Brydes Whale

The mysterious Bryde's whales visit the Dyer Island area throughout the year, with most sightings occurring during summer into winter.

Conservation information

Conservation status: Least Concern

Not much is known about this whale by the public and researchers alike due to its shy and elusive nature most of the time. Even though they reach a length up to 15 meters and can weigh up to 25 tons, we often only see a part of their back and their pointy dorsal fin when they surface. The Bryde's whale has a sleek, streamlined body and is uniform dark grey on the upperside and lighter on the underside. A clear look at its head, seeing the three parallel ridges easily identifies the Bryde's whale from similar species. The Bryde's whale typically enjoy a diet of small schooling fish such as sardine, anchovy, pilchard but also shrimp, crabs, and in some cases even squid. It is also spectacular to witness a lunge feeding session. Although it appears as breaching behaviour as expected from Southern Right and Humpback whales, with Bryde’s whales it is hunting behaviour when lunging, mouth open, through a school of fish.

Photographer advice

These animals are hard to spot and difficult to interact with, usually only surfacing a few times before diving for 5-15 minutes with a maximum of up to 20 minutes. Their movements are also often unpredictable, so quick reaction times are a must!

Frequently Asked Questions

Our Whale Spotter gives us an insight into the Bryde's whale.

How big do these whales get?

Brydes Whales may reach a size of up to 15m and weigh up to 25 tonnes.

What do you look for when trying to spot the Brydes Whale?

We look out for the whales’ spout, which is also used to identify them from a distance as their spout forms a single columnar blow that reaches a height of 3-4 meters. Additionally, we look for the whales’ footprints – a round glossy patch caused by the tail and diving birds which might indicate fish and therefore some other marine life such as a Bryde’s whale.

We enjoy Bryde’s whale sightings throughout the year. Compared to our Southern Right or Humpback whales, they can appear to be more reserved in their behavior to us. Usually appearing individually or in pairs, we often observe them change directions quite suddenly.

Even though they reach a length up to 15 meters and can weigh up to 25 tons, we often only see a part of their back and their pointy dorsal fin when they surface. It is also spectacular to witness a lunge feeding session. Although it appears as breaching behaviour as expected from Southern Right and Humpback whales, with Bryde’s whales it is hunting behaviour when lunging, mouth open, through a  shoal of prey.

Feeding on small fish, krill, squid and other zooplankton they expand their about 50 grooves (which are folds in their skin running from their lower jaw to the belly) to swallow water during feeding. They then use their baleen plates for trapping food.

We often use their spout shape to identify them from a distance. Their spout forms a single columnar blow which reaches a height of 3-4 meters. Different from our Southern Right and Humpback whales, they do not display their flukes when submerging.  The reason for this is that Bryde’s whales are what we call negatively buoyant, which means that they sink instead of floating and simply need to arch their back to dive. You can find them diving as deep as 300 meters.

We hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about our Bryde’s whales.

Fun Fact: The Bryde’s whale is named after a Norwegian consul called Johan Bryde who set up one of the first modern whaling stations in South Africa. It is pronounced 'broo-dus'