The Role of Gift Giving (sharing) in Social Networking

The giving and receiving of gifts by humans and other species has ancient roots and is hardwired into our very survival. 

The concept of the gift covers a range of situations and circumstances and has been recorded throughout human history.  

Today the web is the primary domain where these types of interactions can be observed daily. 

The gifts are in the form of posts, likes, shares and comments.

We tend to think of gifts in a very simplistic way and yet the gifts function, has far reaching implications and can determine many aspects of our everyday lives. 

What drives the gift giver is more important than the gift itself. The gift can become a commodity of exchange. 

The content that people most readily share is the content that they feel makes them look good, intelligent, caring and a whole lot of other feelings. 

Their sharing behavior is an online representation of themselves. Or more accurately. Who they would like us to believe they are.

It's like giving them a megaphone or holding a mirror up to themselves. Their content shares reflect their personal opinions, values and attitudes.  

Many animal species, including birds and mammals, regularly give each other gifts, usually but not exclusively; related to courtship rituals.

It has been extensively studied in both the Psychology of gift giving, and the Sociology of the Gift ritual. 

Most research has focused on the social cohesion aspects of these practices.

This gifting behavior is evident in contemporary life. In our interactions on social networks :- Posts, Likes, Shares and Comments.

Reciprocity or mutual reciprocal assistance, according to many economists, is based on rational self interest. 

The idea is simple. 'You help me, and I will help you'

In terms of social networking, this model appears to make sense but does it really work. 

Some people share things randomly with no thought of reciprocity, these types of shares I have labelled as a 'pure gift'. There is no expectation of reciprocity.  

To the person doing the sharing, the object has become their property, with the originator removed from the gift/post in question. 

The originator of the content may get a mention or credit occasionally.

The person that produced the object (gift) also feels no obligation to share the other persons content either. There is no social relationship between these two agents.

Pinterest is a perfect example of this phenomenon. People make up boards of other peoples photos with no thought of where it came from, or any feeling that they should even thank the originator of the work.

Up to and until they become content creators themselves, when this form of reciprocity may appear quite important. It may be useful to have your work shared, but what is really going on here.

When we drop our photos into pinterest, people just pin them wherever they like, they may follow you, because they find your work interesting, or more often because they want you to follow them back.

If a content creator spends a little time on search engine optimization (SEO) and in the process make their content useful and easy to find. Then they do not have to get involved with this aspect of social interaction, giving and sharing, but they still do.

So the question is why do so many people continue sharing other peoples work.  They may have formed a relationship, in the process of developing an online presence or persona.

Gift or Commodity

The gift of sharing then; becomes a commodity in itself, that can be exchanged for reciprocal shares from those whose products you share. This is a common feature of many online communities, and as we have seen, it is not necessary with a little SEO.

So sharing under these terms cannot be considered altruistic. (unselfish)

Working together obviously works better and faster than going it alone. In the process people can and do form mutual bonds of assistance.

Someone in your social network will share something with you, a nice photo, article or video and if they have a monetary interest, then it is not a gift at all, but a commodity that they want you to share.

The concept that  'we don't give to receive' seems at odds with some online behavior. 

We like to think that altruism is at the core of our beliefs about gifts. Our actions suggest another reality.

Search engines like Google encourage this commodity exchange and is in the weird position of being both gamekeeper and poacher. 

They want people to share things, but at the same time they do not want people to 'game the system' (manipulate posting activity)  

They solve this dual dilemma by monitoring the number of shares of a particular post, after the social network group has finished their sharing activity. 

If the shared item is of little interest i.e. no one else shares it, then it may be demoted in importance, relevance and page rank.

Is the gift ritual changing, and what impact may this have on social cohesion. Is the web socially cohesive or divisive. 

To understand this we need to look into the social, psychological and historical roots of gift giving. What was the purpose? Was there a purpose? Are some forms of sharing, a truly altruistic or unselfish trait.

The prime reason to cooperate is grounded in survival of the self and the wider tribe. Mutual assistance in this case makes sense but doesn't describe altruism. 

The member of the tribe that jumps in front of the charging elephant to save the tribe is exhibiting truly altruistic behavior. Knowing he will not survive, still jumps in. He gave the tribe the ultimate gift. We see this behavior in the fire fighter, who enters a burning building to save strangers.

  

Gift giving can have deep psychological meanings. It is used by many societies as a bonding ritual, and also as a form of control, involving a wide range of human characteristics including, who has the most power, in terms of influence or financial status.

