Daily Trip 25 January 2018

Guide Summary and Photographs

Today was absolutely incredible! I mentioned in the previous day’s blog that the ocean has a habit of surprising us but today certainly took the cake, even after yesterday’s Blue Shark.

Whilst doing our check in this morning, we caught word of a Humpback Whale by the shark cage diving vessels so we decided to get our briefing started early and hit the water. After quickly getting all geared up, we head down to the harbour and launched out of Kleinbaai on the mighty Dream Catcher, eager to catch up with the gentle giant.

Humpback Whales migrate past our coast between the months of July to December, moving into the tropical waters of Mozambique and Madagascar to mate and calf so this individual being about is quite an unusual occurrence. It turns out that finding a Humpback in Kleinbaai was a little like searching for a needle in a hay stack so, after  the shallows yielded nothing, we took a stop by Slashfin where we got to see a Copper shark.

Once we had all seen this golden creature in all its glory, we made our way along The Clyde reef system towards Dyer Island, where we spotted a few African Penguins in the water. This group also included a juvenile, which we often refer to as a baby blue due to the colouration of their skin. Here, we also got to see a pair of Swift Terns practice their synchronised mating flight, which they will perfect before trying to make a couple of baby Swift Terns. We then moved into Sponge Bay where we checked out a few more penguins relaxing on the guano covered rocks at the water’s edge, before cruising into Shark Alley.

Here, we spent some time taking in the sight of roughly 60 000 seals going about their daily business, which is always one of the highlights of our trips. The pups were having a lot of fun at the water’s edge, testing their limits and plunging into the cool water before hastily returning to dry land. On our way out the alley, we decided to head out through the washing machine and travel towards Dyer Island, which was by far the best decision of the day!

We spotted our first blow a few hundred metres behind the island and tried to go in for a closer look but, this whale was a little elusive. The second blow we followed also proved to be futile but, as the saying goes “Third time’s a charm”. We initially approached the 3rd Brydes whale using it’s footprints as a guide and got the surprise of our lives when the whale surfaced with a little calf by her side! After two years with the company this was only my second Brydes Whale calf, as we really don’t get to see the babies of this secretive species very often. As if the baby was not enough to leave us all in awe, this little one, of only around 5-6 metres in length, started to breach. Kira, our Whale Whisperer who has been watching these gorgeous cetaceans for around 15 years now, has never seen anything like this before, with a breaching adult Brydes Whale being a rarity in itself. I have never seen a Brydes Breach before, so as a crew we really struggled to contain our excitement about the spectacle happening only 50 metres away.

After watching baby go at it again and again, exposing its gorgeous pink belly, we eventually decided to head back towards the harbour, completely satisfied with the out of this world viewing we had just been treated too.

Little did we know that the ocean had yet another bit of magic in store for us. Remember the Humpback Whale I mentioned a little earlier? We found this juvenile on the way back in, having a ball with a piece of kelp. This little whale put on an absolute show for us, laying belly up and extending those long white flippers out the water as he got himself fully immersed in the seaweed. We also got to see some spy hopping and some almost ballerina like twirls before this little one decided to move off and head back in the direction of Dyer Island.

After two of the most incredible whale sightings any mere mortal could ever wish to witness, we cruised back to the harbour and slipped the boat back onto its trailer, eager to check out our spoils in the form of footage taken throughout the tour.

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.For more Whale facts and updates, also “Like” our Dyer Island Cruises Facebook fan page. If you would like to review your trip online to help others choose the right whale watching company, please visit our TripAdvisor page and leave your feedback