On 18/12/2019 at 09:30 am, Anthony skippered the Algoa Bay Marine Vessel and excited Guests on a Whale and Dolphin spotting trip to St Croix, leaving from GQDSAC at 09:30 am.
With high offshore winds on the night of the 17th December the prediction was for flat seas and a good day out spotting whales and dolphins. We left the Port and motored out towards Pollock Beach, turned South and headed straight out. Algoa Bay was still and no sightings other than the off penguin, gannet and seagull searching for a tasty tidbit.
Turning East we headed for St Croix hoping to see some dolphins in the Lovers Lane area.
A small pod was spotted and many penguins were seen on the island – more than we have seen in a while, leading us to hope that the newly declared MPA is working it’s magic to help increase the population or at least concentration within the area.
On our way back to the Port in a rising wind and sea state we spotted a young Brydes Whale ranging along the Nqura Port Harbour wall. We got the feeling that this one was a bit lost and had been separated from it’s mother.
Our time with the whale was deliberately cut short as we did not want to add to it’s stress and, as we were leaving the area, we spotted what we presume to be it’s mother on her way down to claim her errant offspring.
Mission accomplished we motored back to Port noticing along the way that there are seismic sounding vessels in the Bay which may account for the very few sightings being reported of late.
The following cetaceans were spotted:
| Time | Latitude | Longitude | Species Code | Adults | Calves | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12h10 | 33°48’02.5″S | 25°46’23.3″E | BOT | 12 | 2 | Swimming |
| 12h45 | 33°48’07.2″S | 25°42’03.9″E | BRY | 1 | Swimming | |
| 12h55 | 33°48’07.2″S | 25°42’03.9″E | BRY | 1 | Swimming |
Legend: SRW – Southern Right Whale | HBW – Humpback Whale | BRY – Brydes Whale | COM – Common Dolphin | BOT – Bottlenose Dolphin | HUMP – Humpback Dolphin | ORCA – Killer Whale/Orca.
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