Namibia Workshop SANUMARC Univeristy of Namibia, Hentiesbay 3 - 5 June 2010

Presenter Biographies

OVERVIEW OF PHYTOPLANKTON ALONG THE NAMIBIAN COAST

Primary production along the Namibian coast is high. A continual supply of nutrients to surface water is generated by the powerful northern sector of the Benguela upwelling system.

Diatoms dominate the phytoplankton biomass, with dinoflagellates and small flagellates increasing as upwelled water matures.

Along the retentive central coast phytoplankton biomass is particularly impressive, with a large range of species. High-biomass blooms are common here, and can cause problems: they usually comprise non-toxic dinoflagellate species.

The focus of monitoring in Namibia to date has been to obtain estimations of phytoplankton biomass distribution over the shelf, and to monitor inshore Harmful Algal Blooms.

Presented by:

Bronwen Currie has been involved in coastal ecology since she began working for the Ministry in 1994. Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) were prioritized as an area of research in Namibia in 2003, with the intensification of mariculture activities along the Namibian Coast, which to date have focused on shellfish production.

Ms Currie has co-managed several of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME) projects, which resulted in the establishment of a functioning shellfish sanitation programme in Namibia - and including intensified inshore phytoplankton monitoring in Namibia and Angola. She is the Namibian representative on the IOC International Panel on HABs. Her interest in inshore processes has led to studies of the low oxygen and hydrogen sulphide events along the coast that are directly tied to the high phytoplankton production.