A Fintastic Sea day, 08 February 2018
What a wonderful day on the ocean blue...
Written by Jax Bath, February 9 2019
Guide Summary.
The weather is absolutely incredible at the moment with flat seas and stunning, blue skies. With the conditions being so perfect, we can’t wait to head out onto our everchanging oceans. After an exclusive trip in the morning, we head out at around 12:30 to see what the ocean had in store for us and we were not disappointed.
We started off our tour by making a B-line for Slashfin, as they were finishing up with their shark cage diving tour. We arrived to crystal clear waters and waited in anticipation for our first sighting of one of nature’s most iconic predators. Sure enough, after checking out some Box Jellyfish and a Cuttlefish bone, a stunning Copper Shark emerged from the depths, curious as to what was happening on the surface of the ocean. we watched as this animal moved with grace, checking out Slashfin before descending down to the bottom once more. We managed to get a few great sights before making our way into deeper water and then towards Dyer Island and Geyser Rock.
Geyser Rock was our first stop of the day, were we had some fun watching our Cape Fur Seal pups do some playing. It’s an awesome time of year to watch these little ones as they begin to brave the Atlantic for the first time. We also got to see an African Black Oystercatcher about as well as some Giant Petrels hanging out just outside of Shark Alley. These oceanic vultures hope to come across some of the little seals who do not make it, so that they too may feed.
Our next stop was over in Sponge Bay where we got to see some African Penguins doing a wiggle and a waddle over the rocks to go for a swim. It was too cute to watch as these little flightless birds made their way down, eventually jumping into the water to the joy of all aboard.
We then decided to head back to shallow water to catch up with a dolphin or two, and we were definitely not disappointed. We found a beautiful Bottlenose Dolphin cruising along, and we had an amazing sighting, watching this incredible creature move over the reefs and surf the waves. We also got to watch as a seal befriended this loner, swimming with him for a bit before carrying on with his day.
Daily Snaps.
Some Torpedos in Tuxedos heading out for a swim!
A lone Bottlenose Dolphin moving through The Shallows.
The visibility was absolutely incredible tosay, which allowed us to watch the dolphin swim under the water.
Mr Dolphin surfacing.
Friendship! This Cape Fur Seal saw the dolphin hanging out alone and decided to reach out and make a friend.
One last look at this beauty.
A Copper Shark moving through crystal clear waters.
One can clearly see how these beautiful animals get their name, check out that colour!
An African Black Oystercatcher on it’s post.
You can see our puppies starting to swim.
a puppy pool on the island.
Something spooked our pups, which caused them to all run out of the water.
We’ve been seeing a couple of Giant Petrels about recently, hanging out around the islands.
What species did we see today?
Bottlenose Dolphin Bottlenose Dolphin
At present there are two recognized species of bottlenose dolphin, and in some cases, both species can be found in the same area. The two species are the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (T. aduncus). In addition, there is a great deal of variation in colouration, diet and behaviour. The difference between the common bottlenose and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin are subtle, but the common bottlenose dolphin generally larger and more robust with a slight darker colouration.