In familial settings these intentions can be expressed in 'who gave the most expensive gift, or the least thoughtful gift'. It can become a real minefield of politics and emotions.

There are records of the island people of Yap, Micronesia and elsewhere, who solved the problem of having little on no material goods to gift to others. They resolved this by giving each other shaped stones. These stones took on a unique value over time. The older the stone the more valuable it became.

This simple, elegant solution helped to remove peer pressure, as everyone was in the same position. The giving of lucky or wish stones is still a common practice today, even in western culture. 

The stones are passed around by the Yap islanders. After a few years the giver will probably get their own stone back again. It solves a problem, in which everyone can give equally, and no-one loses face.

This isolated island example, indicates that there is something significant going on here. It has a deep meaning and everything to do with social cohesion. Or keeping everyone happy and together. 

There are many examples in nature. Birds exchange gifts and Adele penguins also give their partners stones, as well as mating for life.

There is something important going on in this apparently simple behavior  It is not as simple as we may assume. Primarily it has implications for survival.

There is a delicate balance between giver and receiver. The receiver, is allowing the giver, the privilege of thinking about a gift for them. Which they can accept graciously. 

The giver is in the powerful position of deciding, which gift to give. A deliberately ill considered gift, can cause offense. This of course may be the desired effect or alternatively. The giving of a gift that financially cannot be reciprocated, can be interpreted as a form of economic dominance, and therefore quite abusive.

The giver gets a payoff, because it may make the giver feel  good, to give something to someone, so isn't that actually a selfish act. 

The receiver may not be in a financial position to reciprocate, and so may feel pressure and develop a resentment, towards the giver.

Reciprocity Is Complicated

Maybe you feel obligated to give a gift. Then you feel annoyed, that you have let your emotions get the better of you. 

Like fish in a shoal we generally want to go with the flow. Reciprocity can be a strong characteristic. Being unable to reciprocate can have negative effects emotionally. There are examples of pure altruism all around us. 

Acts of pure altruism exist. 

How many times have you dug deep into your pocket, to help someone you will never know or meet. 
Some people or animals may have been caught up in some disaster, and the only thing that you can do, is to give some money to the relief fund. 
Helping someone in the street, who has fallen over.  Returning mail that has been wrongly delivered to you, and the myriad of other ways that we help each other daily, with no reward in mind. 

Gift giving and the nature of sharing on the web is influenced by who we are. Every tribe has selfless members. The way we interact online will reflect this.

The web has made meeting people worldwide much easier. It may in time lead to more social cohesion rather than less.

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Cell Phones in School

Using Cell Phones in School

The use of cell phones in schools has influenced the way some children behave. While it has caused outrage in some quarters. Some children have found a new sense of confidence. 

Many children find talking face to face tricky but they can text; non stop. They tend to use technology in a highly focused way, aimed towards the social side of the web, and to gather information.

• Early Adopters
• First Cell Phone, Ownership by Age
• Concerned Parents

If you are under 40, you have grown up during this technological revolution. It has also changed the way some adults interact. 

Many adults have poor real world social or written skills. Some find talking face to face awkward, but can interact seamlessly online.

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Early Adopters

The main driver behind these changes in human behavior, is the use of cell phones at school and in the home, especially in the UK where children were early adopters, or more accurately, their parents were. 
Today three quarters of UK children have cell phones, this is twice as many as any other country.  

Some schools report, that when children have cell phones in school, bullying and theft rates soar. The evidence is patchy at best. and may in fact be related to other behavioral issues in the school. 

The problem isn't the phone. It is related to the user's expectations; of what they should be allowed to do with their phone. It is a useful tool, so why not use it? There are many horrific web sites out there, and few people to police them. 

Considering we have been using cell phones for such a long time. You would assume that Britain would have a national policy. We do have guidelines, but there is no overall school policy in the UK. Individual schools decide how cell phones should be used on a school by school basis. 

Each school has a different policy. Some schools encourage full use of the cell phone capabilities, while other schools have an 100% ban. Sometimes these opposite approaches exist in the same education authority, region or town. 

First Cell Phone, ownership by Age

The average age for first cell phone ownership in the UK is 8 - 10 years old. This age range is declining fast. 3% of 5 - 7 year old UK children have a smart phone.

Controlling what children see online, has been an issue from the moment children were given access to the web.

Like any child that is told 'not' to do something. They will often do the exact opposite.

What was the first thing you looked up, when you first got your hands on a dictionary? Probably the swear words. You looked; because you wanted to know what all the fuss was about. 

