Whales Have Begun to Arrive in Hermanus

Alert! According to SA Logue’s widely-flung network of marine mammal informants, the annual trek of the southern right whales from the Antarctic to the inlets of Africa’s southwest coast has begun.

Translation into non-technical language: there are whales in Walker Bay!

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Upon hearing the news, naturally, my Lovely Assistant and I rushed off to catch sight of the magnificent beasts, making the short drive to Hermanus in record time (it’s about 1.5 hours from Cape Town, normally, if you go via the N2).

Alas, it seems the whales heard we were coming: the only one sighted was far off, near the horizon. It was breaching – bursting head-first through the water – in spectacular style. But they often come right up into Hermanus harbor, so what we saw was not particularly special. The big ocean-going beasts are clearly still feeling a bit shy.

Instead of whales, we saw a handful of dassies (rock hyrax) – which make a poor second choice, but had to suffice for wildlife viewing on the day!