On 07/08/2019 at 12:30 pm, Anthony skippered the Algoa Bay Marine Vessel and excited Guests on a Whale and Dolphin spotting trip to Cape Recife, leaving from GQDSAC.
We exited the Port of Gqeberha to be greeted by flat seas and a gentle, warm Northerly wind. Kudos to our Swiss Guest, Isabel, who had contacted us last week and said that she had spotted this perfect 4 hour gap in the weather to go out for a spot of Whale and Dolphin spotting- what a champion!
Our Mission: To see if we could find the reported White Whale as seen the past weekend as well as the ‘playful’ Killer Whale seen off of Noordhoek this past Sunday.
With a three children onboard, ranging in age from 6 to 12 we were being extra cautious in monitoring the expected big westerly coming up from Cape Town.
All along the beachfront we failed to spot any dolphins or other activity – leading us to believe that the Killer Whales had sent the dolphins into hiding.
A few penguins along the reefs opposite SANCCOB raised our hopes and we exited the bay heading due South for the last position in which the Orcas had been spotted.
Turning East we motored along the migratory line normally followed by the Humpback Whales. The humpbacks have been very skittish these past weeks – turning South as soon as they spot us.
BUT, one decided to make his presence known with a magnificent breach, leading young Dylan to exclaim; “Now all my dreams have come true!”
All in all we spotted 5 Humpback Whales and 3 of them ventured into the Bay – good news for us. We saw many penguins, cormorants and gannets but the dolphins seem to have been eluding us.
On the way back we motored slowly past SANCCOB and stopped to let the children enjoy the almost perfect visibility that allowed us to see 5m down right to the sandy and rocky bottom.
And then, right at the Harbour wall next to Fence Surf Spot we spotted our first family of Bottlenose Dolphins – staying close to the wall and fishing for their supper. We can only conclude that the Killer Whales are somewhere in the Bay which makes the dolphins skittish and hug the coast or stay close to shelter….
Whilst waiting for permission to enter Port another large pod of Bottlenose Dolphins came leaping across from the Brighton Beach area to fish along the Harbour Wall – their speed and agility as they chased their prey drew ooohs and aaahs from happy and tired guests.
Our timing was impeccable as upon entering the Port the predicted Westerly started making it’s presence felt as we returned safe and sound to the GQDSAC Moorings.
The following cetaceans were spotted:
| Time | Latitude | Longitude | Species Code | Adults | Calves | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13h45 | 34.053257 | 25.741587 | HBW | 2 | Swimming | |
| 14h20 | 34.016270 | 25.787058 | HBW | 1 | Breaching | |
| 14h45 | 33.981261 | 25.767026 | HBW | 2 | 1 | Swimming |
| 15h30 | 33.959917 | 25.646678 | BOT | 4 | 2 | Feeding |
| 15h40 | 33.953474 | 25.644018 | BOT | 90 | 10 | Feeding |
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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