A perfect sea day, 24 August 2018.

With bad weather on the way, we had a busy 3 trip day out on the water. Everyday, we set out in the hopes of spotting as much wildlife as what we can and, with the ocean being an open system, we are always amazed at just how diverse the sightings are. Trip to trip, sightings will vary quite a bit too, which is one of the greatest assets of the ocean. All 3 of today’s tours were lucky enough to see some awesome Southern Right Whales as well as some really cool other species.

The whales that we spent most of our time with today, were the mating groups. We got to see some beautiful things, with the whales showing off their iconic tails and even doing some spy hopping. We also got to see the whales travelling slowly at the surface, cruising along with them as they traversed the sheltered area of Pearly Beach.

The first tour of the day also caught sight of a mom and calf moving through the shallows. We did not spend too much time here, but we got to watch the little one staying by mom’s side as they navigated the swell into deeper water. Other whale highlights include a really close approach on one of the tours where the whales hung out below the boat for a bit.

We had some great African Penguin sightings too, with us finding a couple of rafts and sea. Sometimes it is a bit tricky to point them out on the island, so we’re always grateful to get t see them on the water however today, we were also able to find a couple of these flightless birds sitting on the guano covered boulders.

The seals were up to their usual business; chilling, napping and taking full advantage of the warm sun rays. Interesting sights here included a seal who looked as though something tried to trip his ear off. He seems to be doing fine. We also had a seal jump of the keel of the Prince Port, which is always an amusing sight.

Other highlights of the day including playing with some Sea Bamboo on board as well as watching a Kelp Gull eating a Cuttle Fish.