Thursday breaches! Marine Big5 daily blog
Written by October 15 2020
After a long week on land we were finally back on the water. Not knowing where we going to find whales, we slowly made our way along the coast towards Pearly Beach where we had a lot of sightings this year. And it didn’t take long till we spotted the first Southern Right whales. We stayed with the mother and her calf for a while, till we saw a big splash behind us. It was another Southern Right whale breaching twice. We carefully approached her and the calf and observed them coming up frequently to the surface. But the luck was on our side today and just before we reached Geyser Rock, we spotted some more splashes and Southern Right whales breaching further behind the island. This time it was the mother and her calf alternately breaching. Once they were done showing off we made our way closer to the Cape Fur seal colony and had some better looks at the endangered African penguins on Dyer Island.
What species did we see today?
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.
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.
Bank Cormorant Bank Cormorant
Often enjoying a broad diet including klipfish, rock lobster and more, the increasing rarety of the Bank Cormorant makes every moment we see them even more special.
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.
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.
