At the southern tip of Africa, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, you can enjoy some of the most exciting land based whale watching anywhere in the world. Year after year Southern Right whales come to the coastal waters of South Africas Western Cape to calve. These whales are within metres of the rocky coast and between June and November you can get extremely close to some of these amazing mammals. Humpbacks also migrate to this area between May and December, and Bryde's whales can be spotted all year round, although they are never so close to the shore. Some of the best places in the Western Cape to view these gentle giants are Lamberts Bay, Gansbaai, Hout bay, Betties Bay and top of the best spots is Walker bay in Hermanus. At Hermanus the Whale Crier will let you know of whale sightings, he is quite a character, playing tunes on his seaweed, to call the whales into the bay! Hermanus is fast gaining a reputation as one of the top land based whale watching places in the world, at the height of the season there can be literally hundreds of whales in the bay, and there can be thousands of people just sitting watching. The busiest time in the town is during the Whale Festival in September, there are shows, events, stands and just generally a busy happiness to Hermanus. From Hermanus Harbour you can take a Whale watching boat trip, certain trip operators have special licences that can get you closer to the whales that others, but during the season you are almost guaranteed a good sighting. Unlicensed boats by law are not allowed to get closer than 300m to any kind of whale. These can be quite pricy about 400 ZAR per person for 2 3 hours but at the correct time of year you are almost certain to have a close encounter with a whale! Southern Right whales migrate from Antarctica to the sheltered bays of the South African Coastline to rear their calves. Rumour has it that the reason they come specifically to the area along this coast is for the high calcium content in the water, which is good for them and there new born calves. An adult southern right whale can be up to 15 metres long and weigh up to 60 tonnes. The whales are so named as it was once thought hat they were the right whale to kill by the harpoon ships that patrol the waters around the southern hemisphere. Thankfully today whales are protected and the numbers are steadily increasing. |
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