Decoys are rubber cutouts in the shape of a seal. Looking up from under the water against the sky, the shark only sees the dark outline and then grabs the decoy . It is released almost immediately. No harm is done to the shark in any way.

Seals hunt for fish... sharks hunt for seals... there is always one that does not get away... they become the ROAD KILL... in shark alley

Two Orcas were spotted by Dyer Island Cruises near Danger Point Lighthouse on the Cape Whale Coast of South Africa.

 Orcas are the natural predators of the Great White Sharks who reside in this area.

 

Elephant Seals are rare visitors to the Southern Cape coastal waters.

10 Southern Right Whale males mate with 1 female

As many as 6-10 male Southern Right whales might try to mate with one female. They are not so gentle with each other as they are with humans, scratching each other with their callosities, especially the bonnet.When the female has had enough, she will signal this by rolling over on her back as if to say " Not tonight, dear...", as she slaps her flippers on the surface, trying to avoid the males.

Humpback Whales vs Southern Right Whales

The cape whale coast is fortunate to have 3 species of whales visiting its waters:  Brydes Whales and two other species  that  are very similar and yet so different! Southern Right Whales annually visit this coast to mate and to calve while Humpback Whales only pass through on their way to warmer Mosambiquan waters for their calving.

Brydes whales are difficult to spot, because they're very shy. When they do surface, they are often mistaken for a dolphin; look carefully though, that pointy fin may look like it belongs to a dolphin but the creature it's attached to is much, much bigger.

A Southern Right whale is easily identified by its v-shaped 'blow', and by its curious nature; you'll often see a Souther Right poking its nose out of the water, an action called 'spyhopping'. No-one know exactly whay they do that, but it really does seem as if they just want to take a peep at the two-legged creatures on the shore.

First Southern Right Whales of the season spotted in Hermanus

Southern Right Whales were called the "Right " Whale because they were the right whales to hunt. They are slow swimmers, which float when dead due to the huge amount of blubber they carry around with them.They are also naturally curious, and would approach the boats that harpooned them. Their insulating blubber provided a great deal of oil which was used for a multitude of things.

The Birkenhead shipwrecked near Dangerpoint in 1852

The horses that were on board The Birkenhead swam to the shore and local folklore has it that they roamed free as a wild herd in the plains of the "Strandveld" until well into the 20th century. Even today, there is a herd of wild horses living in the Rooisands nature reserve, near Kleinmond. Nobody knows where they came from, but it is assumed that they either came from the Birkenhead, or from one of the other ships that were wrecked along this treacherous coast.