Marine Big 5 Daily Blog 21 December
Written by December 21 2024
Whale Watching near Cape Town, South Africa Welcome to Gansbaai, home of the Marine Big 5.
Trip Summary 21 December 2024:
Today, We have some more adventures ahead of us facing some stronger easterly wind. We left our base behind us heading down the road to Kleinbaai Harbour where our whale-watching vessel Dream Catcher was already waiting for us. We made our way towards Uilenkraalsmond, the natural estuary. Shortly after, a small pod of the endangered Indian Ocean humpback dolphins was spotted. After a bit of time spent with the dolphins, we continued our way further down the coastline into an area called the Shallows, due to its maximum depth of 7 to 10 meters. As usual, we stopped by the Marine Dynamics vessel Slashfin. Bronze whaler sharks, our most active visitors, were cruising between Mullets, a schooling fish, while investigating the area and boats. Next, our captain decided to head into deeper waters in search of a Bryde’s whale but unfortunately, it has been rather quiet out there. On the second trip, we had a very short appearance of a few Common dolphins. On both trips, we of course also stopped by the island system. One stop was at Geyser Rock with its Cape fur seal colony. Besides the strong smell on some days, it is always one of the highlights of the tour. We also did approach Dyer Island to see the critically endangered penguins. Some of the trips even managed to see the penguins at sea. What a great time we had out in the bay!
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What species did we see today?
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.
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.
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.
