Misplaced Pages

Saldanha Bay
Saldanhabaai (Afrikaans)
Present day Saldanha Bay. To the right (south) is the Langebaan lagoon
Saldanha BayLocation in South Africa
Coordinates	33°02′05″S 18°00′35″E / 33.03472°S 18.00972°E / -33.03472; 18.00972
Ocean/sea sources	Southern Atlantic Ocean
Basin countries	South Africa
Max. length	12 km (7.5 mi)
Max. width	11 km (6.8 mi)
Islands	St Croix Islands, Bird Islands
Settlements	Saldanha, Langebaan

Saldanha Bay (Afrikaans: Saldanhabaai) is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay Local Municipality in 2000. The current population of the municipality is estimated at 72,000.

The place is mentioned in the first edition of John Locke's Two Treatises of Government as an example of the state of nature.

Saldanha Bay's location makes it a paradise for the watersport enthusiast, and its local economy being strongly dependent on fishing, mussels, seafood processing, the steel industry and the harbour. Furthermore, its sheltered harbour plays an important part in the Sishen-Saldanha iron-ore project (connected by the Sishen-Saldanha Railway Line) at which Saldanha Steel takes center stage.

Geography

Saldanha Bay is located about 105 kilometres (65 mi) north west of Cape Town. It faces southwest and is 11 km long and 12 km wide. The Langebaan Lagoon, a SE prolongation of the bay, extends for 14 km southeastwards from the SE corner of the inner bay by Langebaan.

History

Saldanha Bay is named after António de Saldanha, captain of a vessel in Albuquerque's fleet which visited South Africa in 1503. The name was first given to Table Bay, where Saldanha's ship cast anchor. On Table Bay being given its present name in 1601, the older appellation was transferred to the bay now called after Saldanha. In 1781 a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone seized six Dutch East Indiamen, which, fearing an attack on Cape Town, had taken refuge in Saldanha Bay. This was the only achievement, so far as South Africa was concerned, of the expedition despatched to seize Cape Town during the war of 1781–1783.

Diplomat Edmund Roberts visited the Bay in 1833. He noted that it was "well sheltered from violent winds, having a sufficient depth of water, but the country is very sandy and agriculture but little attended to; a few cattle and sheep are raised among the scanty herbage." He suggested that it was an uneventful area to visit, except for a few areas in the Bay where whales resided during his visit.

Saldanha Bay is also home to numerous fish canneries. The most notable of these is the Saldanha Bay Canning Company, founded by James Kasner and Ellis Silverman in 1905.

With strong historic military links Saldanha is also host to a Naval training base and the South African Military Academy. The SAS Saldanha Nature Reserve offers a display of wildflowers during late winter and spring while southern right whales also visit the waters in and around the nature reserve. The area has a Mediterranean climate but the annual rainfall is quite low; it verges on the desert region of Namaqualand.

Modern day

The port developed into a modern harbour only recently, when it became necessary to facilitate the export of iron ore from the Northern Cape. This required the construction of a railway more than 800 kilometres to the mines at Sishen in the Northern Cape and the construction of a deepwater jetty in Saldanha Bay to accommodate Capesize ore carrier ships.

Gallery

• Outer bay with surf pounding the shore
• View of the inner bay from Langebaan
• View of the Langebaan Lagoon
• View of a fishing house situated near the center of the bay

See also

• List of bays of South Africa
• Battle of Saldanha Bay (1781)
• Capitulation of Saldanha Bay
• Saldanha man
• West Coast National Park

References

1. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Saldanha Bay". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 60.
2. Second Treatise, sec. 14. Locke replaced the reference to "Soldania" with a story told by Garcilaso de la Vega about a desert island in subsequent editions (Peter Laslett, ed., Two Treatises of Government, by John Locke, student edition , 277n).
3. Roberts, Edmund (1837). Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 389.

