Marine Big 5 Daily Blog 10 August 2023
Written by August 10 2023
Whale Watching near Cape Town, South Africa Welcome to Gansbaai, home of the Marine Big 5.
Trip Summary 10 August 2023:
A bright and early start on the sea today for the Dyer Island Cruises crew and guests, and also an exciting one after a day off the water due to some not-so-nice weather coming through the area yesterday. The morning started off well with some Southern Right whales seen, however, these were enjoying some very shallow and swelly waters so were left to be, however, not too long after another Southern Right whale pair was spotted in deeper waters and everyone onboard was able to enjoy some lovely views of these gentle giants. The second trip started off fantastically with a sighting of the Endangered Indian Ocean Humpback dolphins in the shallow, coastal waters of our bay. The Southern Right whales were found again in the shallow waters, along with a pair in deeper waters giving our second group of guests some fantastic viewings of these spectacular whales. On our third trip, we got lucky again to spot two adult Southern Right whales, a bit farther away from shore, so the swell wasn’t a problem for our guests. The fourth trip of the day was lucky to encounter Southern Right whales early on in our trip as we approached the edge of our bay, we enjoyed watching this pair before heading to the Islands and into the deeper waters before making our way back to the harbour. To finish off the day we encountered the Indian Ocean Humpback dolphins, calmly moving through the shallow corner of our bay before we found a Southern Right whale pair close to one of the shallow, rocky reef sections at the edge of the bay, we spent some time with this pair and also encountered another pair behind the Island later on in our trip. All of our trips spent some time around the Dyer Island system, viewing the Cape fur seal colony of Geyser Rock, and with some trips the African penguins of Dyer Island. A fantastic day out in the bay!
Trip 1
Trip 2
Trip 3
Trip 4
Trip 5
Tripadvisor – https://bit.ly/2YZ0jDR
Google – https://g.page/r/Caej8uYZYnR8EBE/review
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/WhaleWatchSA
What species did we see today?
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.
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.
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.
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.