100 Years of Marine Science

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This cover is postmarked on 25-08-1995 in Cape Town. It marks one hundred years of marine science in South Africa, dating the discipline's establishment to 1895 when Dr John DF Gilchrist was appointed Government Marine Biologist by the Cape Colony's Department of Agriculture. Gilchrist's first research vessel, the Pieter Faure, was South Africa's first oceanographic research ship, and within a year of his appointment he had already surveyed the major hake stocks off the Cape West Coast.

Description of the Cachet

The cachet builds a marine food chain from bottom to top: three phytoplankton discs at the base, small krill above them, a larger krill shrimp in the centre, and a hake at the very top, all set within a pale blue triangular field. The composition visually explains the trophic pyramid underpinning South African fisheries science without any accompanying caption beyond the bilingual title below. The single stamp shows a portrait of Dr JDF Gilchrist beside a research vessel and a shoal of fish, marking his role as the founder of South African marine science. The Cape Town postmark, shaped around a leaping fish, commemorates the Marine Science centenary. This is a scientifically minded release, favouring an explanatory food chain diagram over a purely decorative cachet.

Information Card

HONDERD JAAR SE SEENAVORSING IN SUID-AFRIKA 1895 - 1995 Suid-Afrika het 'n lang en trotse mariene tradisie. Duisende jare gelede het die inheemse jagter-versamelaars reeds die mariene bronne benut deur seelewe in die intergetysone te oes. Die oseane om Suid-Afrika het sedert die dae van die Portugese en Hollandse ontdekkers en handelslui 'n belangrike rol in menslike ontdekkings, handel en kommunikasie gespeel. In die eerste nedersettings was seekos - veral swartmossels, kreef, snoek, kabeljou en seevoëleiers - 'n belangrike deel van die dieet, terwyl seesoogdiere soos robbe en walvisse om hulle waardevolle olie gejag is. Gedurende die 18de en die 19de eeu het Europese natuurkundiges skeepskapteins gevra om vir hulle voorbeelde van vreemde seelewe terug te bring. Baie hiervan is in die vroeë oorsese versamelings opgeneem en dit het die belangstelling in Suid-Afrika se mariene flora en fauna aangewakker. Terselfdertyd het dié skeepskapteins die Suid-Afrikaanse kus gekarteer en noukeurige wind- en seestroomlesings geneem. Hoewel dié vroeë waarnemings nie werklik wetenskaplike navorsing was nie, het dit die grondslag gelê vir latere navorsing - veral dié van die groot ekspedisies van die tweede helfte van die 19de eeu, waarvan die Challenger-ekspedisie die bekendste is en as die voorloper van Suid-Afrika se eie seenavorsing beskou word. Hoewel die Suid-Afrikaanse Museum gedurende die 19de eeu van tyd tot tyd studies van die seelewe onderneem het, is seenavorsing eintlik eers in 1895 as 'n wetenskap in Suid-Afrika gevestig toe dr John DF Gilchrist deur die Departement van Landbou van die Kaapkolonie as staats mariene bioloog aangestel is. Hy het opdrag ontvang om die vissereypotensiaal van die Agulhasbank te ondersoek en het 'n klein stoomtreiler, die Pieter Faure, gekry om in sy ondersoek te gebruik. Dié skip was dus Suid-Afrika se eerste oseanografiesenavorsing-skip. Binne 'n jaar na sy aanstelling het dr Gilchrist die groot stokvisvooraad aan die Kaapse Weskus en die tongvisbron op die Agulhasbank ontdek en dit sistematies en omvattend beskryf. Hy het hom egter nie net op visserynavorsing toegespits nie, maar tydens sy rondvaarte ook voorbeelde van plankton versamel en die temperatuur, soutgehalte en seestrome aangeteken. Sy baanbrekernavorsing het die fondament vir die latere Suid-Afrikaanse mariene wetenskap gelê. Die trotse tradisie wat dr Gilchrist 'n eeu gelede gevestig het, leef steeds voort. Die hedendaagse Suid-Afrikaanse mariene wetenskap handhaaf 'n interdissiplinêre benadering tot probleemoplossing en lewer 'n belangrike bydrae in die soeke na oplossings vir nasionale sowel as wêreldprobleme soos die kweekhuiseffek (klimaatsverandering) en kus- en bronnebestuur. In die Suid-Afrika van die toekoms, waarin maatskaplike opheffing en werkskepping hand aan hand sal gaan met die benutting van alle bronne - ook dié uit die see -, sal die mariene wetenskap 'n sleutelrol speel. Voedselproduksie en die bewaring van Suid-Afrika se unieke mariene omgewing vir die benutting deur en die genot van toekomstige geslagte, sal belangrike aspekte hiervan wees. Dié seël toon 'n afbeelding van dr Gilchrist en die hedendaagse Suid-Afrikaanse oseanografiesenavorsing-skip, die Africana. ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MARINE SCIENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA 1895 - 1995 South Africa has a long and proud marine tradition. Thousands of years ago, the indigenous hunter-gatherers were already utilising living marine resources which they harvested in the intertidal zone. The oceans around South Africa have played an important role in human discovery, in trade and in communications from the time of the early Portuguese and Dutch explorers and traders. In the early settlements, seafood - in particular black mussels, rock lobsters, snoek, kabeljou and the eggs of sea birds - formed an important part of the diet, while marine mammals such as seals and whales were hunted for their valuable oil. During the 18th and 19th centuries, naturalists from Europe commissioned sea captains to bring back exotic marine specimens and many of these found their way into early collections, thereby stimulating interest in South Africa's marine flora and fauna. At the same time, these sea captains were charting the South African coast and were making meticulous measurements of winds and currents. Although not science or research per se, these early observations were laying the groundwork for the investigations which would follow - in particular the great expeditions of the latter half of the 19th century, the best known of which was the Challenger Expedition, the forerunner of South Africa's own marine science initiatives. Although some studies of marine life were undertaken intermittently by the South African Museum during the 19th century, it was not until 1895 that marine science in South Africa really became established with the appointment of Dr John D F Gilchrist as Government Marine Biologist by the Department of Agriculture of the Cape Colony. He was commissioned to investigate the fishing potential of the Agulhas Bank and was given a small steam trawler, the Pieter Faure, for use in his studies - this was South Africa's first oceanographic research ship. Within a year of his appointment, Gilchrist had found the great stocks of hake on the Cape West Coast and the sole resource on the Agulhas Bank, which he then surveyed and described systematically and comprehensively. Not only did he undertake applied fisheries research, but during his cruises he also collected samples of plankton and recorded temperatures, salinity and currents. His pioneering investigations have provided the basis for all South African marine science which has followed. The proud tradition which Dr Gilchrist established a century ago, lives on. Present-day South African marine science has an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving and is contributing significantly to the solving of many national and global problems such as the greenhouse effect or climate change, and coastal and resource management. In the South Africa of the future, where social upliftment and job creation will go hand in hand with utilisation of all resources - including those from the sea - marine science will play a key role. In this, food production and the conservation of South Africa's unique marine environment for use and enjoyment by future generations will be important components. This stamp features a depiction of Dr Gilchrist and the present-day South African oceanographic research ship, Africana.

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