Whale Season in South Africa has brought good tidings with observations from the aerial survey indicating a substantial increase in whale numbers! The whales’ favoured spot? De Hoop Nature Reserve. Have a look:
De Hoop Nature Reserve, South Africa (11 October 2023) — Whale Season in South Africa is a big highlight on many local and international calendars. And, for De Hoop Nature Reserve, a whale of a time has been wonderfully apparent with the highest concentration of whales observed at the Reserve’s Koppie Alleen.
This is especially fitting considering that De Hoop Nature Reserve is a World Heritage Site and Marine Protected area, and holds its own as a world-renowned spot for land-based whale watching in SA.
Marine conservation photographer, Jean Tresfon recently undertook the first official aerial survey of southern right whale numbers for 2023 with Dr Els Vermeulen of the uP Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit.
Jean shared:
“The first whale we spotted, in Hermanus just under the cliffs near the Old Harbour, was upside down with a tiny calf her chest. As we went on, we started to see more and more southern right whales, with 346 whales (of which 172 were calves) counted between Struisbaai and Skipskop Point.
“But, as expected we found the main concentration of whales at Koppie Alleen. There were so many whales here that the counting was an exercise in itself! The final number was 472 whales, (236 were calves) in the bay at Koppie Allen, while another 115 whales (57 calves) were counted along the rest of the De Hoop coastline towards Cape Infanta.”
In more good news, the final figures from the aerial survey (from Hermanus to Witsand which saw 1136 whales), showed a substantial increase in whale numbers as counted over the past four years, although still less than the record numbers seen in 2018.
“Whale time is definitely a favourite time at De Hoop Collection,” shared William Stephens, owner of De Hoop Collection on hearing the results.
“Koppie Alleen, with its relatively warm and calm waters is a haven for whales and their calves and is in fact the most important nursery area on the South African coast for southern right whales and this results in an impressive number of whale sightings.”
Have a Look at the Whale Wonders:
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