Daily Trip 09 August 2017
What an incredible day out at sea….
Written by Jax, August 9 2017
Guide Summary and Photographs
Today was definitely the best day of our season so far with sightings that really took our breath away. We had some Humpback Whales make a really dramatic come back and the Southern Right mating groups were also a sight to behold.
Our first trip launched early, with us heading straight through to Pearly Beach where we quickly found a mating group of Southern Right Whales, which included a Brindle Individual. There is a 98% chance of this striking fellow being a boy, and a handsome one at that. We stuck around for a bit before moving off to Geyser Rock to check out our Cape Fur Seals.
The Cape Fur Seal is the only endemic seal species in Southern Africa and these playful predators are not known to undertake any migrations, staying only in the region of their home. Having said that, the seals will travel hundreds of kilometres for days at a time to find some schooling fish to snack on.
We also got to have a good look at the endangered Bank Cormorants living on the island and love seems to be in the air or, rather, on the keel of the Prince Port. These birds develop a white spot on their backs when they head into breeding season and so we’re hoping to have some Bank Cormorant babies very soon.
After this, we began to make our way towards Danger Point but we were stopped in our tracks by the sight of something spectacular. 8 Humpback Whales interacting and travelling together. Humpbacks are not generally found in pods but are known to meet up and move together for a bit before disbanding. These majestic giants gave us an unbelieve show, approaching the boat not once but numerous times, coming up close enough for one to feel their blows . There were times within this sighting where we felt almost surrounded. No words could really do a sight like this justice and we were certainly left in awe.
Our second trip was lucky enough to get to see a few members of the group in front of Dyer Island, with the animals being similarly impressive although they did not approach as much. After the whale sighting a Sunfish appeared and these were the highlights of our second tour.
The 3rd group of clients had a breath-taking experience with some exceptionally curious Southern Right Whales who spent more than a couple of moments checking us out!! By law and ethics, we keep the whales at a distance of 50m, but should a whale choose to approach, we simply put our engines in neutral and let them have their way with us. For these whales, that meant swimming below the boat, spy hopping, coming up right next to us and staying just below the surface of the water, so close that one could almost count the barnacles of the callosities.
We also got to see a juvenile Humpback on the way back to the harbour which meant that all 3 trips were able to see 2 of the three species of whale we have in the area.
All in all, absolutely exceptional whale watching.
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