Encounters with the Marine Big 5, 05 October 2019
Written by October 5 2019
We were back out on the water today and again our Marine Big 5 species did not disappoint. We had some very nice Southern right whale sighting throughout the day, with several different individuals that were along the coastline. Now that the Right whale season is progressing, we can see that the young whales are already growing to be very large alongside their mothers. We were very lucky on our second trip of today to have one of these pairs becoming curious and approaching close to our boat to check us out. We also got to see some breaching, both on trip two and later in the day on trip three. On the first trip in the morning we were lucky in a different way, with a rare encounter with our endangered Indian Ocean humpback dolphins. There were at least 4 individuals, including a mother and calf pair and a well known individual with a distinct mark behind its dorsal fin. On all our trips today we encountered Bronze whaler sharks together with our sister company’s shark cage diving boat Slashfin. We also had some nice views of our endangered African penguins and Cape fur seals on all trips today.
Photos from trips 1 and 2
Southern right whale surfacing close to shore in Kleinbaai
Adult and juvenile Southern right whales
Juvenile Southern right whale surfacing alongside its mother
Southern right whale rolling in the surf
A curious Southern right whale approaching us
Southern right whale head with a nice view of its callosities
Southern right whale tail
Southern right whale breaching
Indian Ocean humpback dolphin – a well known individual
Indian Ocean humpback dolphin
African penguin
Cape fur colony on Geyser rock
A curious Cape fur seal
Cape fur seal on the rock
Bronze whaler sharks with our boat Slashfin
Bronze whaler sharks
Photos from trip 3 - some awesome whale activity
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.
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.
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.
