We launched at 10:00 and head towards the shallows were we took a quick stop to do a water reading before spotting some whales in the middle of the bay. The first whale was a little shy but, as we were waiting for it to surface, Kira’s eagle eyes spotting some breaching action a little further off.
Once we approached, we noticed that this charming individual was the very same whale who did a bit of sailing for us yesterday. This particular animal has an old injury on its back which makes it pretty easy to identify and it’s safe to say that he or she is quite the performer.
Thousands of people flock to our bays every year to see if they are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the Southern Rights doing some of their more famous behaviours, such as spy hopping and lob tailing. Usually one might get to see the whale exhibit one or two of this cool tricks in a sighting but, this majestic individual quite literally pulled out every behaviour from the book.
It all started with a couple of epic breaches, followed by a spy hop or two after which he decided to move on to some sailing. Next up, the lob tailing began. Lob tailing is when the whale repeatedly slaps its tail against the water, something we believe might be a form of communication. This didn’t last too long as the whale then decided to turn onto its back and slap the water with one of its pectoral flippers. When they do this, it often looks as though they’re waving and for us, this was the perfect ending to a sighting so great one could use it as a behaviour infographic.
After all this excitement, we took a stop by our sister company, Marine Dynamics where we were able to see one of the world’s most misunderstood creatures, the iconic Great White Shark. For more information about the sharks, be sure to check out the Slashfin Blog.
Geyser Rock was the next stop of the day, were we spent some time with the Playful Cape Fur Seals. These seals get their name from their double layer fur coat, which makes the icy Atlantic slightly more bearable. We also got to see a couple of African Penguins as we excited the alley.
The trip ended on a high note when we found a really active mating group of Southern Rights. We had the whales approach the boat, coming within metres before we got to see some more breaching and tail action. the words don’t really do the sightings justice, so take a look at the images!
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