A Perfect Sea Day,23 October 2018
An incredible 5 trips on the water....
Written by Jax Bath, October 24 2018
Guide Summary.
We had the most exceptional day out on Dream Catcher. The weather was nothing short of perfect as we launched our boat from Gansbaai harbor, travelling straight to our Cape Fur Seals on trip 1. This incredible weather continued throughout the day and we were treated to some incredible whale watching. We also had a variety of species around today, with some clients being really fortunate to catch a view of a female Elephant Seal who is currently resting in the harbour. This chubby little beauty is part of the true seal family, unlike our Cape Fur Seals who fall into the Otariidae or eared seal family.
We also got to see some gorgeous African Penguins on all of our tours, finding a few rafts in the water but also taking a stop in Sponge Bay to try to point them out on Dyer Island. Everyone got to see these little black and white birds and a few even got to see a juvenile penguin, which are darker in color. Other awesome bird sightings included the Cape Cormorants flying in a large flock over the water, as well as some Swift Terns travelling around the bay.
Our first couple of tours of the day were also very fortunate to see 2 different species of shark, with a Great White Shark as well as some Copper Sharks surfacing in the shallows. These tours also got to complete their Marine Big 5 experience with the sight of 4 Bottlenose Dolphins including a calf who were travelling through the bay. On the first tour, they were hunting a school of fish which also attracted in a lone Humpback Dolphin. This was an unbelievable sight to witness, especially since a mother Southern Right Whale and her calf were playing in the same area.
Finally, the whale activity was really out of this world today, with some incredible close passes from these gentle giants. We had some calves come right up to the boat to check us out, leaving us all in absolute awe of their size. Baby whales are well known to be super curious and very playful animals and today was certainly a great showcase of that. We had an incredible brindle calf in the bay, who wad born white and speckled. This little one was really a show stopper, not only because of his distinct markings but also his vibrant nature. We got to see this baby breach, we got a couple of tail slaps off him, and we were really just left breathless by the antics of this little animal. We also got to see flippers and some breaching from some other calves in the bay, who all seemed to be having a ball underneath the warm African sun.
Guide Photographs.
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What species did we see today?
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.