A breaching brindle baby, 13 October 2019
Written by October 13 2019
Today we encountered at least 12 different Southern right whales. They were all mother and juvenile pairs, as we have been observing for all our Southern right whale sightings recently. During our tours we moved around between these different pairs and got some very nice encounters. One of these pairs was a mostly dark female with some variable grey spotting on her back who has a brindle baby. A brindle Southern right whale is a mostly white individual, with some black spots. This is a rare colour form that is present at birth in only about 4% of all Southern right whales. So it was a real treat to encounter this white whale twice today and even see it leaping out of the water several times the second time we saw it. We also had two lucky encounters with our endangered Indian Ocean humpback dolphins today. It was a group of 5 or 6 individuals and included a calf which we got to see very well. Another out of the ordinary encounter we had on our last trip today was with a Cape fur seal that was feeding on a smooth hound shark. It goes to show that sharks are not the only top predators in the oceans. To top off our sightings today we also encountered Bronze whaler sharks, the seals on Geyser rock and plenty of different seabird species.
Photos from today
Indian Ocean humpback dolphins
Indian Ocean humpback dolphins
Southern right whale close to shore
Southern right whale playing in the surf zone
Southern right whale opening its mouth
Southern right whales
Mother (dark) and brindle (white) Southern right whales
Brindle Southern right whale breaching
Brindle Southern right whale breaching
Brindle Southern right whale breaching
A Cape fur seal feeding on a smooth hound shark
Cape fur seals on Geyser rock
A little egret hanging out with the Cape fur seals
Cape cormorants
Bronze whaler shark
What species did we see today?
Bronze Whaler Shark Bronze Whaler Shark
The Bronze whaler (also known as Copper sharks) here in Kleinbaai are very curious and interactive. These sharks eat mostly fish, with sardines being one of their favourites.
Southern Right Whale Southern Right Whale
Southern right whales attract thousands of visitors every year to experience these gentle giants off the South African coast.
Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin
Humpback dolphins are an endangered species, with small populations living very close to shore, typically in water less than 25m deep and an average home range of 120km. Their proximity to land makes these animals particularly vulnerable to human influence.
African Penguin African Penguin
As one of only 17 penguin species left in the world (and the only one on the african continent), the african penguin often breed in offshore colonies, such as Dyer Island.
Cape Cormorant Cape Cormorant
One of the most famous species of Cormorant in the Western Cape, the Cape Cormorant is well known for it's beautiful turquoise eye and impressive size.
Cape fur seal Cape fur seal
With a local population of 60,000, it's no wonder our guests capture so many photographs of these wonderfully playful marine mammals.
