29/07/2024
Heads up for whale season 2024
Species rich waters of Walker Bay, seldom disappoint!
As we near August and with it the peak months ahead for Southern Right Whales in Walker Bay, as always - each year is a lottery of guessing just how many whales will grace us with their presence.
If this whale lottery were to be a predicted game, on the back of 2023’s bumper year, predicting a much lower count for this year would be an easy thumb suck for most informed people!
True to form, unprecedented low numbers of Southern Right Whales in the area for the first 3rd of the season has been on the cards.
With numbers of whales visiting our shores a known variable of the whale migrations. Calving / mating intervals & maturity of population stock for sure playing a roll & likely food source availability also a factor.
Remember - these whales, having been in the ocean longer than we’ve been standing up straight – and will easily adapt to their environment and needs.
However, the ocean seldom disappoints.
Lately, we have been seeing Southern Right Whales daily (albeit lower numbers).
Humpback whales have also been making their presence known with high frequency sightings - much more than we have experienced in recent years.
With a number continuously feeding in the cape waters – staying for prolonged periods in the area. So far, we’ve been unable to determine what the whales are feeding on, but the fact is there is an abundance of food in Walker Bay (& False Bay) keeping several humpback whales in the area.
With identifying Humpbacks done through the ever-efficient Happywhale – a method of uploading an image of the underside of their tails and it being compared on their global database – so far this year we’ve had a very low hit rate of matches, with only 3 humpback whales known in the system
- 1 seen in Mozambique last year
- 1 seen on the west coast feeding grounds in 2022
- 1 has been a residing in the area seen a couple of times in the past weeks between false bay / walker bay.
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This low match rate would indicate a completely different segment of the population is passing at the moment, which – is a great thing and indicates a larger population than perhaps thought.
Brydes whales have been a constant so far, often curious and even feeding around the boat keeping keen eyed onlookers entertained.
As well as a little bit of Killer Whale action in June when we encountered the infamous duo Port & Starboard, entertaining the boat with some lobtailing and other antics!
So, all in all – it's been a mixed & varied bag for the season so far – comparable to that of 2016 (our last season where we experienced lower numbers of whales).
Let's see how the season progresses as we get into the thick of it over the coming weeks. . . . .
