A Whale Wonderland, 29 August 2018
Today, we had 4 fantastic tours out on Dream Catcher....
Written by Jax Bath, August 31 2018
Guide Summary.
After 4 days off sea, we were itching to head out on the ocean to see some wildlife! The crew were not alone in this, with 4 boats heading out today. The first tour launched at 7:30 and set out straight towards Pearly Beach. Here, we got a great welcome back from an incredible Southern Right Whale who saw us coming a mile away. When we arrived, this whale was too shallow for us to watch but, from the moment it picked up on us, this beauty began to approach. This whale was super keen to come over and say hi, so keen in fact that this gentle giant began to breach towards us.
As if the breaching was not impressive enough, for the next 10 minutes the whale would not leave our boat alone, circling and approaching again and again. This was a once in a lifetime type of sighting, and we were all left in awe by this whale who was determined to spend some quality time with us. Once this fellow moved off, so did we although it was not too long before we were treated once again. This time, a Humpback Whale mother and her calf gave us an absolute show. The baby was practicing it’s breaching skills with the little one breaching right in front of us. This was a really beautiful baby who had a little more white on it than average. We went on to see Cape Fur Seals and African Penguins before trip 2.
Trip 2 launched from Gansbaai and the highlight of this tour was definitely a large pod of Bottlenose Dolphins we found travelling in front of Dyer Island. We don’t really see big pods around in our bay, so it was spectacular to have so many gently cruising through. These animals were sticking close to the kelp and we hung out for a bit, watching them do a little surfing before moving on to see some more Gorgeous Southern Right Whales, Cape Fur Seals and also our African Penguins.
Trip 3 and 4 also had awesome sightings of these 3 members of the Marine Big 5. On trip 3, Pearly Beach was choc-a-block full of whales, so much so it was difficult to know where to look. On trip 4, we did not travel 5 minutes before catching up with a mom and calf pair, so we spent our whale time with these relaxed Southern Rights just outside of the harbor. We ended off our day with some gorgeous African Penguins just off of Dyer Island and we certainly could not have asked for a better day at sea.
Daily Snaps.
A curious calf from Trip 4.
A Spy hop over at Pearly Beach.
An opportunistic Kelp Gull waiting for some whale skin.
Southern Right sticking its head out the water.
A Cape Fur Seal checking us out.
A seal making friends with an African Black Oystercatcher.
We got to see this cutie do some waddling.
We were treated to a surprise on trip 2 when we found a large pod of Bottlenose Dolphin through the bay.
A calf with it’s head out the water.
A very distinctive dorsal fin.
Danger Point looking as dramatic and scenic as ever.
A relaxed seal on Hospital Rock.
No caption needed really but, this baby Humpback Whale breached right in front of the boat.
The Humpback Calf breaking the surface next to mom.
Just as the calf was about to come up.
This Humpback calf was incredible to watch, breaching again and again.
A close up.
Some tail action.
Closer would be impossible.
This whale took a dive right next to us,so we were able to get a top shot of the tail.
A once in a lifetime encounter.
This whale saw us coming and made a conscious effort to approach and spend some time with us.
The same whale approaching with a breach.
And again.A
A raft of African Penguins.al
A Southern Right Whale calf rolling on mom.
