Every year, starting in about July, migratory southern right whales, after swimming thousands of kilometres from the Southern Ocean near Antarctica arrive in Hermanus to mate and calve in the relatively warmer waters. One of the longest migration in the world! Hermanus is world known for excellent land-based whale watching, where you can just stand on the rocks and spot whales. But not only the southern right whales are roaming around – you can also spot the magnificent Humpback Whale, which is migrating as well and the rare Brydes Whale which stays there all year long.

Sonja and Adolf had clients that booked this expereince at the end of the South Africa Rainbow Route SAa17. This is their bog: On this day we were at Hermanus and we decided as a group to do a optional whale watching excursion on a boat to have a closer look at these majestic creatures. We were all very excited when the skipper gave us a short safety briefing, some cold drinks and snacks to go and the most important thing – a life jacket. Now we were all set for our “safari at sea”. The feeling of going over all the waves made us really feel like sitting in our truck on a bumpy road just with lots of fun. Accompanied by dolphins jumping out of the water next to our boat and a beautiful yellow-nosed Albatros flying around and following us.

Our skipper was continuously looking out for the whales and we felt so excited that we could barely sit still on our seats. Suddenly the boat stopped and a Bryde´s whale appeared in front of us! We were so lucky to see this rare whale. He even came closer and showed us that he is comfortable with us. He went up and down the surface and every time he submerged it was an exciting feeling if he would show up again. After ten minutes we left him alone and continued on the ocean. But not for long as the skipper stopped again. This time for an incredible Humpback whale. After swimming once around our boat he showed his tail and we got the perfect opportunity to take pictures of a breathtaking moment.

Images courtesy of Southern Right Charters.