Raggy Charters hits jackpot with Orca sighting

Raggy Charters has been very lucky lately with the annual humpback whale migration up the East coast of Africa, providing excellent sightings for our delighted guests. So on Wednesday 16th July we were only hoping to find those gentle giants that might show off with a few breaches. The whale watching cruise almost got cancelled the night before with worries about the weather, as strong winds were predicted, but we all agreed to at least try. And we actually couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day; the water was flat and smooth, the air still and warm. We happily headed out for the Cape Recife lighthouse, as it is here at the tip of the bay where we find the humpback whales swiftly moving Eastwards.

We neared the lighthouse when I spotted a blow slightly to the left of us. However, following the blow was not a humpback dorsal fin but what I know to be an orca fin; a dark 60cm high triangular shape. But it can’t have been, as the surrounding blows and dorsal fins were much smaller and so reason led me to believe it was simply a pod of dolphins and my eyes must have been playing tricks. We slowly moved closer, and there it was again. A male orca dorsal fin surrounded by four others. We had encountered a family of orcas with one adult male, two adult females, and two juveniles, one of which was only the size of a dolphin. This small killer whale still had a slightly yellowish colouration which is natural with calves.

As we approached, the orcas began to show some interest in the boat, aptly named Orca 2, by swimming very close by followed with some lobtailing. The younger ones then tried out some upside down tail-slapping, showing off their white bellies. They didn’t seem to be heading in any specific direction, rather just leisurely moving around, playing with one another, in the same general area. We followed closely behind and the adults soon disappeared only to be spotted some kilometres away on the horizon. The two younger orcas then popped up beside the boat, as if they had decided they’d rather stay and play with us. I found it very odd that the adults did not mind the boat being alongside the calves, as presumably one of them must have been the mother and they are usually very protective.

The two adolescent killer whales seemed to be having great fun as they would disappear for a few minutes and then suddenly be charging behind the boat. The water was so clear we could see them swimming around us and, at times, underneath us! We thought the game had sadly come to an end when they weren’t spotted for quite some time. What appeared to be a fin was then noticed nearby which actually turned out to be a Cape fur seals flippers.

Before we really knew what was happening the orcas surfaced again and were chasing the boat. Then we saw the seal swimming along behind the orcas, as if it was chasing them. The adult killer whales were not in the area and I can only naively believe that the immature orcas were innocently playing with this animal. The seal did not appear to be stressed or worrying for its safety, as he playfully kept popping up next to, and behind them. But we soon had to say farewell and so the fate of the seal is unknown. These transient orcas are known to feed on marine mammals and others have been sighted in our bay feeding on both common and bottlenose dolphins. Either way, what we witnessed here in Algoa Bay was not a common sight but can only add to the information that has been collected on these enigmatic creatures.

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