Daily Tour Update, 10 Decemeber 2018

We had an adventurous day out at sea, launching onto a perfect sea and heading out in the hopes of spotting some marine animals. It was a gorgeous morning, and we stayed along the coastline in the hopes of spotting some predators travelling in shallow water.

Once we had cruised along the beach, we took a stop in The Shallows, where we checked to see if we could spot a shark or two. We pulled up to our sister company’s cage and to our delight, found a couple of Copper Sharks milling around in the area. These curious creatures were moving around the cage, surfacing to check out a rope sitting on top of the water. For us, this just goes to show the inquisitive nature of these predators, and we spent a while just watching as various sharks moved with grace below the water. The visibility was stunning today, so we were able to see their coppery skin shine as the sunlight reflected off of their dermal denticles.

We then set out onwards towards Pearly Beach and then into the deep blue in search of our whales, we traversed our whole area, looking out for spouts. In the deep sea we also had a look out for some birds, which may give away a school of fish and some other predators. Alas, the animals seemed to be on the move, as is the beauty of nature, so we head on over towards one of the most spectacular sights in the area, our buzzing Cape Fur Seal colony.

If you could imagine the sight of 60 000 wet Labradors, this is what greets you when you pull up into the world famous waters of Shark Alley. On hot days like today, thousands of these charismatic animals will descend into the water, seeking relief from the hot African sun and engaging in some tomfoolery. We watched as they played in the water, jumping and chasing each other and giving us a look or two as we cruised by. The pups were also adorable as ever, scattered on the island and navigating this new world they find themselves in. the big male seals were protecting their harams, and we spent lots of time here taking in the sights, sounds and smells of these precious pinnipeds.

Sponge Bay was our next port of call where we put on our eagle eyes to try to spot an endangered African Penguin or two, and we were in luck with a few of them hanging out on the guano covered boulders. After getting a few nice views here, we cruised back to the harbour, once again looking out for any signs of cetaceans.