A Whale-ly Great Trip! Marine Big 5 Daily Blog 28 June
Written by June 28 2022
Whale Watching near Cape Town, South Africa Welcome to Gansbaai, home of the Marine Big 5.
Trip Summary 28 June 2022:
We had a marvellous start to the trip when straight out of the harbour we came across a raft of African Penguins out on the water! After this, we made our way to our shark cage diving vessel where we were incredibly fortunate to witness some fantastic Great White shark and Bronze Whaler shark action around the boat. After enjoying the sharks for a while we then made our way toward Shark Alley. Here we visited our 60,000-strong Cape Fur seal colony on Geyser Rock and, over on Dyer Island we were able to spot some more of the endangered African Penguins on land! As we made our way out of Shark Alley we came across numerous Mola Mola (Sunfish) predating on Box Jellyfish. Next, we headed out into deeper waters where we were blessed with some beautiful Humpback Whale activity. We had three beautifully calm Humpback Whales around the boat whom we cruised with for some time. On our way back to the harbour we spotted a group of diving birds including Sooty Shearwater and various Tern species. We stopped here for a short while and were pleasantly surprised when both a mother and calf Bryde’s Whale made an appearance for us. This was an incredibly special sighting! We observed this beautiful pair from a distance for a short while before slowly moving away to as to not disturb the calf. A big thank you to all who joined us on board today, it was a pleasure having you with us for your Marine Big 5 experience!
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What species did we see today?
Brydes Whale Brydes Whale
The mysterious Bryde's whales visit the Dyer Island area throughout the year, with most sightings occurring during summer into winter.
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.
Humpback Whale Humpback Whale
One of the best-known whale species, they are renowned for their acrobatic behaviour and complex melodious song as well as extremely long flippers and are a special favourite of Dyer Island Cruises guests and crew alike.
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.
Great white sharks Great white sharks
Gracious, beautiful, misunderstood - three words used by guests of Dyer Island Cruises after witnessing South Africa's most infamous marine species: The Great White Shark.
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.
