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“The whales have returned! This is always a time for celebration when the whales return to the beautiful coastline at De Hoop, and we could not be happier to welcome them,” says William Stephens, owner of De Hoop Collection at De Hoop Nature Reserve.
De Hoop Nature Reserve, a World Heritage site, Marine Protected area in the Overberg region and home of the famed Whale Trail. It’s a fantastic land-based whale-watching spot, where every year from June to November some 40% of the world’s southern right whales come to breed.
Last year was a great year for whale sightings according to the UP Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit. The results of its aerial survey from Hermanus to Witsand revealed a total of 568 cow/calf pairs of southern right whales, totalling 1 136, marking a historic high in observed cow/calf pairs along the South African coastline.
Jean Tresfon, well known marine conservation photographer, who undertook the official aerial survey with the UP Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit’s Dr Els Vermeulen, said that the highest concentration of whales – 236 mothers with calves – was at Koppie Alleen.
