Around 2,000 Southern right Whales spend from July to early December in shallow coastal waters off South Africa. They appear not to feed at all during this time, but display & mate & females give birth. There are also a lot of females with calves of varying ages present.
Spying!
Sometimes four animals can come together.
No one is quite sure what the purpose
of spying actually is.
Tail sailing is particularly common.
When they slap their tails on to the surface
of the sea, one can hear it from up to 2 kms away.
of spying actually is.
When they slap their tails on to the surface
of the sea, one can hear it from up to 2 kms away.
Males also do a series of jumps sometimes nearly
clear out of the water, in order to impress
nearby females.
clear out of the water, in order to impress
nearby females.
The power of these animals is truly amazing!
Due to protection the numbers are slowly increasing.
The southern hemisphere population is thought to be around 10,000 individuals & increasing around 7% annually. The population that is in southern African waters appear to be slowly expanding northwards on both sides of the coast; regaining long lost ranges.
There appears to be little intermixing between the South African populations & other populations in South America & the Australian region.
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