The Garden Route area is varied regarding shells. To the west the water is still too cold for sub-tropical species to survive, but towards the east things start to change as the cold water is replaced by warmer water flowing from the north, in the warmer Agulhas Current. The areas around Cape St Francis are particularly rich in shells and are host to some rare deep-water species. Coastal regions to the east also deliver shells, many of them endemic to South Africa.