Marine Big 5 Daily Blog 23 March
Written by March 23 2026
Whale Watching near Cape Town, South Africa – Welcome to Gansbaai, home of the Marine Big 5.
Trip Summary 23 March 2026:
Due to wind picking up later in the day, we started our day bright and early here at Marine Dynamics. Heading down the coastline, we passed the natural estuary before reaching our Shark cage diving vessel, Slashfin. Unfortunately, the Bronze whaler sharks stayed further down, but we still got some looks at them. Heading through the local reef system, we retrieved some kelp before moving through deeper waters toward the island system. Both the critically endangered African Penguin on Dyer Island and the Cape fur seals on Geyser Rock could be seen today. Heading back into deeper waters, we were accompanied by several different seabirds, such as Giant and White-chinned Petrels as well as Cape Gannets. Lucky us, towards the end, we spotted a sunfish and a spout of a whale in the distance. To our surprise, a Humpback whale made an appearance!
TripAdvisor – https://bit.ly/2YZ0jDR
Google – https://g.page/r/Caej8uYZYnR8EBE/review
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/WhaleWatchSA
What species did we see today?
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.
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.
