Cape Town - Noordhoek Beach visitors, particularly horseback riders, have been urged to exercise caution due to dangerous sand conditions.
This follows an incident on Sunday, where a horse became trapped in quicksand.
The Table Mountain National Park advised horse owners to remain vigilant and keep a distance of at least 15-20 metres from the lagoon while enjoying the beach.
“Sinking sand or quicksand often occurs on the edge of water bodies rather than where the water is above the soil level due to a combination of factors related to the presence of water, sediment composition, and the interaction between water and sand.
“For this reason, in relation to the incident, there are many factors that could have created this phenomenon.
“You have saturation at the water’s edge where sand is more prone to saturation because it is in direct contact with water.
“For example, waves, tides, or changing water levels can cause the sand at the shoreline to become saturated with water, leading to the formation of quicksand.
“Conditions can change at short notice on trails, on beaches and in the marine area and in terms of weather conditions.
“This is due to the fact that the national park is a natural environment and exposed to changes from the elements.
“So people should always be aware and observant when enjoying the park.
“We’d like to advise our users to please be cautious when carrying out their activities along the Noordhoek Beach, especially following adverse weather conditions.
“In this case, we’d caution horse riders when occupying the space below the high water mark.”
Mike Stewart, 68, the owner of the Dunes Racing Stables, said he has been living in Noordhoek for 37 years and the sinking sand is caused by the wet winter season when the area experienced a lot of rain.
“Noordhoek always has hectic sand, it just depends on how much rain we had and how much water comes from the wetland.
“Give it another four weeks and everything will be dried up and there will be no more quicksand,” Stewart said.
“We had an abnormal amount of rain, the water flows out from the wetland onto the beach and it goes under the sand.
“I have had a couple of horses get stuck but the quickest way to get the horse out is to get the saddle off so they do not feel restricted.
“Most of the horses are fine but the horse can pull a muscle just like humans.
“I used to come running on the beach since I was a child and we always had soft patches, especially this time of the year. I use to sink but I never got hurt.”
marsha.dean@inl.co.za
Cape Argus