Sharkwatch SA Blog

Celebrating the Southern Right Whale Season with Marine Dynamics.

The Great White House was a festive hub on Tuesday, 5 July, for the first post-Covid Marine Evening. Tourism partners such as guest houses and hotels in the Gansbaai area were invited to join in this festive occasion to also remind them of the five-star service their clients will experience when joining the qualified marine biologists- and guides on the top-class Marine Dynamics and Dyer Island Cruises Whale Watching and Shark Cage Diving vessels. 

Belgian-born scientist Dr Els Vermeulen, Research Manager of the Mammal Research Institute’s Whale Unit at the University of Pretoria, was the guest speaker for the evening.

Dr Vermeulen has spent the last 20 years researching southern right whales. She shared fascinating research of these magnificent creatures of the ocean:

“Since the late 1960s, the South African population of southern right whales has been researched through annual aerial helicopter surveys, during which we photograph, and subsequently identify, each female that calves along our shore.”

According to Dr Vermeulen, these animals are truly gentle giants which are easily approachable as they are generally docile and slow swimmers and remain close to shore. Due to this gentle nature, the old whalers quickly deemed them the “right whale” to hunt, from whence they got their name. As a result, during the whaling era, the global population of about 100 000 animals was reduced to only 60 females by 1920. 

Thankfully, because of passionate whale researchers such as Dr Vermeulen, the southern right whale population is making a comeback. Still, new research shows that during the past decade, their numbers are declining again. “Since 2009, very few whales have been seen along our coastline and their numbers have been fluctuating strongly. In addition, the females are taking longer to produce a viable calf. It is clear these whales are being affected by something that they haven’t had to deal with before. Our research quickly started to point towards a feeding-related issue. It’s a story we cannot and must not ignore” says Dr Vermeulen.”

For more information about Dr Vermeulen’s research and protecting our southern right whales, please visit https://www.mammalresearchinstitute.science/whale-unit.

Wilfred Chivell, CEO of Marine Dynamics and Founder of the Dyer Island Conservation Trust, reiterated the importance of supporting eco-marine tourism activities to support researchers such as Dr Vermeulen, by sending important daily data of the whale activities and sightings at the vessels to her and various other research institutions across the globe. 

“It’s vital for Marine Dynamics to work with researchers such as Dr Vermeulen, to gain more information about the decline in the southern right whale population during the past decade in order to find a solution to stop this from happening,” Chivell explained. 

Marine biologist- and guide, Jade Sookhoo, shared some of the magnificent whale sightings we’ve been seeing from the Marine Big 5 boats with guests, which promised, a whale of a whale season to come. 

After Dr Els Vermeulen's inspiring information session, guests were treated to Chef Chris Pead from the Great White Houses’ buffet of gourmet snack platters, and mouth-watering sweet titbits. 

Wilfred Chivell concluded the evening, by thanking everyone for attending the evening, and making a contribution to establishing Gansbaai as a tourist destination for local as well as international travelers. 

To learn more about the magnificent sightings of great white sharks, and southern right and humpback whales, visit http://www.marinedynamics.co.za/.