Marine Big 5 Daily Blog 02 August
Written by August 2 2025
Whale Watching near Cape Town, South Africa – Welcome to Gansbaai, home of the Marine Big 5.
Trip Summary 02 August 2025:
After a few days of stormy weather and swell, we are back at sea! Ready for what we might encounter out there, we welcomed our excited guests on board. Throughout the day, we headed to different areas of our bay, hoping for some sightings. For all our trips, we had to, of course, stop by the island system where both our critically endangered African Penguins on Dyer Island and curious Cape fur seals on Geyser Rock were waiting for us. The African Penguins were partly hard to spot on the island, but with the help of our crew members, our guests successfully got a look at our beloved residents. The Fur seals were excited to have us back and greeted us with their loud vocals while we cruised up and down Shark Alley. All our trips got to stop by The Shallows, a local hotspot for Shark cage diving. Carefully watching the cage, we got some looks at the incredible Bronze whaler sharks, and even a Broadnose sevengill cowshark made a quick appearance on one of the trips. After some time spent in deeper waters, we managed to find some Humpback whales too! Once again, thank you to everyone for spending another eventful day with us!
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What species did we see today?
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.
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.
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.
Humpback Whale Humpback Whale
One of the best-known whale species, they are renowned for their acrobatic behaviour and complex melodious song as well as extremely long flippers and are a special favourite of Dyer Island Cruises guests and crew alike.
