Marine Big 5 Daily Blog 18 February
Written by February 18 2025
Whale Watching near Cape Town, South Africa Welcome to Gansbaai, home of the Marine Big 5.
Trip Summary 18 February 2025:
Today, we had all kinds of weather: sun in the morning, some rain later during the day, and some slight wind, but this didn’t affect our sightings. On both trips, we had a fantastic time with the Marine Big 5. We saw the humpback dolphins along the coast during the first tour and on our second trip, we encountered a pod of bottlenose dolphins travelling relaxed alongside our vessel. The sharks were plentiful around the cage diving boats and everyone could see them passing by the cage. A few penguins could be seen on Dyer Island and the Cape fur seal around Geyser Rock did put on a show. Both trips were also lucky to find the Bryde’s whale in deeper waters of the bay.
Trip 1
Trip 2
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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.
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.
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.
Brydes Whale Brydes Whale
The mysterious Bryde's whales visit the Dyer Island area throughout the year, with most sightings occurring during summer into winter.
Bottlenose Dolphin Bottlenose Dolphin
At present there are two recognized species of bottlenose dolphin, and in some cases, both species can be found in the same area. The two species are the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), and the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (T. aduncus). In addition, there is a great deal of variation in colouration, diet and behaviour. The difference between the common bottlenose and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin are subtle, but the common bottlenose dolphin generally larger and more robust with a slight darker colouration.