There is nothing more tempting to children than to be told. 'You must not do x, y or z' 
It is human nature to inquire about our surroundings and our world.

Telling children not to look at things that adults think are inappropriate, is like showing a red rag to a bull. It just encourages them to be curious.

Demands for search engines to clean up the web, are pointless. They have no control over websites, except in the sense that they can add them to their index or not.
Websites flourish or perish by visitors numbers. 

When children know where to find websites, it renders the search engines powerless, apart from dropping these web sites in their rankings, or consigning them to the sandbox (the digital abyss). They can still be found if the web site address is known.

Internet Service Providers (ISP's) do have the ability to block web pages, and filter content. 
School network administrators can block websites. Front line Teachers cannot control cell phones in the same way.

Concerned Parents

Recent research shows that between 40% and 80% of parents, are concerned about the content their children are accessing on their phones, and yet less than 45% put restrictions or controls on their child’s phone. 

The usual advice is, that parents could do more to protect their children, or alternatively, do not buy their child a cell phone. Especially if you are too lazy to monitor what they are viewing.

In reality whatever restrictions parents put in place, children will find a way around them, or just use their friends phones. 
There will always be parents that will cave in to their children’s demands. At least you can say that you tried.

The use of phones in school is fine, as long as it is being used for specific tasks. It should be encouraged, guided and focused. 
Trying to control what children do with this technology is a fools errand and almost impossible. The emphasis should be on educating them to use the web constructively.  

If children visit what you consider to be age inappropriate web sites. They must be encouraged to discuss why they viewed that material. It should be discussed in an open and honest way.  The reasons why there are age restrictions on certain material should be explained.

Children learn what they live. The safe use of cell phones in schools, begins at home. Schools can then build on this foundation.

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Rent vs Buy the Price to Rent Ratio

To Rent vs Buy.

Deciding whether to rent or buy a property can be very confusing. 

Let's dispel one myth straight away.

Renting is not throwing money away or down the drain as is often stated.

Renting is putting a roof over your head. You are getting the utility of the property with none of the maintenance and associated costs.

First you need to think clearly about what housing is. It's not a commodity. 

You 'need' shelter and cannot do without it for long.

You need to ask the right questions. Those questions are listed and explained here. 

You need a simple way to work out the best deal for you, and not for the Banks. 

With this simple price-to-rent ratio sum and a few penetrating questions. 
You can make an accurate, detailed and informed choice, based on the facts and not hype, or your emotions.

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The formula is as follows: 

average price of a property, divided by the average monthly rent, times 12 months.

or 

the property's price / average monthly rent * 12. 

This simple calculation will give you the number of years it would take you to pay off just the asking price of the property. (without interest charges, taxes and fees) 

Your sum will produce a number between 1 and 20+. Any multiples above 20, are examples of distorted house prices and/or exorbitant rents.

If the number your sum produces is below 15, then it is cheaper to buy. 
If the number is between 16 and 20 and above, it is cheaper to rent. 

Property Market Distortion

Distortions in markets occur when governments interfere with the normal operation of the market. 

The UK government states that it believes in 'Free markets'. Yet it is distorting the property market by encouraging people to get into more debt than they can afford. 
Offering cheap loans to people who patently cannot afford to buy a property is storing up problems.  Selling properties to sub prime buyers can only end badly. As was seen in the Fannie May disaster in the US.     

Location Location Location 

The location of a property, is always portrayed as of paramount importance. Especially by TV shows and Realtors/Estate Agents. 
While it may be important for a few people. It is not as important for the vast majority of people. 

Research has shown that most people do not move more than a few miles away from where they were born. Even in a country with a highly mobile population like the USA, we find that most still live in the state where they were born. 
Most people in Britain live within 50 miles of where they were born.  

The vast majority of people are more interested in being: 

(1) Near family. 
(2) Distance to work and 
(3) Amenities such as Schools, Hospitals  

Location is not as important as we are led to believe.  

Another good question to ask yourself is. 'What position would you be in, if interest rates rose?' 

A comment from Ben Bernanke, of the US federal reserve; saw stock and bond prices tumble recently. With interest rates at historic lows, there is only one way for them to go. 

A return to higher interest rates is almost inevitable. People still want to earn some money from their savings accounts.  Eventually interest rates must rise. It has happened before and will happen again. These historically low interest rates are unprecedented and unsustainable.  As we can see from the Bank of England data below.

Ask yourself these questions. 

