Case Decision - 197078

The South African Heritage Resources Agency would like to thank you for submitting the Draft Environmental Management Programme for the “Proposed speculative 2D seismic survey off the West Coast of South Africa”. 
As the proposed 2D seismic survey is non-invasive, SAHRA has no objection to the work proceeding. Given the distance from the shore and the depths at which the survey will take place it is unlikely that cultural remains will be discovered. However, as the proposed surveys cover a large area and will be fairly high resolution there may still be some potential for previously unknown shipwreck sites or material to be identified. 
The number of known shipwrecks along the South African coast is approximately 2500 and although many occur in shallower waters, the positions of the large majority of these wrecks are unknown. Although there are no known shipwrecks in the area of the survey the potential for the discovery of previously unknown wrecks remains. 
If any shipwrecks are identified during the survey SAHRA must be informed of any such discovery. This management measure must be inserted into the appropriate section of the EMP. Survey data is a valuable resource in adding to our knowledge of South Africa’s maritime history. 
Please note that in Section 7.9 on page 145 of the Draft EMP the NHRA is written as “National Heritage Resources Agency” when it is in fact “National Heritage Resources Act”, this must therefore be amended.