Sarah Kingdom joins Marine Dynamics Big 5 Tour off the coast of Gansbaai and discovers an unforgettable sea safari.
There’s a hush to the harbour in the early morning light at Gansbaai. The navigational beacons lights are still blinking out on the water as the skipper unties the lines connecting us to the dock. We’re on board the Dreamcatcher, a custom-built whale watching boat, ready to head out towards Dyer Island and the waters that make this stretch of South African coastline home to such an incredible concentration of marine life. Over the course of a morning we’re hoping to see what South Africans call the “Marine Big Five” – whales, dolphins, seals, penguins and sharks.
Marine Dynamics, an award-winning ecotourism and marine tourism company, runs their Marine Big 5 tours from the Gansbaai/Kleinbaai area, operating with marine biologist guides and a remit to research and protect the Dyer Island ecosystem. The company’s approach is deliberately educational; as exciting as it is, the tour is not a thrill ride, it’s an interpretive experience, in line with Marine Dynamics’ motto: “Discover, Protect, Educate”.
Dolphins — Pods, Play and Peril
As the boat powers through the swells, a guide’s shout of “dolphins ahead!” brings everyone to the railing. Within moments, a pod of bottlenose dolphins arcs toward the vessel, riding the bow wave in a synchronised rhythm. Their playful leaps and effortless grace seem almost choreographed. Yet beneath the playfulness lies a serious story: dolphins face the pressures of bycatch, pollution, and the decline of the coastal fish stocks that sustain them. Marine Dynamics’ guides explain how these intelligent predators act as indicators of ocean health – when dolphins are thriving, so is the sea.
(Dolphins usually seen on a Marine Big 5 tour are bottlenose, humpback and common dolphins.)
Seals — The Cape Fur Seal and Its Ecosystem Role
8km from the harbour, the boat approaches Geyser Rock, a low, flat island carpeted with Cape fur seals, a subspecies found only along southern Africa’s coast. It’s home to around 60,000 individuals, and you can smell and hear them before you see them. The air is filled with their barking calls, the tang of salt and guano, and a sense of constant movement. The seals flip and spin beneath the waves, darting after fish and flashing their whiskered faces at the boat. Some seem rather curious about us, popping up to watch us watching them.
Despite their apparent abundance, the Cape fur seals are not immune to danger. Their colonies depend heavily on healthy fish stocks, which have declined in parts of the South Atlantic due to overfishing and rising ocean temperatures. Young seals are also prey for sharks and occasionally orcas. Marine Dynamics’ on board biologists explain that monitoring the seal population is crucial to understanding the wider ecosystem health; a decline in seal numbers often indicates a broader marine stress.
Penguins — The African Penguin’s Precarious Presence
Next stop on our tour was Dyer Island, a 20ha nature reserve that’s home to 1,061 breeding pairs of African penguins. The African penguins are the smallest and perhaps most poignant members of the Marine Big 5. On Dyer Island these dapper little birds waddle awkwardly across the rocks or torpedo through the shallows with astonishing speed.
Known affectionately as jackass penguins for their braying, donkey-like calls, they stand barely knee-high but carry a remarkable story of endurance. Once abundant along South Africa’s and Namibia’s coasts, their numbers have plummeted by more than 90% in the past century, largely due to overfishing, oil spills, loss of safe nesting sites and, most recently, disease outbreaks such as avian influenza. The species is now listed as Endangered.
Marine Dynamics collaborates with the Dyer Island Conservation Trust and organisations such as SANCCOB (Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds) to monitor and protect these birds, and included in the cost of your tour is entrance to the African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary.
Whales — Southern Rights, Humpbacks and Visitors
The stars of the tour are the Southern right whales, who come into the shallow bays here from June to November, to breed and calve. They are large, unmistakable and true showmen; breaching, diving, displaying, and letting out long, loud, misty exhalations through their blowholes. Humpbacks, Bryde’s and the occasional minke also transit these waters, though less predictably. We saw numerous Southern right whales and several Bryde’s whales, during our morning out.
Whales were hunted to the brink of extinction in the industrial age, and though some populations have rebounded, they remain vulnerable. Responsible operators like Marine Dynamics stress distance, quiet and careful approach to avoid disturbing mothers and calves.
(January – May you’ll likely encounter Humpback and Bryde’s whales, while June – December is the time for Southern Right Whales).
Sharks — From Great Whites to Bronze Whalers
Sharks are the animal many of those on board were hoping to see, and our last stop was the world-famous Shark Alley, where we passed by the Marine Dynamics’ shark cage diving boat, to see what we could see. Gansbaai was once famous as the world capital of great white sightings, in recent years however, the local ecology has shifted. Orca predation events and other ecosystem changes have seen the great whites largely vacate their traditional hunting grounds, and as a result you’re more likely to encounter bronze whaler sharks instead. There were several bronze whalers swimming around the dive boat and we could see them clearly though the water, from our vantage point at the top of the Dreamcatcher.
African Penguin and Seabird Sanctuary
A distinguishing feature of Marine Dynamics’ offering is their conservation tie-in. A modest conservation fee is included in your ticket price and is channelled to the Dyer Island Conservation Trust (DICT) and related projects, including monitoring, penguin rehabilitation and community education. After our Marine Big 5 tour we visited the African Penguin & Seabird Sanctuary to see some of Marine Dynamics’ rehabilitation work in action. In residence were around 15 baby penguins or various ages, that had been found abandoned on Dyer Island. Brought to the sanctuary to be reared, we learned several were happily destined for release back on Dyer Island the flowing day.
Where to Base Yourself
Set between the mountains and the sea, the town of Hermanus markets itself as the original whale-watching capital, making it a great base for the Marine Big 5 Tour. From here it is a roughly 40-minute drive to Kleinbaai and the launch point of the tour. There is the option to book a Marine Big 5 tour, through Marine Dynamics, that includes chauffer driven collection and drop off from your accommodation in Hermanus (or even from Cape Town, just under 2 hours away).
Hermanus Boutique Guest House, a short walk from the famous Hermanus cliff path, within earshot of the crashing waves, and walking distance of the bustling Old Harbour district, is a great place to stay. Many of the rooms have sea views and for whale watchers the location is perfect. The guest house serves a delicious breakfast, and staff will happily help arrange transfer and tour bookings.
Whale and dolphin Images Sandra Horbst
Tell me more about Marine Dynamics Marine Big 5 tour
The duration of a Marine Dynamics Marine Big 5 tour is 2 – 2.5 hours, depending upon wildlife sightings and prevailing weather conditions. When signing up for a tour it is important to manage your expectations; you may see everything or you may not, this is nature after all.
Marine Dynamics Big 5 tours are year-round, seven days a week, weather dependent. Tours are priced from: Adult’s £95/ US$125pp, under 12’s £69/ US$90pp, under 5’s free. There is an additional £4.50/ US$6 conservation fee. Tour times are tide dependant, though there are usually several departures a day.
Tel: +27(0)82 801 8014 Email: bookings@whalewatchsa.com
