An Incredible Day Of Humpback Whale Watching, 05 July 2019
We had 3 awesome trips out at sea, with the Humpback Whales stealing the show....
Written by Jax Bath, July 8 2019
Guide Summary.
What a wonderful day on the ocean! We had 3 very different tours, each with some very special encounters. We were able to find migrating Humpback Whales on all of our tours, spotting Great White Sharks, African Penguins and Cape Fur Seals too. We had a little swell running in the morning, which dropped down throughout the day.
Our first tour launched at 9 am and set our towards Pearly Beach to see if we could find any baleen beauties in this area. We cruised along shore, crossing The Clyde and then making our way into deeper waters when The Shallows yielded no results. In the deep, we had some African Penguins pop up as Albatross flew overhead, indicating the presence of fish. Whilst watching the penguins, we spotted a few blows in the distance, which really got us quite excited. We made our way into that area, spotting many footprints and around 5 Humpback Whales, which is not all too common for us here. We spent the next twenty minutes watching these gentle giants surface between the swells. It appeared to be a few males escorting a female, with the males gilding along in the water. We then stopped by our Cape Fur Seals and Slashfin before making our way to Gansbaai Harbour.
We launched our second trip here due to spring tide, making our way around Danger Point and spotting 2 Humpback Whales moving along. We stayed with them for a while before heading off. On our way to Dyer Island, we spotted hundreds of seabirds, indicating some schooling fish moving through the area. We stuck around and sure enough, spotted a Brydes Whale! This whale was fantastic to watch, moving parallel to us before surfacing just a few meters off. Here, we also spotted a few penguins in the water before heading in the direction of our seals. The highlight here was finding an animal with a tag, that we’re yet to find the scientists who are studying this little guy. We then finished off our tour with a stop in The Shallows where we got a quick look at a Great White Shark.
Our final tour of the day was an exclusive tour, who managed to spot all 3 of our big baleen species!
Today's best shots.
Can you see the blows? The whales surfaced just behind the swell.
One whale had quite a lot of white on it’s side, which made it particularly easy to track.
The whales came nice and close to the boat on the first tour.
We had at least 5 Humpback Whales moving in a group towards the east, which was really special to see.
I believe that we had a female in this group and that the males where escorting her, just based on the behavior of some of the animals.
Something scared our seals on the first tour, so they all bolted for the water.
Some slow pokes getting in.
Enjoying the sights.
Two beautiful Humpbacks on our second tour.
We spent some time watching as these whales traveled along.
We also got to see a Brydes Whale, who swam with the boat which made for awesome memories.
A very special seal. We are currently trying to establish where he’s from, but for now, he’s had scientists stumped.
A Great White Shark in The Shallows.
African Penguins hanging out on Dyer Island.
Sleepy seals with some dramatic wave action the background.
A Shy Albatross soars along.
A Southern Right Whale seen on the final tour of the day.
What species did we see today?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
