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Mossel Bay| Town in Western Cape province, South Africa, 350 km/217 mi east of Cape Town; population (district, 1991) 59,200. Mossel Bay is known for its mussels, from which it derives its name, and is a popular holiday resort. The town has a small harbour and a submarine oil pipeline. There are also oil refineries, called the Mossagas plant, which produce synthetic oil from natural gas, and fruit and vegetable canning industries. A large industrial area has developed nearby at Voorbaai. |
| Out in the bay lies Seal Island, inhabited by thousands of seals. |
| Mossel Bay was one of the first bays known in South Africa to the early Portuguese navigators, and in about 1500 Pedro d'Ataide found refuge in what is today known as Munro's Bay, from the storm that wrecked most of his fleet. A year later Joao da Nova settled there and built a hermitage, which is claimed to have been the first place of Christian worship in Southern Africa. |
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