On 25/12/2019 at 08:15 am, Rainer skippered the Algoa Bay Marine Vessel and excited Guests on a Whale and Dolphin spotting trip to St Croix, leaving from GQDSAC at 08:15 am.
After our ‘Plague’ of dolphins off of Hobie Beach on Thursday 24 December we motored out to Jaheel and St Croix Islands hoping to catch the large pod in that area.
The sea was flat calm and a welcome Christmas gift from Neptune allowing us to retrieve numerous pieces of plastic on our way.
Turning in towards Jaheel and the entrance to the Port of Nqura we spotted a small curvature heading away from the harbour mouth.
On closer inspection we saw a sub-adult humpback cruising and fishing for food. Numerous scratches on his upper body and a mangled dorsal seem to indicate an ‘altercation’ with either a Killer Whale or a close call from a motor vessel.
The humpback was quite calm and proceeded to swim towards and under us for around 15 minutes from all directions before deciding to move on towards Bluewater Bay.
Continuing on our journey we checked in at Jaheel Island to see if the unique colony of African Sacred Ibis still occupied the island and can happily report that hey still do – long may that last.
In Lovers Lane we spotted a number of Bottlenose Dolphins and one solitary Common Dolphin cruising and fishing for lunch OR, was it brunch?
The water around St Croix was dotted with small penguin feathers and many rafts of penguins chilling.
The green areas on the island seem to be getting larger every time we visit.
A little bit of time close to African Jackass Penguins especially for one of our guests and we turned for home.
Food for the soul on Christmas Day and ANOTHER 100% rating and review from our guests. Thank you Abdel, it was our pleasure to share our love of Algoa Bay with you.
The following cetaceans were spotted:
| Time | Latitude | Longitude | Species Code | Adults | Calves | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09h15 | 33°49’04.2″S | 25°41’45.5″E | HUMP | 1 | Swimming | |
| 10h05 | 33°48’03.8″S | 25°46’07.2″E | BOT | 25 | 4 | Swimmimg |
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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