Rough seas cause damage

THE 80-year-old guano platform, better known as Bird Island, between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay was literally torn in half by rough seas on Thursday.

The 17 000-square-metre platform is owned by Wilfried Groenewald and used to collect bird droppings (guano), which is exported as an important ingredient in fertiliser. It is believed that the platform was lifted by the surging tide, and that the tumultuous movement together with its sheer weight caused tension along the middle, resulting in the wood and iron components disintegrating.Tonnes of wood and iron were strewn over a half a kilometre along the beach, dwarfing workers moving between the wreckage.Even one of the giant ‘donkeys’ – cable-support frames used to lever a buggy from the shore to the platform and back, on which workers and guano are transported – was torn down and smashed on the shore.The high-water mark that day was a metre-high stain along the sand dune about 20 metres from the shore line, indicating a huge surge.’I’ve been working on the platform for many years, and although we’ve had some breakages here and there, this is a catastrophe. I’ve never seen anything like it,’ said one of Groenewald’s managers, Jacobus Douglas. ‘How we are going to fix this, and clean up this beach, I have no idea.’The damage was estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.Groenewald could not be reached for comment, as he is currently in Etosha.Further up the coast, the fury of the sea was also manifested on the north side of the Swakop River mouth, where Quinton Liebenberg has his popular Tiger Reef Beach Bar.While customers were sitting at the bar inside the rustic beach outfit, waves pummelled the three-metre log and palm fence on the sea side, eventually tearing it down. This did not stop the party though, according to the owner. Tyres used to add support were washed away and strewn along Swakopmund beaches as far as Mile 4.The wooden walkway, which had to be moved inland and repaired on several occasions due to rough seas, was broken apart again.’It’s just a shame that it had to happen now when we are so close to the December holidays. But we’ll just have to fix it up again,’ Liebenberg told The Namibian.Reports from Walvis Bay also had it that ‘Donkey Bay’ at Pelican Point was cut off from the mainland when water currents swept away sand banks, but this was only temporary, sources confirmed.Seawater also reached the doorsteps of beachfront houses at Eco-Village near Dolphin Beach.It is believed that a spring tide, accompanied by stormy weather, was the reason for this particularly high surge.