v t e African seas
Oceans and seas	Alboran Sea Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Levantine Sea Mediterranean Sea Red Sea Southern Ocean
Gulfs and bays	Abu Qir Bay Acheïl Dakhlet Al Hoceima Bay Algiers Bay Algoa Bay Ambas Bay Ana Chaves Bay Angra de Cintra Antongil Bay Antsiranana Bay Arab's Gulf Baía Almeida Baía da Condúcia Baía da Corimba Baía de Mocambo Baía de Mossuril Baía de Namibe Baia de Porto Amboim Baía de Santa Marta Baía de Sucujaque Baía de Tombua Baía do Ambriz Baía do Bengo Baía do Dande Baía do Govuro Baía do Lúrio Baía do Nzeto Baía do Suto Baie de Gorée Baie de Sangareya Bandombaai Bay of Anfile Bay of Arguin Bay of Arzew Bay of Aseb Bay of Beylul Bay of Edd Bay of Hawakil Bay of Langarano Bay of Saint-Augustin Bay of Tangier Benguela Bay Bera’esoli Betty’s Bay Bight of Benin Bight of Biafra Bocock’s Bay Bombetoka Bay Bootbaai Bosluisbaai Cabinda Bay Cape Cross Bay Cape Negro Bay Chake-Chake Bay Chameis Bay Chwaka Bay Conception Bay Cuio Bay Dakhlet Nouadhibou Dalwakteah Bay Deurloopbaai Doringbaai Dungonab Bay Durissa Bay Elands Bay Enseada das Pombas Enseada de São Braz Enseada do Catumbo Enseada do Chalungo Enseada do Quicombo Enseada do Quitungo Enseada dos Três Irmãos Equimina Bay False Bay Farta Bay Fernao Veloso Bay Foul Bay Frederik se Baai Ghoubbet-el-Kharab Grosse Bucht Gulf of Aden Gulf of 'Agig Gulf of Gabès Gulf of Guinea Gulf of Hammamet Gulf of Sidra Gulf of Suez Gulf of Tadjoura Gulf of Tunis Gulf of Zula Hafun Bay South Hann Bay Harrison Cove Henties Bay Hirghīgo Bahir Selat’ē Horingbaai Hottentotsbaai Hurdiyo Hydra Bay Inhambane Bay Jammer Bucht John Owen Bay Kalawy Bay Kiwaiyu Bay Lambert Bay Lamu Bay Langbaai Loango Bay Lobito Bay Luanda Bay Lüderitz Bay McDougall Bay Manza Bay Maputo Bay Markusbaai Memba Bay Menai Bay Meob Bay Mietjie Frans se Baai Moraha Bahir Selat’ē Mossel Bay Möwebaai Noopbaai Oran Gulf Pemba Bay Pipas Bay Plaatjieskraalbaai Platbaai Plettenbergbaai Pointe-Noire Bay Porto Alexandre, Angola Prinzen Bucht Río de Oro Bay Rock Bay Roode Bay Rooiwalbaai Saint Francis Bay Saint Francis Bay (Eastern Cape) St Helena Bay Saint Sebastian Bay Saldanha Bay Sandwich Harbour Sierra Bay Skoonbergbaai Skurfbaai Slangbaai Sodwana Bay Sofala Bay Somnaasbaai Spencer Bay Spoegrivierbaai Struisbaai Swartstraat Table Bay Thysbaai Tietiesbaai Ungama Bay Walker Bay Walvis Bay (bay) Yawri Bay Yof Bay
Straits	Bab-el-Mandeb Bab Iskender Canal de Bolama Canal de Bolola Canal de Caió Canal de São Vicente Canal do Meio Guardafui Channel Mafia Channel Massawa Channel Mozambique Channel‎ Pemba Channel Shubuk Channel Strait of Gibraltar Strait of Sicily Straits of Tiran Tigres Strait Zanzibar Channel
Historical seas	Aethiopian Sea Erythraean Sea Sea of Zanj
Africa portal Oceans portal

• Bays of South Africa
• Ports and harbours of South Africa
• Ports and harbours of the Atlantic Ocean
• West Coast of South Africa