WHALES IN HERMANUS, SOUTH AFRICA

How does it happen?

Every year at almost the exact same time, from mid winter to summer, they come to visit us off the shores of Hermanus.

Yes, it is the most beautifully elegant and enormously gentle giants of the oceans - WHALES!

Southern Right Whales and Humpback Whales return for their annual vacation off the South African coastline, after swimming from Antarctica some 4,500 km away, where they have been constantly feeding up on krill, plankton and shrimp for the last 6 months.

We are certainly blessed, as this is a very special time to spend with them, as they love, play, mate, breech and nurture all day long. For their mating season, they choose a very selected bay indeed, Walker Bay at Hermanus, which stretches all the way from Danger Point at Gansbaai, along the Marine Reserve to the New Harbour at the Westcliff beacon. Perhaps the Whales see this as their own private summer fun space! 

They do love to choose shallow, sandy-bottomed and sheltered bays with warmer waters for their activities. Walker Bay is perfect for them and hence is a Marine Reserve during the months of May to December, when these waters are protected to allow the Whales to roam about as they wish in total safety.

Hermanus has been acknowledged by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Greenpeace as being one of the world’s top 5 best Whale watching sites and for good reason too, as a staggering 172 individual Whales were spotted in Walker Bay on just one day in October 2006.

With Whales weighing in at 40 to 70 tons and measuring up to 17 metres, this must surely be Whale rush-hour.

There are only 2 licenses allowed for authorized Whale watching boats in Walker Bay; while being strictly controlled by the Coastal Marine Management Police.

These boats have to keep their distance from all Whales and can go no closer than 50 metres from them, but Southern Right Whales display a natural curiosity for boats and it is common for them to quietly approach a vessel for a closer look. Raising their heads, tails and flippers out of the water, giving their human viewers the perfect chance to take some awesome photographs. Some mother Whales however do move their calves away when sensing danger or a foreign object. 

Whales are special and have been on the planet for over 25 million years. The biggest mammal on earth – with a Blue Whale measuring up to 100 feet long! They are very intelligent and sociable, with some species during feeding times, blowing bubbles and creating “bubble-nets” from their blowholes, catching small fish and krill by swimming up from below and swallowing the whole bunch for lunch! 

The brains of Whales are large and complex - the Sperm Whale for instance, has the largest of any, weighing 4 to 5 times as much as the human brain. They actually “turn off” part of their brains to sleep, while remaining semi-conscious to continually surface to breathe air thro’ their blowholes.

Celebrations in Hermanus -

The Hermanus Whale Festival is held in late September each year, celebrating the arrival of the Whales, with the worlds only Whale Crier calling on his Kelp Horn.

The towns Old Harbour area bustles into life with art exhibitions, galleries, craft markets & stalls, food & wine festivals, children’s events and bands & music shows offering partying on the streets.

The vertical cliffs at Gearings Point and the Old Harbour become a mecca for Whale watchers, with their binoculars and cameras at the ready to witness these incredible creatures play and splash about.

The Whales surely must come to Hermanus with some urgency and natural programming to enjoy the calm warmer waters, while the sun shines down onto the surface; it must be a perfect environment for their ever important breeding survival instincts.   

Mating Season -

Love must be in the air (or should that be the Sea) when the Whales are here. Calving usually takes place during August and research has concluded that soon afterwards the females may start secreting an estrogen substance into the water. (Calves will be nursed for 10 to 12 months.)

Males then detect this substance and naturally hang around these particular females. As many as 8 male Whales have been known to try and mate with one female Whale, but she’s very selective and will choose only the strongest male to mate with her, leading to a one year gestation period.

During the time of mating, there’s a lot of splashing and blowing going on, the male Whale, who has reached sexual and physical maturity at about 9 to 10 years old, will carry out a wide variety of strenuous activities with his head, body and his tail, which happens to be the strongest muscle of any marine mammal’s body. 

The male Whales also make unusual calling sounds, which are actually mating songs and seem to be important for the male-to-male interactions in which the singing brings male groups together and will start the pursuit of a female Whale. These songs are beautiful and ever-changing too, by using their tiny blind air sacs branching from their respiratory tracts. These are low frequency sounds and can travel 3 times faster underwater than in air. 

Whale calves also enjoy practicing their vocal chords in singing a song, with research showing that over 45 songs have been recorded from different calves over a 6 year study.

Other Marine & animal attractions at Hermanus –

As an added bonus you maybe lucky to also spot pods of Bottle Nose Dolphin and Common Dolphin, who love the sandy shallows of Walker Bay too, as this is the perfect marine environment for small bait fish to congregate, which the Dolphin come to feed on. Cape Fur Seals, African Penguins and many species of birds can also be spotted.

Dassie / Rock Hyrax are the size of a large rabbit (who’s closest living relative is the Elephant!!??) live on the cliff edges and are a favorite food of eagles.

If you really wish to get very close to the sea, then one adventure sports company has an exclusive license allowing you on Kayaking trips into Walker Bay and it has been known for the Whales to suddenly pop-up close to these Kayakers. An amazing surprise I am sure you will agree.

Concern and Hope -

Wildlife conservation is a very important and major issue across the world, with many pressure groups, charities, the UN, Government agencies and international wildlife organizations all pursuing a much greener, environmentally friendly and highly responsible agenda by all the worlds nations towards our planets remaining wildlife and eco-systems.

Greenpeace estimate that there are well over 10 million avid Whale watchers around the world, which is not so surprising, as Whales are such gentle, affectionate and intelligent mammals. We humans so easily relate to their universal appeal!

Whales are a symbol of much concern however for environmental organizations around the world, especially as Japan, Iceland, Norway and Russia are still killing 100’s each year, for what they politely call “Scientific” reasons??!!??

If that’s the case, then could someone please say why a fast food chain in Japan recently put Whale burgers onto their menus??

Uuumm, I think we call that Commercial Fishing don’t we??

Thankfully at the meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in St Kitts in June 2006, the Whales of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary will continue to receive international protection. This voting process was only won by a small margin, even tho’ Japan admitted that it bought votes, by offering Government aid to countries such as Nicaragua, St Kitts & Nevis, and Palau.  

Strangely over 70 % of Japan’s people are actually opposed to commercial Whaling, with only a tiny 1% eating Whale meat. So whats all the fuss about, one wonders?

Over the years, aerial surveys of Walker Bay have shown that the Whale numbers are steadily increasing. This is fantastic news.

Long may these majestic creatures visit Hermanus for us humans to marvel at.

We at Percy Tours support many environmental issues and practice an ethos of only ever conducting business with equally eco-conscious companies.

See you in amazing South Africa soon!

website – www.percytours.com

email – travel@percytours.com

+27 – (0) 72 – 062 - 8500


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