Daily Trip 27 October 2017

Guide Summary and Photographs

The weather is gradually improving for us here in Kleinbaai, with the swell dropping little by little and the wind changing direction. This allowed us to have 4 trips today, with us finding the whales in our bay, very close to the shoreline today.

The very first trip of the day set out quite early and found us in Ulienkraalsmond by 8:30. This is where all the magic seems to be happening recently, with us finding not only Southern Right Whales but also an Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin. Like many animals in the areas, this rare species enjoying frequenting the shallows, never really going much deeper than 50m of water. We found the dolphin in the same vicinity as the whales and watched them both come up through the milky turquoise water as we stopped here. Later on, we moved on over to our sister company to try and spot a Great White Shark! Success came easily when a very active smaller guy showed up at the boat and gave us a real show.

Trip two also got to see a White Shark but not before a stop at our Southern Rights. For the last 3 days, we’ve had a particularly relaxed mom and calf pair in the bay, who are easily recognisable from the spotty pigmentation on their backs. We had a wonderful time watching them come up to the surface for us, and they even came in for a closer look, with mom keeping her curious baby from coming straight on up to the boat. These two got really close none the less and stuck around at the surface for ample photographic opportunity before we moved on from them. We took a stop by our Cape Fur Seals next, of which there where many in the water! The island was also slightly pungent but this cannot be blamed on the seals alone, with stagnant pools of water on the island heating up and also adding to the stench.

On our 3^rd trip of the day, the wind picked up and so did the whales, with some breaching action happening towards the end of our time with the Whales. The Whales are said to breach for numerous reasons and this is something that the calf will learn from its mother before they travel back down to the feeding grounds. It all started with a boisterous mom coming out the water close to the breakers, and breaching for us a few times in succession. Her little calf wanted to see what the fuss was about, so it started to breach too! The calf was also interested in us so, gradually with every breach, it came in a little closer. This gave us the viewing of a lifetime, which was followed by a stop at Slashfin where we had a Bronze Whaler swimming below the surface around the boat.

The final trip of the day also had a lovely tour, with the whales lying around in the water as the wind picked up slightly. We’re not really sure how it works but it definitely makes being a bit windswept worth it. we also got to see a Bonze Whaler on this trip, with these Copper Sharks getting their name from the old whaling days when they would show up for a bite or two of these large cetaceans once they’d been killed. Our final animal sighting for the day was none other than our gorgeous Cape Fur seal colony which provided for the last bit of entertainment for the day before we made our way home.

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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