Our Trustees

Wilfred Chivell

Founder of the Trust, Wilfred grew up in the Gansbaai area and had a varied career from a stint in the police force, to ship wreck and diamond diving in the early 80s to owning a multi-million rand concrete business. The downturn in the construction industry in the early 90s, led to Wilfred following his passions of the sea and nature. He opened a boat based whale watching business in 2000 (Dyer Island Cruises) and a shark cage diving company (Marine Dynamics Tours) in 2005. Both are certified by Fair Trade in Tourism and Dyer Island Cruises has been used as a case study for sustainable eco-tourism.

He is a founding member of the Klipgat Trust which is actively involved in archaeological research as well as a founding member of Gansbaai Tourism and has served on the Town Council for 5 years. Wilfred is also a trustee of the Bredasdorp Shipwreck Museum. His passion for conservation has place the greater Dyer Island region on the map internationally and he has presented numerous talks and interviews on marine conservation.

Wilfred is the person to call for animals in distress in the area and he is a member of the South African Whale Disentanglement Network and has active experience in disentanglements.

Wilfred is a visionary and passionate about conservation. He created the slogan “Discover and Protect” and coined the term Marine Big 5™ - whales, sharks, dolphins, seals and penguins.

Les Underhill

Information courtesy of Animal Demography Unit – see adu.org.za/staff for more info.

Professor Les Underhill is the Director of the Animal Demography Unit – a division of the University of Cape Town. Les Underhill's degrees include a BSc (1968), BSc(Hons) in Mathematics (1969), and MSc in Operations Research (1971).

A lecturer at the University since 1972, he is an expert statistician and is a fellow of the South African Statistical Association, a life member of the BirdLife South Africa (and currently its President) and a founder-member of the Western Cape Wader Study Group. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa. Les is well travelled and has produced many scientific papers and books.

The Endangered Wildlife Trust selected him for one of their "Top Ten Conservationist of the Year Awards" for 1999. As a member of the team of editors for The Atlas of Southern African Birds, he was awarded the John FW Herschell Medal of the Royal Society of South Africa in 2000. This gold medal is awarded for "outstanding contributions to science in southern Africa, especially of a multidisciplinary scientific nature." He was, along with Rene Navarro of the Avian Demography Unit, SANCOR's "Marine and Coastal Communicator of the Year" for 2001, in the scientific category. This award recognised their contribution to communicating the impact of the Treasure oil spill to the public, mainly via a website.

In 2002, he was awarded the Gilchrist Medal by SANCOR, for outstanding contributions to the enhancement of marine science in South Africa. He has developed models for the relationship between fish stocks and sea temperature in the Benguela ecosystem, for the analysis of moult in birds, and for the dynamics of Southern Right Whale, African Penguin, Hartlaub's Gull and Curlew Sandpiper populations. The Underhill index is used extensively for trend monitoring waterbird populations in Europe. Les will supervise the great white shark project and his input is critical in the fine tuning of our sampling protocol.

Tertius Lutzeyer

Tertius is the Financial Director and co-owner of Grootbos Private Nature Reserve Lodge, together with his brother Michael. Tertius was born and raised in South Africa but lived in Germany for 16 years. He has an entrepreneurial spirit and is an astute businessman.

Grootbos is a five star lodge which has won numerous awards such as: Good Safari Guide Awards 2009; Green Palm 2009; Tourism for Tomorrow Grootbos has been awarded Fair Trade in Tourism certification. The Grootbos Foundation was set up to run their community and environmental projects - Green Futures; Growing the Future; Future Trees; Spaces for Sports; Football; and an Education Fund. Grootbos and Dyer Island Conservation Trust have always promoted each others community and conservation projects.

Rob Crawford

Information courtesy of Animal Demography Unit – see adu.org.za/staff for more info.

Rob joined the Sea Fisheries Research Institute, now Branch Marine and Coastal Management of South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, in 1971, and has continued there since then as a researcher, apart from a two-year spell with South African National Parks in the early 1980s. Rob initially worked on fish stock assessment and now focuses on seabirds. Some exploited fish species are an important food source for seabirds, and research is aimed at ensuring an ecosystem approach to fisheries (as it relates to seabirds) and the conservation and sustainable utilisation of South Africa’s seabirds, including those at the Prince Edward Islands. Rob obtained a BSc (Physics, Zoology; 1969) and BSc(Hons) (Zoology; 1970) at the University of Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), and then a PhD (1979) at the University of Cape Town. He has published many scientific papers.

Newi Makhado

Information courtesy of Animal Demography Unit – see adu.org.za/staff for more info.

Azwianewi, known as Newi, joined the ADU on a joint project with MCM (Marine and Coastal Management) for his PhD on the Investigation of the impact of fur seals on the conservation status of seabirds at the Prince Edward Islands and off western South Africa. The study aims to address the extent of predation on seabirds by an ever-increasing population of seals in the southern Indian Ocean.

Newi’s qualifications include BSc (1996), BSc(Hons)Zoology (1998) and UED (University Education Diploma) (1997) from the University of Venda. He obtained his MSc in Zoology in 2002 from the University of Pretoria. His Honours project was entitled Current status and Potential of Ecotourism at Albasini Conservation Area, and his Masters thesis was entitled The diet of two fur seal species (Arctocephalus gazella and A. tropicalis) at Marion Island.

Newi spent a year at the Prince Edward Islands (Marion Island) in 1999 working on the Pinniped Monitoring Programme (seal group) with Prof. Bester. He is now working as a marine Scientist focusing on seals seabirds interactions and their conservation. Newi has also won the best upcoming young scientist on research and DDG (Deputy Director General) Award for Young Innovator for 2009.

Mike Gibbs

Mike Gibbs is Publishing Director of a number of medical publications including The British Journal of Primary Care Nursing – CVD, Diabetes and Kidney Care, Primary Care Cardiovascular Journal and Primary Care Women’s Health Journal. He is the Chairman of Sherborne Gibbs Limited, an international medical communications consultancy.

Formerly a medical reporter for the BBC and other news organisations, Mike consults to many global pharmaceutical companies on various aspects of public relations and public affairs, as well as marketing.

Mike supports the Dyer Island Conservation Trust website.