• What are your current rental or mortgage costs.
• How much would it cost to buy.
• How much will cost to move.
• Can you sell your property.
• Are there cheaper rental properties.
• Could you manage a 2% rise in interest rates? 
• Could you manage an interest rise of 17%?

You need to think about your decision in simple practical terms. This simple method can help you to decide whether to rent or buy a property. 

Using this price-to-rent ratio can help you make better choices.

What is the price of a property divided by average monthly rent, multiplied by 12 months. On a per calendar month basis.

There are many other costs associated with buying a property. 

Transfer and property taxes (UK stamp duty); mortgage fees, insurance and maintenance costs, surveyor, solicitor and realtor fees (UK estate agents) 

Most of these costs are paid up front, and will be a total loss. 

In a falling or flat-line housing market, you cannot pass on these costs to the next buyer.

Lets take a simple example based on averages from two property websites in the the US and UK. (see below)
You can change the figures and currency to suit your own prices and location. Use a calculator.

In this case a property is priced at $160,000.

Divide $160,000 by the average monthly rent $675.

You would pay $8,100 per year in rent.

Calculating these figures together we see that  $160,000 divided by $8,100 = 19.75 or 19 years and 9 months. Where the .75 is 75% of a full year (9 months)

In other words; you could live in this property for 19 years and 9 months (19.75) and still pay less than the $160,000 asking price. 

Remember that the interest on the average mortgage loan, over the life time of the loan, can in many cases double or treble the initial asking price.

Using the number from the calculator (19.75).

We can see it falls into the ratio between: 16-20. So it is cheaper to rent. 

This ratio is based a on variety property types, both in the rental sector and for sale. 

The averages are listed on trulia.com, a USA property search website. For a similar website in the UK, check out Zoopla.co.uk

Given a price-to-rent ratio of between 1 to 15 = it's cheaper to buy a property.

With a price-to-rent ratio of 16 to 20 = it's cheaper to rent a property.

In our example with a price-to-rent ratio of 19.75. It is typically cheaper to rent than to buy.

When house prices are unstable or distorted, as they are at the moment. It is cheaper and wiser to rent. Although rental costs can increase over time, they can also fall. When rents do rise they rise considerably slower over the long term. 

Being tied to a mortgaged property can restrict your mobility. Having the option to move quickly to a new area for work, is a big advantage of renting. Remember that selling a house can take months or even several years.

Now you have a simple method that you can follow to make a better choice.

Some commentators state that the housing market is recovering. The truth is; that in a few tiny pockets of the country, house prices have risen, (mostly in parts of London, New York and California) but in other places, house prices are still falling. 

You could be buying a depreciating mill stone, rather than an appreciating asset.

There have been many false dawns in recent years, but this housing market crash is systemic and will not be fixed anytime soon. 

You need sound judgement, and for that you need to know how to price a property correctly.

Hope this helps you make the right choice.

Ostrich Riding in South Africa

Ostrich Riding in South Africa

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Another Oil Spill as SELI 1 Shipwreck is blown up

The SELI 1 Shipwreck on Table View beach may seem minuscule in comparison to the gigantic Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but the effects are still being felt by the local wildlife and beach users since the ship crashed ashore in 2009. 

What was once an almost pristine environment has become a very hazardous place for some very rare and unique species.

On the 12^th March 2013 the SA Navy blew up the remains of the ship in an attempt to remove this eyesore and environmental catastrophe. They managed to blow it into three pieces, and at the same time appear to have caused even more environmental carnage.
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What's left of the SELI 1 March 2013 ©s.d'ambrosia 2013

Another Oil Spill

Local eyewitness reports via social networking sites and other news media, suggest that a further oil spill has occurred, affecting a wide variety of wildlife, from 70+ oiled African Penguins, to a beached pod of Pilot whales, and many dead fish washing up on the beaches.

Full details of the extent of the environmental impact are still unclear.   

Motor Vessel SELI 1

The Panamanian registered MV SELI 1 ran into serious trouble while laying at anchor in Table Bay, Cape Town, South Africa. 

They dropped anchor because they were experiencing engine problems.  The anchor chain snapped in heavy seas and unable to get enough power from it's faltering engine; it broadsided Table View beach around midnight on the 7^th September 2009. It must have been terrifying for the crew, who all managed to get off safely.

The way that the wreck was handled thereafter, and what followed can only be described as a farce or a comedy of errors. Depending on your perspective.

At one point, a year later the ship 'caught fire' during dismantling efforts on 4th June 2010 and some believed (hoped) that this would burn off any remaining bunker fuel. It didn't.

