Coastal sea surface temperature is a critical parameter for coastal marine ecology. Many organisms dwelling along or near the coast are adapted to thrive in a specific range of
water temperatures. In order to monitor ecosystem health, as well as assess how coastal ecological systems might be responding to climate change, it is therefore important to measure
sea surface temperatures around our coastline on an on-going basis. The South African Weather Service is grateful to a dedicated group of volunteers, who give their time daily to
collect this important information. Using thermometers, these volunteers measure sea temperature at the same place and time each day. The SAWS is proud to have assembled the longest
coastal SST dataset in this way.
