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CAPE WHALE COAST
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  Cape
Whale Coast, South Africa: The coming of the whales to the
Cape Overberg coastline, also known as the Cape Whale Coast, every year
between June and November, not only creates a stir, but brings to our shores
a large, intelligent and remarkable giant of the sea and the only mammal to
have adapted to life in the open oceans. Whales, including the Southern
Right Whale and less commonly the Bryde’s (pronounced ‘broodess’) and the
Humpback Whale, are frequently sited along the
Cape Overberg Coast from Stony Point near
Kleinmond, Onrus, Walker Bay, the
De Hoop Nature Reserve and
These gentle giants spend summer feeding around Antarctica and then migrate
thousands of miles to our waters where the sheltered bays of the
South African coast
provide perfect refuge to mate and calve. |
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Did you know?
The Southern Right Whale is called such because it was the ‘right’ whale
to hunt as it floats when dead; is rich in oil and baleen, and is
relatively slow moving. |
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The Overberg
coastline is the meeting place of two oceans - the Indian and Atlantic. Two
major ocean currents - the cold Benguela wells up in the west and the warm
Agulhas Current in the east - create a number of conditions, which, combined
with South Africa’s proximity to the southern ocean, result in a rich marine
life including as many as 37 species of whales and dolphins to South
Africa’s coastline. By comparison, the whole north Atlantic attracts only 28
species.
The Southern Right Whale can weigh up to 60 tonnes, averages 14 metres in
length, lives to about 100 years and has the most highly-evolved mammalian
brain on earth. They are huge - rounder and heavier than the Humpback or
Bryde’s whale - and only smaller than the blue whale. They are characterised
by their gentle slowness, lack of dorsal fin and rough patches of skin
called callosities on their heads. These are covered with whale lice and, as
each whale has a unique callosity pattern, are often used to identify
individual whales.
The Southern Right Whale population was virtually decimated during the
whaling years - an estimated 20 000 of these beautiful mammals are said to
have been slaughtered. There has been active protection in South African
waters since 1935 and the population is slowly restoring itself. There are
now close to 4 000 of these languid beasts - a large proportion of which
grace our shores every year.
They swim within 200 metres of the shore-line between June and November (as
opposed to the Humpback which prefer deeper waters) and sightings of mother
and calf are especially common. In Walker Bay, in places like De Kelders,
they come as close as 20-30 metres from the shore and never fail to fill
hearts and minds with wonder at their magnificence. |
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Did you know?
Female Southern Right Whales calve every three years - one year of
gestation, one year to raise the calf and one year of rest! |
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 Catching
a glimpse of the whales: The entire Cape Overberg coastline offers
generous sightings of the whales and the Walker Bay area, between
Gansbaai and
Hermanus, is a whale sanctuary. Hermanus arguably offers the best
land-based
whale watching in the world. For this position it competes only with
Plettenberg Bay, further along the coast. Not only does Hermanus boast
the world’s only ‘whale crier’, but there is a 14 km cliff path that offers
a bird’s eye view of the 100 or so Southern Right Whales that visit Walker
Bay every year and often come within five to ten metres of the coast.
Hermanus celebrates the arrival of the whales with an event-filled annual
Whale Festival in late September.
The ‘big two’ town of Gansbaai offers both Great White Shark and Southern
Right Whale viewing, east and west of the Danger Point peninsula
respectively and
De Kelders, a suburb of Gansbaai, offers a hiking trail along its cliffs
which allows fantastic views of the protected coves in which the whales
wallow and approach very close to the shore.
Cape Agulhas is equally rewarding as the bay attracts a number of pairs
of mother and calf at a time and
Pearly Beach has a protective, shallow bay offering the whales a
sanctuary in which to mate and calve.
important whale nursery on the African Coast and one of the greatest
concentrations of Southern Right Whales comes here to calve every year. Boat
access in this area, and the breeding grounds of the De Hoop Nature Reserve,
is obviously severely restricted. Watching the whales from a boat is another
experience entirely. The Southern Right Whale tends towards natural
curiosity and venturing close to the boats is not uncommon. Failing this,
you’re bound to evidence a playful display of raised heads, tails and
flippers as the whales acknowledge your presence. Characteristic behaviour
is resting head down in the water with tails in the air, called ‘sailing’ or
‘headstanding’. |
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Did you know?
South Africa doesn’t allow boats any closer than 300 metres from a whale
without a permit and 50 metres with a permit - although this doesn’t
stop the whales from coming close to the boats themselves, which they
often do! Approaching whales is done quietly, without motors and at ‘no
wake speed’. We are also the only country in the world, so far, with an
established environmental court (in Hermanus) where poachers of
protected marine species are tried for their offences. |
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The number of legal
boat-based permits is limited. South Africa’s coast is divided into
sections, for whale watching, and each section has only one permit holder
for boat cruises. Boats are also not allowed anywhere near cow-calf pairs.
If this does happen accidentally, guides know to leave the area straight
away at a constant slow ‘no wake speed’ so that as little intrusion as
possible occurs.
Southern Right Whales tend to leave our waters by late October, although
some stay through November, and sightings are still made even as late as
December. Just as they leave our waters, the Humpback whales and their
calves arrive and stay until the end of December or early January. But the
Humpback does not mate in our waters and are thus less easy to see.
The Overberg coastline is without doubt one of the most exciting
parts of the country to view whales and few visitors leave disappointed or
untouched by the experience. |
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“Whales are different. They live in families, they play
in the moonlight, they talk to one another and they care for one another
in distress. They are awesome and mysterious. In their cold, wet, and
forbidding world they are complete and successful. They deserve to be
saved, not as potential meatballs but as a source of encouragement to
mankind.” Victor B. Scheffer -
former chairman of US Marine Mammal Commission |
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