Video of SELI 1 on fire

Because the ship was outside of Cape Town harbor  It was not the harbor authorities responsibility. So they could do little in the way of action to try to tow it off the beach.

It was widely reported that the 'owner' of the stricken ship. Atadura Denizcilik (1) of Izmir,Turkey.

Allegedly felt that it was uneconomic to re-float the ship, washed his hands of the whole affair, walked away and pocketed the insurance money.

It appears that the potential for an environmental disaster, did not factor into his thinking.

This blame game of who was responsible for the wreck, continued in the press at the time, with claim and counterclaim, whilst the shipwreck began to settle into the once pristine sandy beach.

This inactivity made local beachfront hotel and guesthouse owners, facing the now wreaking and leaking wreck, very angry. 

Then to the horror of local people and wildlife protection groups, the first oil spill was spotted.

More carnage as the ship was left to burn for several days.

SELI 1 on Fire apparently caused by a welder error  

©mamulcahy 2009-2013

The MV SELI 1 was a bulk carrier and on it's way to Gibraltar when it fatefully dropped anchor in Table Bay. It had 30,000 tonnes of coal on-board. It was also carrying 660 tonnes of bunker fuel (special navy fuel oil, for marine engines)

Removal of this thick oil was a top priority and plans were made as early as the 9^th September 2009 to remove it, but work had to stop due to bad weather.

By the 19^th September significant amounts of the bunker fuel was pumped out and transferred from the ship to a vessel which took it into port.

However there were holes in the hull, and seawater had entered the engine room and became contaminated with oil. This was seeping out of the engine room and contaminating sea birds and other wildlife.

Cranes were used to remove the coal. This was a very dangerous task and of course it was weather dependent.

SELI 1 unloading coal ©mamulcahy 2009-2013

This 29 year old ship was built in 1980 in South Korea and according to the marine salvers.  

Marine Electrical Technical Services   Ships of this class have a useful working life of about 20 years.

The SELI 1 was well past her sell by date, and poor maintenance seems to have been a contributing factor to her ultimate failure.

Dealing with the owner took valuable time, and all the while the ship was beginning to break up and a further oil spill occurred.

In an attempt to hold the ship together, some steel girders were welded to the ships hull to try to keep it in one piece. This was not very successful as the Atlantic breakers pummeled the wreck.

The off loading in itself was a very dangerous operation as the South Atlantic Benguela Current, swells and tides, can be ferocious.

The weather played an important role in the following weeks, months and years. The need to get the ship unloaded before the winter of 2010 was paramount.

In the following months, the hard work progressed in fits and starts to off load as much of the coal and fuel as possible. This was often hampered by heavy weather.

The ship has been variously chopped up with oxy- acetylene torches, set on fire by accident and on the 14^th March 2013, finally blown to bits with explosives, by the South African Navy. 

The idea is to push it off of the beach and onto the sea bed. These wrecks do become refuges for all kinds of sea creatures, and can act as an artificial reef, and that's fine.

But the SELI 1 still contained oil, that could not be so easily removed. 

After 4 years of continual toil and chaos, it appears that even the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds SANCOOB has accepted that there will be further contamination from this wreck, for some time to come.

According to SANCOOB' observations of the wreck site, the position of the ship has altered the coastline somewhat, with accretion and erosion occurring.

Still cleaning and rehabilitating many sea birds.

'Since the SELI 1 caused a major oil slick off Table Bay on Saturday, 1 September 2012, SANCOOB admitted a total of 254 sea-birds to their centre in Table View for rehabilitation.The birds admitted included 219 oiled, endangered African penguins, 2 oiled Cape Gannets, 33 penguin chicks and 3 eggs that were abandoned as a result of their parents being oiled.With the help of the dedicated staff and volunteers of SANCCOB, the last of the oiled birds were washed on 19 September and were admitted for rehabilitation together with the other birds affected by the oil slick.'

Source SANCOOB 

They recently released back into the wild the 100^th African penguin (Spheniscus demersus), common name the Black-footed Penguin. (a very rare species) it is predominantly found only in Southern Africa. 

The African Penguin 

Source Wikipedia

Endangered African Penguin 

Almost two years after the ship had foundered. The SA government department responsible for the overall clean up project released this statement.

'On Friday night, 2 September at 23h00 the City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre were informed of an oil slick on the coastline at Blaauwberg.[Afrikaans spelling] The clean-up operations were hampered last night as a result of poor visibility and rough sea conditions.
At first daylight response teams from various agencies assembled at the disaster command post opposite the SELI 1 vessel. From the initial assessment it was determined that approximately one kilometer of coastline has been affected by the oil slick'

Source Info.Gov.ZA 

Needless to say even more wildlife was affected by this additional oil spill.

