Daily Trip 03 December 2017

Guide Summary and Photographs

When it comes to going to sea to watch wildlife, generally, there are two types of people, those who like the sharks and those who like the cetaceans (i.e. Whales and Dolphins). Today, we had brilliant sightings of both of these iconic creatures, with the seals and birds adding some diversity and shine, kind of like sprinkles on a birthday cake.

We launched onto a dark blue ocean this morning and head straight towards Slashfin in the hopes of seeing a shark. Although our sister company has been having White Shark sightings recently, Dream Catcher has not had that same luck with us watching mostly Bronze Whaler Sharks. We were exceptionally lucky to have that change this morning when we had a Great White come and check out our engines, which resulted in this large female (a correction to the earlier reports of Mini Nemo) ending up in front of Slashfin. This gorgeous beauty really put on a show for us, leaping out the water with jaws wide open. We were all in absolute awe of her as she kept trying for the bait, giving us the viewing of a lifetime. We also spotted a Bronze Whaler before her brilliance, although it quickly disappeared when she arrived.

Coming off of this high, we made our way over The Clyde and quickly found 2 pairs of Southern Right Whales, including a female with a white spot on her back who we’ve been seeing on and off for the last week or show. She is also a performer and we were not stopped for more than 5 minutes before that beautiful tail emerged from the water. We were treated to the tail numerous times throughout the sighting, with her doing a little sailing for us as we took as many pictures as what we could. Right towards the end of the sighting, she thought she’d take it up a notch and start lob tailing for us, beating her fluke against the water a few times before carrying on with her day. She was however, not the only show stopper with the other mom and calf pair treating us to some awesome playful behaviour. These two picked up some kelp with their heads and began to manoeuvre this large algae from their heads to their backs.  We really could not ask any more of these whales so next, we decided to go towards Dyer Island.

On the way, we spotted two African Penguins in different sightings.  It is very normal to find these little birds fishing out all on their own, although this does tend to make them a tiny bit shy. We were also joined by some of the world’s most beautiful birds when 2 Cape Gannets flew parallel to us on the way to the island.

Today, we had more seals around than one would even believe possible. The Island seemed packed to the brink and there were also what looked like thousands of seals in the water. Everywhere you looked there would be a cute little face or a flipper or two popping out, to the delight of all aboard. This was our final stop of the day and certainly a very memorable one.

If you would like to get hold of your trip footage, please download the credit card authorization form here to complete and forward it through to bookings@whalewatchsa.com. Please be sure to mention the date and launching time with response. Our team will reply with a direct link to your video footage for download, please allow 72 hours to footage to be uploaded. Download link will be valid for 6 months.

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