Marine Big 5 Daily Blog 20 March
Written by March 20 2026
Whale Watching near Cape Town, South Africa – Welcome to Gansbaai, home of the Marine Big 5.
Trip Summary 20 March 2026:
To avoid the rain from this morning, we launched rather late today. Welcoming our guests aboard Dream Catcher, we made our way out of our local harbour in Kleinbaai. Heading towards deeper waters first, we were accompanied by several pelagic seabirds such as Sooty and Cory’s Shearwater. An extremely rare sighting awaited us closer to the island system, as two Red Phalaropes were sitting on the water. An encounter just as rare for the crew! Next up, we paid our Cape fur seal colony on Geyser Rock a visit before making our way out of Shark Alley. During our ride to Dyer Island, one of the endangered Indian Ocean humpback dolphins surprised us, as it was a rather unusual spot for this particular species. After a short stop by Dyer Island for some more seabirds and the critically endangered African Penguins, we made our way towards the Shallows, where our Shark cage diving vessel, Slashfin, was waiting for us. Two Bronze whaler sharks were actively circling the cage, which offered some great looks. On our way back to Kleinbaai Harbour, numerous penguins were looking for fish. What a great last stop for today’s trip.
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What species did we see today?
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.
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.
Bronze Whaler Shark Bronze Whaler Shark
The Bronze whaler (also known as Copper sharks) here in Kleinbaai are very curious and interactive. These sharks eat mostly fish, with sardines being one of their favourites.
Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin
Humpback dolphins are an endangered species, with small populations living very close to shore, typically in water less than 25m deep and an average home range of 120km. Their proximity to land makes these animals particularly vulnerable to human influence.
