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Umdloti BeachWhale Sightings Register |
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When you spot whales or dolphins off Umdloti Beach, send us an e-mail and we will record your sighting on this page. Also remember THE BUSH TAVERN is giving away a R100 meal voucher to the spotter of the first whale of each month - just confirm your sighting with the duty manager. Dolphins can be seen from Umdloti throughout the year. Whales tend to visit the warmer Indian Ocean waters off Umdloti for calving from end June to end November. Our Nature and Wildlife section gives tips on how to distinguish between the different species of whales and dolphins frequently seen from Umdloti shores. The fantastic pictures of whales and dolphins on this page were all taken by local photographer, Sarah Jones. She has lovely shots of surfers, breakers and kite surfing in Umdloti Beach and her pictures can be viewed in our Sarah Jones Gallery. 17th June 2009 Hi Guys, Just spotted a whale having a whale of a time (hee Hee) right in front of Cozumel, North Beach Road. Unfortunately I did not get a pic. Camera was at office. Not clever. But very excited to steal a few minutes to watch the awesome display. Have no idea what type of whale it was all I know is it was huge. The view from Tuscany was absolutely fabulous. Enjoy. Lynne Temlett
13th June 2009 Oh yes, we saw a whale about a week ago too! Hylton Creswell. 12th June 2009 Hiya Guys, Hooray saw my first whale of the season Friday afternoon. Always get so excited!!!! Sat on deck at the Bush having late lunch and spotted large and small blow straight out in front. Think it was feeding as it was there for nearly an hour and still there when we left around 3 ish. cheers, Jacs (Jacci Murison)
6th June 2009 PS: Spotted our first whale on Saturday +/- 15h30 swimming south. I was so excited I forgot to take a photo!! Embarrased poor old Rob from downstairs by singing a welcome to the whale (ala Nemo) instead. Sulla Smit 25th January 2009 at around 17:00 a group of surfers including myself got the fright of our lives when a 4 meter whale shark cruised past us in the line up just south of the shops-we followed its' path down to the point with numerous people on the beach confirming the sighting before it disappeared south. Another delightful visitor for the past few months is a turtle that is hanging around the point at South Beach car park-I think it's the same guy but do not know too much about them(somebody said it's a greenback turtle) anyway the turtle seems to have made Umdloti its' home for now! Michael Ryan 16th December 2008 I don't believe it. Humpback whales are still here! A wonderful display all afternoon of breehes, splashes and a fluke sticking out of the water for ages. It really has been an incredible season with more whales spotted than ever before. Surely this must be the last and we'll see of them this season. They'll all be back in June 2009 again. Bob 26th October 2008 Having a whale of a time celebrating Diwali in La Mercy!!! The whales this year have been most spectacular virtually every day for weeks now. Each year they seem to put on a bigger show now that they know it is safe off La Mercy Beach. Thank God the Unilever whaling station in Durban was closed down in 1964.....it has taken over 40 years for these beautiful mammals to recover from human greed. John Govender 18th October 2008 from Milkwood Chalets....on Saturday afternoon we watched a whale cow teaching her calf how to jump out of the water. It was actually the first time that I've seen this – besides seeing it on nature programs. Leon and Erica Viljoen
15th October 2008Incredible pictures from Rory Barber with a whale and from Sarah Jones of Rory on his paddle ski with the whale. Check out the Sarah Jones gallery for more shots 14th, 15th and 16th October,What a magnificent sight! It was the first time we had seen whales, and what a display this whale put on! this particular whale put on a stunning display – tailing we were told, to apparently cool down. It stayed in one position for three days, tail on display! Richard de Sousa 14th October 2008 I have had sightings daily of the whales during the past three weeks. Mornings, approximately 06:00 and afternoons approximately, 17:00 (North Beach past the bathing area, roughly1 km off-shore). Mornings travelling North and afternoon travelling South. Two whales in particular. Would appear to be a mother and her calf. Maybe you can answer a question for me? Why would the mother drift vertically with the tail rising above the water? Shane Haworth 13th October 2008 East Coast Radio. Two humpback whales, each
with a calf, have been spotted nurturing their young to the north of
the Umdloti River Mouth just off La Mercy Beach. The Sharks Board’s
Mike Anderson-Reed says it is a common sight at this time of the year
because the mums prefer feeding in shallow waters as it is safer for
their little ones.
“They’ll do what all mommies do and look after their calves and just
stick close inshore and then slowly, after the calves have fattened up,
they’ll move slowly back down towards the Antarctic - arriving down
there probably at the end of December.
“We have probably about 7 000 humpback whales off our coast and it’s a
pleasure to see them. I think people should go out there and enjoy it
while they can.” 14th October 2008, 10:30
Humpback whale frolics cause a commotion
By Heinz de Boer of The Pretoria News 10th September 2008 Absolutely fantastic! Two humpback whales jumping right out of the water. I've seen plenty of whales off Nova Scotia but never anything like this...awesome and unbelievable. Gill Goddard, London, U.K. 6th June 2008 First Whale of the season! Spotted from La Mercy a humpback whale frolicking just beyond the breakers. Welcome back!!!....early this year too. We have also heard that the Sardines are on their way, spotted off the Transkei Coast and heading North. Could be off Margate by mid June! 15th October 2007 What a display witnessed from our house in La Mercy – whales everywhere, at least three pods all frolicking, breaching and blowing. A magnificent school of Dolphins too. Julie and Bob 14th October 2007 Our first whale sighting from our apartment in the Tahiti complex on North Beach Road, opposite the circle – wonderful! Pierre and Sulla 13th October 2007 At least two whales seen close in from Beach Bums restaurant, whilst we were enjoying a family birthday lunch. Frank and Jenny (from Umhlanga) 3rd September 2007 Two humpbacks spent a couple of hours this morning off of South Beach diving and breaching – came quite close to shore – perhaps 200 meters. Michael L. Bennish, MD - Executive Director Mpilonhle (A Good Life) 13th August 2007 Hi guys, if people are not spotting all the whales lately, then they are not looking. We are spotting them on a daily basis now. Today an awesome sighting of mother and calf just behind the white water about 100m off shore. The dolphins have also been seen on a daily basis. Dion Bezuidenhout Drifters Dolphin Coast Inn
Click on the year to view previous sightings: 2006 Remember to send your sightings and pictures to mailto:whales@umdloti.org Umdloti also offers rich Zulu culture, with easy access to big five game reserves plus the World Heritage Sites of the beautiful St. Lucia Wetland Park and majestic uKhlahlamba (Drakensberg) mountains. Please visit our neighbours in La Mercy and our sponsors, Hlumelela Natural Products CC, who have spent a lot of time and effort collecting the material for this website and putting it all together. |
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Umdloti Beacha comparative guide, objective and independentContact Julie or Bob your web-hosts |
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