A Whale Of The Day,07 November 2018

We had some really memorable moments on the water today, with 4 trips heading out in search of our Southern Right Whales. The swell has dropped a lot in the bay, and we had 4 lovely tours with just enough wind to keep it interesting. Due to the new moon tonight, we are also experiencing spring tide at the moment which caused us to launch from Gansbaai harbour on the first tour of the day.

We set out after 9 and wasted no time heading on over to our Cape Fur Seal colony over at Geyser Rock. After watching our playful pinnipeds strut their stuff, we decided to check out Pearly Beach to see if they had any Southern Right Whale action. We were not disappointed, catching up with 2 cow calf pairs who were rolling around. At first, it was 2 babies and a mother, whilst the other mother was off, but soon enough they all came together, rubbing against each other and sticking their heads out the water. Whilst 3 of the whales continued to play, one cheeky little whale decided that we deserved to be included in the game. This naughty little baby left the group whilst the others were distracted, making a b-line for Dream Catcher. Baby came up nice and close, giving us all a great look at him before he did something incredible. Baby began to bump the boat, nudging against the bow as if to include us in his little game. Although still tiny in whale terms, baby definitely had some weight to throw around, and we all felt it has he rubbed himself against our boat! Needless to say, this was the experience of a lifetime.

Trip two also got to see some active baby whales, with a little one rolling around and showing off it’s belly. This baby whale put both flippers up, laying on its back and giving us a wave as it played around in the gentle swell. On this tour, we also took a stop at our sister company’s boat, Slashfin, where we got to spot a Copper Shark or two. After a few views of the shark, we carried on towards Dyer Island and Geyser Rock. We crossed The Clyde reef system and then made our way into shark alley where hundreds of seals had taken to the water to escape the Midday heat.

Trip 3 and 4 were awesome trips two, with us getting to see the eye of 2 mother whales whilst they rolled around next to the boat. The eye of the Southern Right Whale is positioned very low down on the head, so we only really get to see the eye when they roll over onto their side. At one point on trip 3, it really looked like the mother was looking at us, keeping her eye open as she lay on her side meters away from the boat. We also had lots of play on trip 4 from the whales, and overall we could not have asked for a better time out on the water. Trip 4 also got to see a couple of African Penguins, which is always a lovely way to end a day