Whaling Around Hermanus

Good morning!

Yesterday I had a great morning excursion up the coast to Hermanus :)!

Our first stop...
Not what you typically expect to find on the side of the highway, but hey this is Africa so I guess anything is really possible. We met a creature of the extraterrestrial sort... E.T. himself!

Now the person who decided "heck that rock looks like E.T. let me grab a can of spray paint" had to have been either extremely clever or extremely drunk. My vote is on #2.

Either way we had to stop and take pictures with it :).

We continued our journey along the gorgeous sea coast with another quick pit stop to visit our favorite friends in tuxedos... the penguins!

Our final destination was the beautiful vacation town of Hermanus. This time of year is when Southern Right Whales make their journey to the coast of Hermanus. There they birth their calves and frolick about the coastal town creating a whale watching frenzy. We were lucky enough to see a "confirmed" whale breaching, a bit far off the coast, but a breaching none the less. The other whales just teased us with some blow-hole spouting and showing us their backs, how rude. With the whales shyness aside, it was still a wonderful day.

Fun Facts About Whales
1. The Southern Right Whale received his name from Norwegian fishermen some 5,000 years ago. This particular species is very slow swimming, making it the "right" whale to hunt.
2. There are only about 3,000 Southern Right Whales left in the sea today.
3. The gestation period for a whale is 12 months, yikes thats one big baby.
4. Whales usually breach in sets of 4.
5. Southern Right Whales have 2 blowholes.

There's your healthy dose of whale education for the day bru.