Southern Right Whales making a Splash in Algoa Bay
By Jake Keeton

Monday, 14th August 2023

This time of the year is just crazy for us in Algoa Bay. With a bumper season for Humpback Whales on the go, large pods of bottlenose dolphins, and White Sharks showing up at Bird Island, we haven't been sure which direction we should point our cameras.

Despite all the action in the deep, our attention during our most recent cruises has been grabbed by Southern Right Whales, the second migratory Whale Species that visits Algoa Bay. Being slower swimmers than the humpback Whales our season for Southern Rights is much shorter. Southern Rights arrive in Algoa Bay at the beginning of July and leave around the end of September each year. Southern Rights normally choose a shallow, remote area of the bay to have their calves and mate. Once the calf is born they drink hundreds of liters of milk per day. With the milk from mom being 43% fat, the calf then grows up to 3cm per day, and quickly builds up the layer of fat that it needs to survive in the cold water back in the South Seas.

One theory as to why these whales lie so shallow and close to the beach is that the sound of the waves breaking actually drowns out the sounds of the mother and calf communicating. This prevents the sounds being detected by killer whales and thus keeps the calf safe from predation.

Luckily for us the area the Southern Rights have chosen the last few years happens to be one of our favorites when it comes to photographic opportunities. We are always looking for a chance to showcase the incredible Alexandria Dune Field.

Another thing that has stood out to us with this year's Southern Right migration is the number of calves being born in our bay. Being only halfway through the season we have already seen more cow/calf pairs than last year. One of the pictures in this post shows a particular calf that stood out to us. This calf has a series of white patches on its back, very similar to those on a Friesland dairy cow. It is always special to see unique individuals in the bay. This peculiar white pattern could be caused by a recessive white gene passed down by the father of the calf. Roughly 3% of Southern Right whales are born white, becoming brindled when they grow older. Studies have shown that almost all of these white individuals are male. We have not yet seen an entirely white calf born in the bay this year. However with the high numbers of whales arriving, I suspect we will get one very soon.

One thing we have been lucky with is some breaching. Southern Rights do not breach that often, but it's truly something to behold when they do. Watching a 16 meter, 80 ton animal launch itself out of the water is always a shock to the system.

We look forward to tracking the births and movements of these whales for the rest of this year's season. If you are wanting to see these gentle giants this year be sure to join us before the end of September. Our last Southern Right sighting last year was during the first week of October, although these dates fluctuate slightly each year.