On a recent Garden Route hiking trip, we managed to find time to do a boat based whale watching trip in Plettenberg Bay with Ocean Blue, a Fair Trade and Tourism South Africa certified operator.
On a recent Garden Route hiking trip, we managed to find time to do a boat based whale watching trip in Plettenberg Bay with Ocean Blue, a Fair Trade and Tourism South Africa certified operator.
On a recent Garden Route hiking trip, we managed to find time to do a boat based whale watching trip in Plettenberg Bay with Ocean Blue, a Fair Trade and Tourism South Africa certified operator.
Kitted out with wetsuits, and ‘padkos’ (Afrikaans word for snacks) we hit the water – ‘literally’ as our boat was launched from the beach by a heavy duty tractor. We cruised the Robberg Peninsula coastline looking for marine life. On previous trips, the skipper says they can often see Bryde’s whales, bottlenose, common and humpback dolphins all year round, and the orca (“killer” whale) is also occasionally seen.
Our first sighting was of a humpback whales are seen as they migrate along our coast between May and November en-route to their feeding and breeding grounds off Mozambique and Angola.
Next we found four Southern right whales who were happy for us to watch them. Southern Right whales migrate to coastal waters off the Western Cape each year to calve, nurse their young and mate. There are estimated to be about 4 000 southern right whales at present, with South Africa receiving the major percentage visiting its coasts annually.
South Africa retains its position as the fifth fastest growing whale- watching destination in the world. Boat-based whale watching has recently become legal in South Africa, but only for the few operators that have been issued boat based whale watching permits. Only 16 permits have been issued countrywide to ensure regulation of the industry and minimum intrusion on the whales who come to the warmer waters of the south to mate. Three permitted boat based whale watching operators are Fair Trade Accredited with two being in Plettenberg Bay.
Kitted out with wetsuits, and ‘padkos’ (Afrikaans word for snacks) we hit the water – ‘literally’ as our boat was launched from the beach by a heavy duty tractor. We cruised the Robberg Peninsula coastline looking for marine life. On previous trips, the skipper says they can often see Bryde’s whales, bottlenose, common and humpback dolphins all year round, and the orca (“killer” whale) is also occasionally seen.
Our first sighting was of a humpback whales are seen as they migrate along our coast between May and November en-route to their feeding and breeding grounds off Mozambique and Angola.
Next we found four Southern right whales who were happy for us to watch them. Southern Right whales migrate to coastal waters off the Western Cape each year to calve, nurse their young and mate. There are estimated to be about 4 000 southern right whales at present, with South Africa receiving the major percentage visiting its coasts annually.
South Africa retains its position as the fifth fastest growing whale- watching destination in the world. Boat-based whale watching has recently become legal in South Africa, but only for the few operators that have been issued boat based whale watching permits. Only 16 permits have been issued countrywide to ensure regulation of the industry and minimum intrusion on the whales who come to the warmer waters of the south to mate. Three permitted boat based whale watching operators are Fair Trade Accredited with two being in Plettenberg Bay.
Kitted out with wetsuits, and ‘padkos’ (Afrikaans word for snacks) we hit the water – ‘literally’ as our boat was launched from the beach by a heavy duty tractor. We cruised the Robberg Peninsula coastline looking for marine life. On previous trips, the skipper says they can often see Bryde’s whales, bottlenose, common and humpback dolphins all year round, and the orca (“killer” whale) is also occasionally seen.
Our first sighting was of a humpback whales are seen as they migrate along our coast between May and November en-route to their feeding and breeding grounds off Mozambique and Angola.
Next we found four Southern right whales who were happy for us to watch them. Southern Right whales migrate to coastal waters off the Western Cape each year to calve, nurse their young and mate. There are estimated to be about 4 000 southern right whales at present, with South Africa receiving the major percentage visiting its coasts annually.
South Africa retains its position as the fifth fastest growing whale- watching destination in the world. Boat-based whale watching has recently become legal in South Africa, but only for the few operators that have been issued boat based whale watching permits. Only 16 permits have been issued countrywide to ensure regulation of the industry and minimum intrusion on the whales who come to the warmer waters of the south to mate. Three permitted boat based whale watching operators are Fair Trade Accredited with two being in Plettenberg Bay.