Daily Trip 27 July 2017

Guide Summary and Photographs

We had a magical day out at sea after a couple of days of being land bound. Our launch was relatively early this morning and by 9:30 we were on the water and headed straight for Pearly Beach after we were alerted to the presence of one of our Right whales.

Sure enough, we found this beautiful cetacean and were able to spend a great 15 minutes watching this individual cruise along. These guys eat mostly Copepods, Krill and other small crustaceans, feeding in Antarctic waters and living off their fat reserves whilst in ours. This makes Southern Rights slightly less predictable than our resident whale species, the Brydes Whale, who are usually found in areas where there are lots of fish.

However, Southern Right Whales are known for spending most of their time on or just below the surface of the sea, making them slightly easier to find and the ideal whale to watch. These whales are also known to be quite playful and we were lucky enough to see this individual play with some Kelp before we moved off towards Dyer Island.

After taking a stop at our resident Cape Fur Seals, most of which had opted to nap through the chilly winter morning, we made our way into the deep sea. Here we managed to find a Brydes Whale who came up a couple of times for us before we moved off and head towards Gansbaai Harbour.

We launched our second trip from Gansbaai harbour due to spring tide and made our way back in the direction of Dyer Island. As is often the case, magic struck just off of Danger Point where we had not one but two Breaching Humpback Whales. These majestic giants looked as though they could give the world’s best synchronised swimming team a run for their money as they breached in unison to the absolute delight of all of us on board.

It seems as though whales may breach for a multitude of reasons, such as communication, recreation and potentially even to remove some pesky parasites. Regardless of the reason, it is one of the most awe inspiring things that one can see, as a 15m, 30 tonne animal launches itself completely out the water, crashing to the depths with almost reckless abandon.

We spent quite some time with them, watching them create rainbows with their spouts as they surfaced. We were incredibly fortunate to have them be really relaxed around us, approaching and giving us a real show.

We finally made the decision to move off, following our usual route past Geyser Rock, through Shark Alley and along the shallows, finally finding our way back to Kleinbaai Harbour. Overall a really stunning day at the office.

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