FORCE OF NATURE

As human beings hid behind closed doors, emptying our towns, nature was quick to reassert itself and make its mark on our deserted urban spaces. Rarely sighted animals emerged from the forests and parks, roaming freely through our empty streets. Without the usual road traffic, the air quality in cities around the globe suddenly improved, while at sea,  marine life seized on the lack of shipping activities and beachgoers by returning to our shores. 

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MARINE LIFE SURVEY AT FALSE BAY

NIC BOTHMA

The ecological survey of False Bay revealed an abundance of marine life with a large variety of species active there. Scientists studied the effects that the ongoing pandemic of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and related lockdown measures may have had on this coastal ecosystem. Initial findings indicated improved air quality in the bay and proliferation of fish activities near the surface. Species observed included Bryde’s whales, Cape fur seals, octopuses, hammerhead sharks, southern giant petrels, African penguins and cormorants. Located on the country’s Atlantic coast, False Bay extends between the Hottentots Holland Mountains and Cape Point, in the far southwest of South Africa.

FIAKER HORSES IN AUSTRIA

CHRISTIAN BRUNA

For more than 50 years, the company has been offering carriage rides in Vienna and holds the exclusive license to provide tours at Vienna’s Schoenbrunn Palace Gardens. On peak days, up to 20 horse-drawn carriages, with two horses each, were in duty to present passengers, Viennese citizens, and tourists, a different sightseeing tour through the city. The company takes care of around 80 horses at their stables in Vienna and their enclosure in Lower Austria. Now Paul has discontinued its operative business in Austria due to the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease. They were struggling with missing bookings and constant expenses for animal food and other operating costs.