Marine Big 5 Daily Blog 18 May
Written by May 18 2025
Whale Watching near Cape Town, South Africa – Welcome to Gansbaai, home of the Marine Big 5.
Trip Summary 18 May 2025:
Today was a beautiful day out at sea filled with jaw dropping marine life encounters, our journey started calm as usual as we followed our usual route along the Kleinbaai coastline where we got to spot a humpback dolphin gliding along the Kleinbaai coast, when we stopped by the shark diving vessels we got to see a majestic bronze whaler shark and a short-tailed stingray made a surprise appearance, as we continued into deeper waters we managed to spot a Bryde’s whale. We then concluded it was an amazing trip, not knowing there was much more in store for us. During our second trip a sea turtle was spotted traveling along the vessel as we were heading to Dyer Island yet vanished as it only made a brief appearance but while everyone was still excited from the sea turtle appearance an ocean sunfish made a surprise appearance as it breached alongside the vessel which left everyone in awe and as if that wasn’t enough we got to spot a hammerhead shark as we were calling it a day. What a wonderful day filled with a diversity of marine life.
Trip 1
Trip 2
Trip 3
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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.
Sunfish 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.
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.
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.
