About Ocean Safaris

All year round January – December

1. Dolphins

…the highly energetic Common dolphin

Who live in pods numbering from 20 to many hundreds, as they traverse the Bay playfully following boats for many kilometers. Reaching 2.5 meters in length.

…the shyer Humpback dolphin

Shy and less playful than other dolphins in that they seldom jump, surf or follow boats. A wonderful sighting the Sousa plumbea are, reaching 2.8 meters in length with their recognizable hump below the back fin. These dolphins are extremely endangered.

…and finally everyone’s favorite the Bottlenose dolphin

Seen surfing and jumping in the waves! they live in organized social groups averaging 10 – 60 members, hunting together by herding fish into a small area in to catch them more easily. Out of all the dolphin that can be seen in the Bay they can grow up to the largest length of 3.3 meters.

2. For the enthusiastic bird watchers there are pelagic seabirds galore!

Gannets, Penguins, Terns, various Albetross, various Shearwaters, lesser albatross to mention a few.

3. Cape Fur Seals

….our very amusing Cape Fur Seals, so-named for their thick pelt, they are equally at home on land or in the sea. Adult male seal is just over 2 m long and weighs between 200 - 300 kg. Females are 1,5 m and weigh between 50 and 75 kg. Females give birth to a single pup between mid- November and late December.

4. …and our beautiful Bryde’s

Reaching up to 14m in length and weighing in at a delicate 13 tons of fast moving flesh. Known as the Balaenoptera edeni, these whales are sometimes resident off the coast all year round. Seen in small groups of 5 or 6, darting here and there, chasing small fish and feeding off plankton.

Whale Watching Season July to November

During this period we operate our close encounter experiences and sight:

1. Humpback whale

Humpback whales got their name from the small humps found on their backs. These incredible mammals, which grow up to 15 meters in length, weigh anything from 35 to 45 tons. We see them from June to November during their migration from breeding grounds off the Mozambique coast, down to their feeding grounds in the Antarctic. Some late migraters can even been seen in out of season periods. Majestic in their flukes and flippers, they are often seen jumping out in demonstrations that could be communication, ridding themselves of parasites or just plain fooling around.

Southern Right whale

These whales are also known as the ‘right’ whale, a name from the days of legal whaling, being the right whales to hunt, because they are slow moving and surface floating on death. They have found their numbers on the increase since the curtailing of commercial whaling. Each year more and more spend time frolicking and socializing here.

They reach up to 16 meters and is the most common visitor to our sheltered Bay. The females spend July through to November calving here, ensuring up to a 200 litre milk feed per day for calves. Once they have used this milk to build up blabber reserves they set of for the long journey back to the Antarctic.

We also have infrequent sightings of the following dolphins and whales and there is no particular time of the year for sighting them….

Minke whale

Reaching up to 10m in length and weighting in at a delicate 3 tons this is the smallest of the Baleen whales. Known as the Balaenoptera acutorostra, they are distinct with relatively long flippers with pale white stripes across them. Inquisitive, they often approach vessels, turning on their sides as they swim past or playfully breach clear of the water causing a spectacular splash.

Orca

The males weighing up to 8 tons, with their females coming in at less than half that. They are actually the largest dolphin, known to be people friendly. These whales, some reaching 8 meters, are often spotted jumping or floating belly up.

False Killer whales

Slightly smaller and darker than the Orca, these blunt nosed whales reach up to 5.5 meters if they are male, weighing in at around 2 tons, the females just over half this mass. They eat mainly fish and squid.

Season is gone but the dolphins are still here in Plettenberg bay.