The Sardinia Bay Marine Protected Area is an inshore conservation region in the territorial waters of the Eastern Cape province, South Africa Established in 1990,[1] the MPA was proclaimed by the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, (Mohammed Valli Moosa, in Government Gazette No.

[3] The MPA is between Schoenmakerskop and Seaview along the coast to the west of Port Elizabeth, adjacent to the Sardinia Bay Nature Reserve.

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

The shorter Split-fan kelp Laminaria pallida grows mostly on deeper reefs, where there is not so much competition from the sea bamboo.

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.

[6] Abalone poaching in the MPA is considered a major threat and has severely impacted stocks, and incidents of illegal commercial and recreational fishing have been reported to the police & the department has looked into it .