Whale of a time! Marine Big 5 daily blog
Written by September 12 2020
We were so lucky with the weather gap this morning and used to opportunity to head out to sea. Shortly after we launched from Kleinbaai harbour and just before we could reach Uilenkraalmond, Kira our spotter, spotted some Southern Right whales for us. While carefully and slowly approaching we saw 2 moms with their young ones. One female had a beautiful white blaze all over her back. A ‘white blaze’ is an irregular patch of white skin they are born with and it is permanently staying white. They are unique and help to identify individuals and only around 5% of the adults are found to have one.
We also have been able to see a shark around one of the shark cage diving boats. We stopped there for a couple of moments to get a great look at the Bronze whaler shark that kept coming up tot the surface several times. Arrived at Dyer Island we saw a couple of African penguin and plenty of Cape cormorants. Just around the corner in Shark Alley we watched the hundreds of Cape Fur seals playing in the water with each other. On our way back home, we were escorted by two Subantarctic skuas, having a closer look at all of us. We could have not asked for a better day!
What species did we see today?
Southern Right Whale Southern Right Whale
Southern right whales attract thousands of visitors every year to experience these gentle giants off the South African coast.
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.
Cape Cormorant Cape Cormorant
One of the most famous species of Cormorant in the Western Cape, the Cape Cormorant is well known for it's beautiful turquoise eye and impressive size.
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.
