Evidence of some human occupation, in the form of the Strandloper people in the past, is evidenced by
shell middens of white
mussels found in portions of the Skeleton Coast.
Wildlife
Namibia has declared the 16,000 km² (6,200 mi²)
Skeleton Coast National Park over much of the area, from the
Ugab River to the Kunene. The northern half of the park is a designated
wilderness area. Notable features here are the clay castles of the
Hoarisib, the
Agate Mountain salt pans and the large
seal colony at
Cape Fria. The remainder of the coast is the
National West Coast Recreation Area.
The coast has been the subject of a number of wildlife
documentaries, particularly about adaptations to extreme aridity. Many of the plant and insect species of the sand dune systems depend for their moisture on the thick sea fogs which engulf the coast and windblown detritus from the interior as food. The desert bird assemblages have been studied in terms of their
thermoregulation, coloration, breeding strategies and
nomadism.
The riverbeds further inland are home to baboons,
giraffes,
lions,
black rhinoceros and
springbok. The animals get most of their water from wells dug by the baboons or
elephants. The black rhinoceros population was the main reason why the CBBC show
Serious Desert was filmed in the region.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Skeleton Coast'.
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