Daily Trip 30 June 2018
We got to see some weird and wonderful creatures out on today's tour...
Written by Jax, June 30 2018
Guide Summary and Photographs
We began our trip in shallow water where we cruised along the white beaches of Die Grys before taking a stop by our sister company, Marine Dynamics. Here we hung around a little, with a free swimming Great White Shark popping up just as we were about to move off. This shark gave us a lovely show, swimming with it’s dorsal fin and caudal fin above the waters surface.
After stopping here, we cruised over our reef system and towards Pearly Beach which was a little quiet. We then decided that we would move towards Geyser Rock. Geyser Rock was a buzz with activity, with some unusual birds hanging about. The first was a Little Egret sitting just above the water line , with the next being a Crowned Cormorant who had claimed his throne on the keel of the Prince Port. The Prince Port is one of the many ships that met its fate in our waters, which some refer to as the Cape Of Storms.
The seals were causing quite a stir today, with hundreds descending into the water at once! This is always quite a sight to be hold as they try to make their way though narrow channels, almost tripping on each other as they make their way into the water. We only really get to see this when the Cape Fur Seals have been spooked by something on the island itself, causing them to move into the water where they feel more at ease.
Once we’d watch them playing and fooling around, we moved over towards Dyer Island in the hopes of spotting some African Penguins. These little birds were a little elusive, so we then decided to make our way towards the infamous Danger Point. Here, we began to look for Humpback whales who are beginning to make the long migration towards the warm water where they hope to mate and calf. Whilst travelling, we began to spot a number of different seabird species, which included a Shy Albatross and a White Chinned Petrel.
We also happened across a Sunfish, which was sitting at the surface of the ocean. these massive creatures can weigh up to a ton, but are born at a size of only 3mm. These creatures feed on Jellyfish, but today’s Mola Mola looked like he had got himself into a bit of a predicament with a rope. The threat of becoming Bycatch is one of the major adversities facing these strange looking bony fish.
Our very last sighting of the day was one we were really hoping to have, and that was of a group of Humpback Whales! We were lucky to catch up with these gentle giants as they moved slowly on the outskirts of our bay. These whales were taking slightly deeper dives but were very relaxed so we got to have a really close encounter with these baleen beauties. After watching them surface and getting a couple of great views of their tails, we moved back towards the harbour for some nice soup.
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