| Gordon's Bay Welcomes The Whales |
| The Whales are back! Frolicking in the bay and singing their songs late into the night |
The most striking feature of the Southern Right whale is the 'callosities' (horny growths) behind the blowholes, and on the face. The other characteristic which distinguishes the Southern Right whales are their V-shaped blows. Southern Right whales are black or dark grey in colour. They have no dorsal fin. They have a large, bow-shaped heads and arched mouths. Unusually, Southern Right whales are relatively hairy with up to 300 hairs on the tip of the lower jaw and about 100 on the upper jaw. Southern Right whales can remain under water for about 6 minutes and swim fairly slowly at an average speed of 6 kilometres and hour when cruising, although than can reach 11 kilometres an hour in short bursts. Although the humpback whales are the best "singers", Southern Rights do produce low frequency sounds to communicate with one another.The lifespan of the Southern Right whale is not established, but it is believed that they can live for over 50 years. in our part of the world they return annually to the sheltered bays of the Southern African coast in order to breed and give birth. In Gordon's Bay they can be seen between June and November. It is most prolific close to the shore from about September, and it is occasionally seen out of season, as early as May or as late as January. During the summer months the southern right whales move south to the cold and stormy waters of the Antarctic where it feeds It is well known for its extraordinary displays of breaching, flipper slapping and tail slapping which may carry on for minutes or hours. |
| It is usually considered that there are two species of "right" whales, one in the northern hemisphere and the other in the southern hemisphere. |