Dedication

Dedication Bodyboarding is a water sport in which the surfer rides a bodyboard on the crest, face, and curl of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore. Bodyboarding is also referred to as Boogieboarding due to the invention of the “Boogie Board” by Tom Morey. The average bodyboarding consists of a short, rectangular piece of hydrodynamic foam. Bodyboarders typically use swim fins for additional propulsion and control while riding a breaking wave. Bodyboarding originates from an ancient form of riding waves (surfing) on one’s belly. Indigenous Polynesians rode “Alaia” (pronounced ah-lie-ah) boards either on their belly, knees, or feet (in rare instances). Alaia boards were generally made from the wood of Acacia koa and ranged in length and shape. They are distinct from the modern stand-up surfboards in that they had no ventral fins. Captain Cook recorded seeing Hawaiian villagers riding such boards when he came to Hawaii in 1778.

Info source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyboarding

The photo was taken during November 2017 at Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Dedication

Beady

The Crowned Lapwing prefers dry, open habitats, either with or without scattered trees. It has benefited from the habitat impacts of both affluent and poor communities; golf courses, sports fields and airports, on one hand, and overgrazing on the other. In some areas, the presence of Crowned Plovers is an indicator of mismanagement of ranchlands. In South Africa, Crowned Plovers move locally in response to changing conditions. Crowned Plovers, like many of the wader species breeding in South Africa, have a long breeding season, often starting in August and ending in May. In addition, a pair may have more than one successful breeding attempt. If nests or chicks are lost, further attempts to breed may occur. They lay two eggs in a scrape in the sand, lined with vegetation or small pebbles. The eggs take about a month to hatch and the chicks between four and five weeks to fledge.
Info source: http://www.adu.uct.ac.za/adu/projects/shorebirds/crowned-plover
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The photo was taken during December 2017 at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.

Beady

Frond

Tree ferns are ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level. Tree ferns are found growing in tropical and subtropical areas, including cool to temperate rainforests. Like all ferns, tree ferns reproduce by means of spores formed on the undersides of the fronds. The fronds of tree ferns are usually very large and multiple-pinnate. Their trunk is actually a vertical and modified rhizome and woody tissue is absent. To add strength, there are deposits of lignin in the cell walls and the lower part of the stem is reinforced with thick, interlocking mats of tiny roots. Tree ferns often fall over in the wild, yet manage to re-root from this new prostrate position and begin new vertical growth. It is not certain the exact number of species of tree ferns there are, but it may be closer to 600-700 species. Many species have become extinct in the last century as forest habitats have come under pressure from human intervention. Info source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_fern

Frond