From July to November, this is whale watching town, as the whales embark on their annual migration from the Antartic to the warmer waters of the Pacific to mate and calf (1 year they mate, the next year they calf). We stayed at Hermanus Backpackers, which seemed an OK place. We arrived on Sunday, and all the evidence suggested that Saturday was a big night, so the place was a bit sedate, and we probably didn't see it at its best during our stay. And they need a new pool table!!
But we were here for the whales, not the nightlife, and it was an awesome stay. In the morning we walked around the bay, and saw some Southern Right Whales about 50m out, which we stayed and watched as they ambled along the coast. We then got some lunch and found a great spot just away from the crowds and a bit closer to the water, once we had got passed the resident Rock Dassies (like rabbits) sleeping on the steps. We just sat and watched more whales glide past, flipping their tails in the air, blowing water, and spy hopping (sticking their heads out of the water to watch us). Further out, more whales were breaching (jumping) and sticking their fins out of the water.
Hermanus is also famed for its Great Whites. About 20km away at Klein Baai they do shark cage diving, where you can get face to face with these beasts. We weren't keen to go diving, so we got a boat out to watch the more crazy people do this challenge. Due to the rain the previous day, the waters were still a bit murky, and there were not as many boats out, but it was still an incredible trip.
We arrived at the port, to find our guide waiting, and we looked around for his boat. There was an 8mtr dingy in the water, which couldnt possibly be for us... surely. That immortal line form the movie, couldnt be more true - "we're gonna need a bigger boat!" We were reassured that great whites only grow to about 6mtrs... normally... sometimes bigger!! And when this guy was filming with National Geographic, and the shark attacked the boat, it only flattened the rubber surround (designed to stop us falling out) and the boat didnt sink!!!
After that confidence booster we set out. We arrived at the dive site to find a smallish fishing boat with a cage on the side. There was someone in the cage, and then someone throwing bait (fish in a net-bag) into the water. Then as we pulled up we saw the fins.
This one was just a baby - maybe a couple of meters long. This one came up quite a few times. We were there for about 20mins, watching the divers, and there must have been about 20 sightings - our guide reckoned there was half a dozen different sharks, though with our trained eye, we couldnt really tell the difference, apart from one that was 6mtrs. This one was big. Saying that they are all big, and very fast & powerful. Despite this, one guy who was throwing out bait to distract the gulls, was washing his hands and feet in the sea!!
The water visability was poor, so we could only see about 5 mtrs (On a better day we would be able to see 10). Still, we did see one shark close up as he swam around and under our boat!! That was pretty cool!!
Then we moved on to see why sharks are in this area - Dyer Island, aka Seal Island. About 50,000 seals live on this 3 hectare island. Its a small island, with no irrigation/sanitation, and the stench almost made Evelyn sick!! We moved downwind (down shark alley), and watched the cute playful seals swimming around the boat, jumping and dancing in the water, trying to see what we were doing (similar to how we expect dolphins would behave). Generally, the seals are safe around the island, as its surrounded by kelk, which the sharks hate. However, when feeding the seals stray from the island, which is when sharky gets lunch;)
On our to see the sharks we saw a few whales in the distance, so when moving over to Dyer Island, our guide took us for a closer look. There were two Southern Rights, and both were over 20mtrs long. This was the highlight of the trip as these glorious mammals were almost in touching distance of our boat. There were just swimming along, blowing air, and watching us as much as we were them. Our guide was great to keep us in the right position, not to scare them off (they get scared of hitting the boat), and give us the best possible view. Awesome!!
He then saw a humpback whale, but it disappeared, so after seeing the seals, he tracked it down. He tracked it so well, that when he found it, he did an emergency turn as it surfaced for air right next to our boat!! Much closer and we'd have been in the water!! We also saw a penguin colony with the use of binoculars.
Double Jack on the Rocks please ;)
1 comment:
Whale watching looks like fun. I have never been. My husband seem aolt of that when he was in the service but for my self and my boy's we have never been.
Maryanne
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