The African penguin is a highly endangered species and this is obviously not helping.

'POPULATION TREND: African penguin populations have been reduced by approximately 90 percent since the beginning of the 20th century. In 1910, there were probably approximately 1.4 million adult birds in one population alone at Dassen Island, which had been reduced to about 145,000 birds by the mid-1950's. The worldwide population was estimated at 179,000 birds in the late 1990's and is still declining'.

Source biologicaldiversity.org

Other potential collateral damage

The Koeberg Nuclear power station is just a few miles along the coast. It's cooling water intake is from the ocean. There was a concern that this may become contaminated if oil got into the cooling system.

Source info.gov.za

Other adverse effects.

Table View beach and Blouberg beach is a sensitive sand dune area. It's Eco system is very delicate. 

The SA government has been trying for many years to try to protect this beach but with limited success. The dunes need to be maintained and special grasses planted and encouraged to grow, stabilizing the dunes. This often fails due to poor maintenance.

The SA government has closed the section of dunes directly in front of the wreck site, and banned car parking there too.

It has designated a spot, on another part of the dunes for sightseers; to try to minimize the environmental damage. 

This means that yet another part of the dunes are being eroded. This time by sightseers. There doesn't seem to be a lot of joined up thinking in their planning process.

The public have been advised to stop eating the locally caught fish and seafood.

Sightseers destroying the beach ©mamulcahy 2009-2013

Oil spills big or small are a disaster for the environment

The gulf of Mexico oil spill has been recently reported as possibly fixable using microbes. This may have a grain of truth, but it is also more than a little misleading. 

There is no time line or discussion about just how many microbes it would take to clean the environment, or and how effective it would be. 

The process may well work in the lab or under optimum conditions, but it is a little disingenuous to suggest it is as viable solution.

There is only one solution to oil spills and that is, 'not to have them' in the first place.

The feckless owners of poorly maintained vessels, should be jailed for environmental terrorism instead of walking away, scot free.

Who is responsible

We are all responsible. Our love affair with oil is causing catastrophic harm to the planet. We all know this. 

Unless we vote with our feet and change our purchasing decisions, and change the way we support the oil industry, things will carry on as before.

It really is up to you. Think globally but act locally. 

One can hardly imagine the devastation that is happening in the Gulf of Mexico and will continue to destroy that environment. BP have coughed up $4.5 billion in fines.

I just hope the US government spend it on cleaning up the mess, left by this monster of an oil spill. 

If President Obama wants to cut unemployment. 

I couldn't think of a better way to get people back to work and tidy up the place at the same time. 

Table View Beach before the SELI 1

The Table View and Blouberg beach area, is world famous for kite surfing and is in the top three beaches of the world.

It attracts many professional kite surfers, and world record runs have been recorded here.

It is used by scuba divers who enjoy incredible underwater flora and fauna, surfing, kite surfing, canoeing and paddle skiing. 

Fishermen both professional and amateur alike use it, and the beach itself gets plenty of visitors; who just like to walk along it or just look at it. 

It is beautiful.

When you see a news report 'from Cape Town' the background is of Table Mountain. 

That view is actually from Table View beach, which is about 18 miles around the Bay. It is the best view of the city of Cape Town. As you can see below.

Table Mountain ©mamulcahy 2003-2013

This video was shot a couple of years prior to the SELI 1 shipwreck. In the same location. The video may not play in some browsers so you will have to watch it on YouTube but it is worth a couple of minutes as it is simply beautiful. 

Kite Surfing Cape Town

©mpmulcahy 

Those people responsible for turning a minor grounding, of a poorly maintained ship, into a environmental catastrophe should be locked up.

Shipwrecks 

The way we respond to shipwrecks, is dependent as much on attitudes as it is on costs.

As you can see from these other shipwreck photos from Table View beach. 

Even local fishermen get caught out sometimes by the heaving swells. The difference is they did something about it and fast.

These fishing boats ran aground on the 9th December 2012 after one developed engine failure and the other tried to get a tow line on to her. 

They both ran aground but were successfully re-floated with not too much damage. These owners acted responsible and cleaned up the mess.

©mamulcahy 2012

9th December 2012 ©mamulcahy 2012

©mamulcahy 2012

For more information on the many shipwrecks on the western cape.