With the migratory whale season typically starting in June, the Raggy Charters Marine-Eco Cruises reported they have been pleasantly surprised by both juvenile and adult humpback whales showing up in Algoa Bay since mid-April.
One of the young humpback whales has reportedly been sighted multiple times on the agency’s half-day cruises to St Croix Island over the last month. A sequence of pictures taken at the beginning of May, when the charter returned from St Croix island, was posted on social media.
The description reads, “After a very successful morning having found Bryde’s Whales and a large pod of bottlenose dolphins, a huge splash off-shore from Coega Harbour was spotted. We headed in the direction of the splash and sure enough our initial thoughts were confirmed – a breaching humpback!”.
The juvenile humpback is reported to have proceeded to breach non-stop for the 20 minutes that the team spent in the area. It seemed as though each breach had more energy and height than the last.
“Eventually we were witnessing the young whale launch itself completely out of the water. This is something that we have only ever seen a handful of times, let alone managed to capture a picture. The calm conditions allowed us to fully appreciate the sound of the whale re-entering the water, leaving most of us on board in absolute awe. We do not know exactly why some years we have whales arriving in our bay earlier than others, or why most of these early arrivals are sub-adults or juveniles. One theory we have is that they come into the bay for safety. Many of the juvenile humpbacks that spend an unusually long period of time in Algoa Bay, outside of the normal whale migratory season (June to December), have sported scars from a recent encounter with Killer Whales,” the agency explained.
The Raggy Charters team concluded by saying they are looking forward to seeing many more humpbacks as the migratory whale season officially starts soon.
“The event being held on June 2, here in Ggeberha, is way more than just a get-together, it is to celebrate these magnificent marine mammals who visit our beautiful Algoa Bay during their migration journey. The day will be a family-orientated educational experience intended for all to learn something and of course have fun at the same time.”
Visitors will be welcomed by the sounds of African drums and marimbas. Interesting talks will be presented in the function room at the resort.
The first will start at 09:30 by NSRI Won Whale Disentanglements, with a demonstration on the disentanglement process. At 10:15, a talk by Graeme Taylor on the Global Maritime Trade and The Agulhas Bank will happen. At 11:00, Dr Deborah Robertson-Andersson will talk about Whale and Human Culture, followed by a final talk presented by Lloyd Edwards, the owner of Raggy Charters at 11:45 talking about killer whales of Algoa Bay.
Visit the Welcoming the Whales Facebook Page at https://web.facebook.com/baywhalefestival for all information and the programme.
