OBITUARY: Prof Gideon Rossouw (Gough Island 'sealer' 1975/76)

Gideon Rossouw, 2020. Photo: MN Bester

We regret to inform that, sadly, another stalwart ‘sealer’ has recently passed away. Gideon Rossouw (Gough 21; 1975/76), together with Marthán Bester, investigated the population ecology of the large Subantarctic fur seal population at Gough Island, as well as the resident small breeding colony of southern elephant seals. While training as a zoologist at the University of Stellenbosch, he was recruited to spend the summer at Gough Island as one of two seal researchers. He later went on to research elasmobranch fishes at the then University of Port Elizabeth (Nelson Mandela University), also making a name for himself as a very accomplished palaeontologist, especially on Karoo vertebrates (such as mammal-like reptiles). He lectured widely on this topic and the comparative anatomy of vertebrates. He often toured fossil sites and established fossil collections, together with his students, all over the Karoo. In 1980, he briefly returned to Gough Island for the takeover to augment the seal research of 1975/76. Gideon retired from NMU as Head: Department of Zoology in 2015, eventually moving to Dana Bay, where he passed away on 4 June 2021 at the age of 70. Preceded in death by his wife Engela, he is survived by his son, Jan-Hendrik, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.

Gideon (left) and Marthán on Gough Island during 1975/76

Marthán N. Bester, 24/05/2021