Dyer Island is a 20ha Nature Reserve, situated 8.5 Km from Kleinbaai harbour in Gansbaai. It is the easternmost, of the
chain of seabird islands of the Western Cape. Dyer Island is managed by CapeNature, primarily for seabirds and shore birds.
Some of the birds breeding on the island include the vulnerable African Penguins and endangered Bank Cormorant and Roseate
Tern. Other breeding species include the Cape, White-breasted and Crowned Cormorants; Leach's Storm Petrel; African Black
Oystercatchers; Kelp and Hartlaub's Gulls.
The island is recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA), which gives Dyer Island the same status as an IBA anywhere else
in the world. There are 1228 IBAs in Africa, and 101 in South Africa. Thus, from a national bird conservation perspective,
Dyer Island is one of the hundred most important sites in the country.
Interesting fact about Dyer Island
" In October 1995, Leach's Storm petrel's Oceanadroma leucorhoa were found to be resident in stone walls
surrounding the buildings. These birds are considered to be rare summer visitors to our coastal waters (Sinclair et al.
1993). In February 1997, one of their chicks was found, making it the first recorded case of this bird breeding in the
Southern Hemisphere (Crawford R., pers. comm.).
