Baby Whales at play in the bay, 09 September 2018
We had 6 Cow, calf pairs in Pearly Beach today...
Written by Jax Bath, September 10 2018
Guide Summary.
We have come to the end of yet another lunar cycle, with the moon moving into new moon. At this time, we see that our low tide is lower than usual. This means that we have to launch out of Gansbaai which the crew love as we get to take a scenic cruise around Danger Point.
Our first sighting on the first tour was a seal who was eating calamari for breakfast. This seal was shaking his prey violently to break off bite size chunks. Seals have to do this as they cannot grasp with their flippers and it always makes for an interesting sight. We then spotted a raft of African Penguins who were bobbing up and down in the water. After this sight, we continued on to Dyer Island, spotting a Shy Albatross in the distance whilst on the way.
We stopped at Geyser Rock next where we had lots of Cape Fur Seals hanging out in the water. It starting to warm up here, so many will descend into Shark Alley to cool their bodies down by practicing thermoregulation. Seals do this by sticking their flippers up into the air and letting the wind blow over the flipper.
Once we’d had some time here, we moved on towards Pearly Beach, where we are very lucky to have lots of whales congregating at the moment. We are seeing mostly moms and calves, and the little ones have been super playful which has made for some incredible sights. We got to see some tips of some tails here, when moms and babies would play under the water. We also got to see a little bit of flipper and we did some travelling with the whales for a bit, watching their dark silhouettes under the water in the crystal-clear bay. After this, we made our way back to port.
On trip two, we spotted two free swimming Great White Sharks in Jouberts Dam. It is always awesome to watch them move so close to the beach, wild and free. For many it is very surprising that they are so slow moving, as the average cruising speed is only around 4km/h.
After this, we head on over towards Pearly Beach where we caught up with the Southern Right Whales again. the first cow calf pair was really adorable, with baby picking up some kelp to play with. This baby put the kelp on its head and then proceeded to roll the kelp down its body to the delight of all on board. We also had another baby practicing some breaching and other resting its head on mom. We did some really spectacular whale watching before cruising through Shark Alley, point out some African Penguins on Dyer Island and then heading home.
Daily Snaps.
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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.