Our first brindle baby, 07 September, 2019
It was a warm and calm day with a lot of marine life in the Dyer Island ecosystem...
Written by September 7 2019

We had perfect conditions today, with sunshine, warm temperatures and flat calm water that looked more like a lake than the Atlantic Ocean. To make the day even better, the Dyer Island ecosystem was full of life, so we had some really fantastic sightings on both our tours today.
The first tour started out with a sighting of a Cape fur seal that was feeding on an octopus, just outside the harbour. To break up their food the Cape fur seals have to use their mouth to toss and thrash their food, so we got to see this cool behaviour. Just a bit further along the coastline we joined up with our sister company’s shark cage diving boat and our research vessel that were with some sharks. In this area we got some really great sightings of Bronze whaler sharks on both trips, including 4 individuals on the second trip that we got to see feeding on some mullets. There were a lot of fish close to shore today and as a result we also got to see hundreds of Cape cormorants that were feeding on them.
As for the whales, today was an amazing day for sightings of them too. On the first tour we encountered an adult and calf pair of Southern right whales, but we wanted to give the young one some space, so we continued further to Pearly beach to search for more whales. We were in luck, as not far from the beach we encountered a female with a juvenile, and to our delight it was a brindle juvenile. Brindle Southern right whales are white individuals (with some dark spots) that are born this way due to their genetic make up. Only about 4% of Southern right whales are brindle whales and this was our first brindle sighting of the year, so we felt very lucky. We encountered this beautiful black and white pair on both of our tours today.
On both our trips we also had some fantastic sightings of sunfish (on the second trip we saw 3 in one area!) as well as Cape fur seals on Geyser rock and African penguins on Dyer Island. We could not have asked for a better day and better sightings today.
Photos from today

Brindle Southern right whale surfacing next to its mother

Southern right whale mother and calf pair

Southern right whale breaching

Southern right whale brindle juvenile and dark adult

White Southern right whale juvenile (left) and adult (right)

The head of the adult Southern right whale

The head of the young brindle Southern right whale

Cape fur seal feeding on an octopus

Sunfish (Mola mola)

Bronze whaler shark

Juvenile African penguin

Clear waters with great views of the bottom

Cape fur seal pup

Cape fur seal sunbathing

A large flock of Cape cormorants

2 Black African oystercatchers among Cape fur seals

The warm weather drew a lot of Cape fur seals into the water

Kelp forest

Enjoying a beautiful day on the water

Enjoying the views from our boat

Our eagle-eyed spotter Kira at work

The top deck of our boat Dream Catcher
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.
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.
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.
Cape Cormorant Cape Cormorant
One of the most famous species of Cormorant in the Western Cape, the Cape Cormorant is well known for it's beautiful turquoise eye and impressive size.
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.