Please note: 1. This report has not been peer-reviewed; 2. The conditions of use outlined in the report are superseded by the conditions specified by the License field in this metadata record; 3. The contact information included in the report is superseded by the contact information that can be found in the Responsible Parties field of this metadata record.This series of internal annual reports was introduced in December 2006 for purposes of establishing general principles (such as annual cycles) and long-term trends (which may provide insight into local effects of global warming and climate change). The reports are also intended to provide an overview of marine environmental conditions prevailing during the preceding year, which may be of relevance to the management of South Africa’s marine and coastal resources. To this end, use is made of data from a variety of sources, including web sites, satellite sensors, the South African Weather Service, coastal and moored instruments, and research and monitoring cruises. Inherent to all of these is an inevitable lag between the time of sample collection or data capture and the time when the data first become available for use. Therefore, while it is the aim that these environmental reports should reflect the conditions that prevailed over the months leading up to the reporting date in order to meet the resource management objective, some out-of-date series are incorporated because they provide information on long-term trends.The bulk of the material presented in these reports has, to date, been in the form of time-series representative of ongoing monitoring. Unfortunately, owing to a crisis experienced in 2012 by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) with regard to the management of their fleet of research vessels, there has been no routine shipboard environmental monitoring in 2012 to update many of DEA’s in situ time-series datasets. On the other hand, some new items are featuring in this year’s report, such as the coastal and estuarine monitoring that was initiated in 2012, and the use of satellite transmitters tagged onto large migratory marine animals. Also included are the first reports on a series of measurements in the Southern Ocean made during three supply voyages on board the Department’s new polar vessel, SA Agulhas II, since her commissioning in May 2012.