Daily Trip Update, 5 December 2019
Written by December 6 2019
A beautiful day to be out at sea! After a few days of not being able to be on the ocean, we were glad to be out once again. We were fortunate to have encountered 4 of our marine big 5 animals today including our endangered Humpback Dolphin on the first trip. We were fortunate enough to have caught sightings of two groups near the shoreline including one with a few young dolphins too! Our Bronze Whaler Sharks were active around the shark cage diving vessels, while the Cape Fur Seals also took to the water, taking advantage of the beautiful weather. We spotted a few African Penguins scattered between some Cape Cormorants on Dyer Island, basking in the sunshine. We all had a great day of sightings and of course the sunshine is always a welcome addition to the day.
We had such a beautiful view of our Endangered Humpback Dolphins
We got a sight of two different groups that were hanging around
The Humpback Dolphin has a fat deposit just under its dorsal fin
A show of the face
A look at our beautiful Bronze Whaler Shark
A beautiful look at the Bronze Whaler
We also spotted a huge flock of Cape Cormorants aggregating together
Getting that sunshine in
Our young guests enjoying the seals
Cape Fur Seals Basking in the sun
Can you spot the newborn baby?
This looks like a comfortable place to nap
Kisses
Sometimes we need to give the pups a fighting chance, this one strayed too far away from land so we let him go a bit closer to the Island
Today was tricky to pot the African Penguins with all the Cormorants around
Can you spot the Penguins between them?
Lucky to see a raft of penguins at sea
A young African Penguin swimming about
What species did we see today?
Bronze Whaler Shark Bronze Whaler Shark
The Bronze whaler (also known as Copper sharks) here in Kleinbaai are very curious and interactive. These sharks eat mostly fish, with sardines being one of their favourites.
Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin
Humpback dolphins are an endangered species, with small populations living very close to shore, typically in water less than 25m deep and an average home range of 120km. Their proximity to land makes these animals particularly vulnerable to human influence.
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.
