The Plettenberg Bay offers a home for various types of marine mammals such as dolphins, whales, cape fur seals, lots of sea birds and of course a big variety of fish. We are lucky to see many of them regularly from our House Dolphin View. Who would like to see more can go on a whale watching tour. There are 7 species of marine mammals here, 4 can be seen all year round, 2 species come to us in the winter months and one is very rare to see at different times of the year, with best chances in May. Sometimes you can see the cape fur seals from our house, but you can certainly see them on a hike on the Robberg nature reserve on the opposite side of the bay, where is their colony consisting of approximately 7’000 individuals.

All whales are mammals, not fish, they give birth to live young and need air to breathe. There are two groups of whales: toothed whales, which include the dolphin family, and baleen whales, which filter the water and feed on plankton. In our bay we have 4 types of toothed whales, namely all the dolphins and 3 types of baleen whales.

Resident species that can be seen all year round:

• Bottlenose dolphins: This is the most frequently seen dolphin species, they usually pass close to the shore, you can often see them from House Dolphin View surfing and jumping in the waves
• Humpback dolphins: A very rare and highly endangered species that can also be seen near the shore, recognizable by the hump on which the dorsal fin sits
• Common dolphins: You can see them mainly in the open sea in large groups. Their range extends much further than just our bay, so they are rarely seen from the shore
• Bryde's whales: these baleen whales are among our resident marine mammals and can be seen all year round. Most of the time you can only see the blow from the shore (condensation fountain of the air blown out)

Visitors in the bay:

• Humpback whales: They come to us on their way from Antarctica to Madagascar in May / June and on the way back with their calves again in August / September / October, one can often see them teaching their young to wave and breach out of the water
• Southern right whales: They also come from Antarctica, but unlike humpback whales, they stay in our bay from June to October during winter and give birth to the calves here. Like the humpback whales they also teach their young - a wonderful sight. You can often see them from our House Dolphin View.
• Orcas (killer whales): they are the largest dolphin species. Unfortunately they visit us very rarely and at different times of the year, it takes a lot of luck to see these beautiful animals here - but when you see them you will never forget the sight!

If you would like to know more about these wonderful creatures you can click on the species, if you like to see them from the shore, come visit us at House Dolphin View!