The Amathole Marine Protected Area is an inshore conservation region in the territorial waters of South Africa, near East London on the coast of the Eastern Cape.

[3] Thus MPA is intended as a sanctuary for over-exploited fish and invertebrate species, particularly Sparidae, shad, whales and dolphins, and to provide a baseline for research.

[1] Habitats protected include intertidal and subtidal rocky reefs, sandy beach and nearshore and estuarine unconsolidated benthos.

[1] The MPA is in the warm temperate Agulhas inshore marine bioregion to the east of Cape Point which extends eastwards to the Mbashe River.

Some of these may have Kelp forests, which reduce the effect of waves and provide food and shelter for an extended range of organisms.

The sand is continually being moved around by wave action, to a greater or lesser degree depending on weather conditions and exposure of the area.

This means that sessile organisms must be specifically adapted to areas of relatively loose substrate to thrive in them, and the variety of species found on a sandy or gravel bottom will depend on all these factors.

Sandy bottoms have one important compensation for their instability, animals can burrow into the sand and move up and down within its layers, which can provide feeding opportunities and protection from predation.

The MPA is in the warm temperate Agulhas ecoregion to the east of Cape Point which extends eastwards to the Mbashe River.