A tiny calf, obviously born very recently, with its mother in the De Hoop MPA. This is one of the last places where these majestic whales can find true sanctuary.

Home » Yay! They’re Back. The Southern Right Whales in South Africa

Yay! They’re Back. The Southern Right Whales in South Africa

Last winter the question on everyone’s lips was “Where are the whales?”… The number of southern right whales visiting our shores has been lower than average for a few years now and in 2016 appeared to be way down even from the previous year. This was confirmed by the official count from the Mammal Research Institute […]

By Guest Contributor
25-07-17 12:09
in Environment
A tiny calf, obviously born very recently, with its mother in the De Hoop MPA. This is one of the last places where these majestic whales can find true sanctuary.

Last winter the question on everyone’s lips was “Where are the whales?”… The number of southern right whales visiting our shores has been lower than average for a few years now and in 2016 appeared to be way down even from the previous year.

A mother and calf pair of southern right whales in the De Hoop Marine Protected Area. Some of the calves are tiny, obviously having been born very recently.

This was confirmed by the official count from the Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit which recorded just 119 southern right whales (of which 55 were calves) in their 2016 annual aerial survey conducted between Nature’s Valley and Cape Point, with the survey done in peak season.

So the big question is what will happen this year?

Yesterday we had perfect flying weather along the Overberg coast so James McHarg and I flew up to Hermanus, collected Dr. Els Vermeulen from the Whale Unit and spent nearly 7 hours in the air conducting a preliminary aerial survey between Hawston and Witsand.

Bearing in mind that it is still early in the season and we flew only as far as the Breede River, numbers are already looking far better than last year with a total count of 237 southern right whales (of which 64 were calves).

The highest numbers were recorded in the shallow waters of the De Hoop Marine Protected Area.

It’s canola season in the Overberg! Although we were focussing on the whales, every now and again a glance at the spectacular shoreside scenery was definitely warranted. Infanta village in the foreground with the mouth of the Breede River and the town of Witsand in the background.
A mating group including one animal with brindle colouration.
Marine life is abundant within the De Hoop MPA… Here we spotted a cape fur seal with a shoal of baitfish all to himself..
A tiny calf, obviously born very recently, with its mother in the De Hoop MPA. This is one of the last places where these majestic whales can find true sanctuary.

 

Of course the humpback dolphins also put in an appearance…!
Flying back over Hermanus in the late afternoon…
Nice to spot a few white calves in the mix… The brindle colouration is fairly rare in southern right whales.

(Shore based viewing is possible from Koppie Alleen within the De Hoop Collection Nature Reserve).

We also spotted a couple of baitballs and several pods of humpback dolphins but not even a single great white shark!

We landed back in Cape Town with the answer we had been hoping for… They’re back!

***

All photos and text © Jean Tresfon, republished here with Jean’s kind permission.

JEAN TRESFON is a South African marine conservation photographer who specialises in aerial and underwater photography. He flies several times a week specifically to keep tabs on our South African marine wildlife and regularly assists the authorities with shark and whale spotting.

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