Whales, whales, whales!!

On Saturday the weather was perfect! Clear African skies, 28 degrees, not a breath of wind and the ocean was glass-like. Across the bay, you can still make out snow capped mountains, a distant reminder that winter was only yesterday.

In order to make the most of the day, we decided to hire a canoe and launch from our favourite beach and just see how far we could make it.

Well literally within minutes of paddling away from the beach, we came within 10, maby 20 metres of a Southern Right whale just cruising by. The water was calm, there was no noise except for the very occasional exhalation and water spray coming from this amazing mammal. I cannot think of any words that could adequately describe that experience. We got as close as we dared, always trying not to forget just how much of the whale is completely hidden from view.

We quietly paddled away from Glencairn to Simon's Town and along the way, we passed a second whale. Again, all you could make out was the small area around its blowhole and with the rest of the whale completely submerged, just centimetres below the surface.

We got to Simon's Town harbour and after stopping in for some lunch (slap chips) we got back in the water and paddled back.

This was where we saw (fortunately from a distance) the whale breaching! Not, just once or twice - but 4 times! Launching itself out of the water and splashing down with amazing force! And then launching again and splashing! Of course being in a canoe, my camera was tucked away safely in the dry bag, so reactions were a bit slow and all I managed to capture was this last image, below.

Which is a little more exciting than my last attempt! (And if you look it up on Google Images, you'll see some better examples of what we actually saw)


You won't be able to grasp the awesomeness (is that a word??) of this experience, from my photos or my words - but if nothing else, I do recommend you find a way to experience this yourself!