Bottlenose dolphins in Plettenberg Bay.

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Over the past weekend, we have enjoyed frequent sightings of a large pod of approximately 200 Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins. Our encounters with the dolphins have been both in the surf zone where dolphins spend about 75% of their lives and out in the bay, into which they venture to feed on bait-fish and squid. The group composition includes a fair amount of calves that tend to be concentrated in ‘nursery groups’ under the watchful eye of various adults. Possibly due to a cold water upwelling (and the associated increase in plankton and nutrients), we have also experienced an abundance of feeding seabirds; including Cape Cormorant, Cape Gannet, Terns, Gulls and other pelagic species. Another unusual aspect of recent sightings have been large aggregations of several hundred Cape Fur Seals feeding within the bay.

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