Whale Watching in South Africa

Many moons ago back in the late 1980s we bought, (or were given – I can’t remember which) a book detailing the best places around the world to watch whales. Top of the list was a place called Hermanus in South Africa, a place where you could watch whales from the cliffs and we made it our goal to visit Hermanus at some point. Fast forward to August 2011 and we decided to visit Cape Town for our annual holiday. August is at the end of the South African winter and while the average temperatures aren’t as bad as cold, rain swept Britain, there was an even better reason to go – it was the start of the whale season at Hermanus, which was just 120km from Cape Town.

Hermanus

Twelve hours in the cheap seats of a South African Airways Airbus was soon forgotten on arrival at our hotel in Cape Town, which was basking in unseasonal 20+ degree sunshine. Trips were planned for the 9 day stay and top of the agenda was hiring a car so we could get to Hermanus.

Car was duly delivered and off we set on the fast South African roads. On arrival in Hermanus we parked up and lo and behold we spotted our first whale within 5 minutes of parking up. A Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) mother and calf were swimming just 100 metres from the cliffs, with plenty of people with cameras and binoculars taking in the scene.

Southern Right Whale Mother and Calf in the bay

Hermanus boasts a 'Whale Crier' who announces where the whales can be spotted

After having a picnic on the cliff top and spending the time whale watching we decided to go out on one of the many boats to see if we could get a better look. The 2-hour trip was scheduled for 2pm at a cost of 1300 Rand (£125) for the three of us and after the usual pep talk by our guide off we set with 20 other whale watchers .

Southern Right Whale breaching

The boat headed across Walker Bay and after 45-minutes we were starting to wonder if we had wasted our money. However we needn’t have worried because just as the diesel engines slowed a Southern Right breached 200 metres right in front of us, quickly followed by a second and third whale leaping from the water. Nikon motordrive on 4.5fps and images were duly captured.

The Classic Whale Shot

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better the three whales did the classic tail out of the water pose followed by a sequence of fin slapping. We had to remind ourselves that these were not performing animals but wild whales but it was as if they heard to boat approaching and went into a routine of breathtaking moves. It didn’t matter; it was one of those magical moments that you will always remember. We went whale watching in Quebec in 1993 and there the whales also seemed to know when the boats were around and ‘performed’ accordingly – perhaps it is something whales do naturally?

Three Southern Rights just 20 metres from the boat

The three Southern Rights then cruised around the boat for the next 30-minutes and there was plenty of opportunity to fill two memory cards full of images. The adult whales were huge and were around 50 feet long.

Close up shot of the classic V blow of a Southern Right

After 60-minutes the skipper headed back to Hermanus and we saw two other whales breaching in the distance as we left.

We decided that our third day with the hire car would be spent back towards Hermanus but this time we headed to the Walker Bay Nature Reserve. Picnicing on the beach we were given another display of whale acrobatics ending a magical whale watching experience.

Walker Bay Nature Reserve

Having been on whale watching trips in Canada and off the West Coast of Scotland Hermanus is justly deserving of its reputation as the whale watching capital of the world. My only disappointment was not seeing a Humpback but we were a month too early for that – maybe on the next trip!

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