Octopuses belong to the phylum Mollusca which also includes mussels, snails and nudibranchs .They belong to the class Cephalopoda (head-footed) together with squids, cuttlefish and nautilus. Cephalopods have well developed eyes and a ring of tentacles surrounding their mouth. Cephalopods are key species in the food chain because they are an important food source for READ MORE
Dassies are the Afrikaans and most commonly name used for a small mammal, Procavia carpensis (Latin) in South Africa. Their Latin names means the first guinea-pig (Procavia) belonging to the cape (carpensis). They are known in english as a Rock Hyrax and got that name from the Hebrew word shaphan that means “the hidden one”. READ MORE
Sea horses (hippocampus) are fish that can be recognized by their horse-like head that is right angled to the body and a muscular tail that they use as an anchor. Sea horses are well camouflaged and are generally found holding onto sea grass stems, coral heads or artificial reefs where they sit and ambush their READ MORE
The African Black Oystercatcher is a marine bird that is endemic to South Africa and Namibia. They are large black birds with a striking orange/red bill, eyes and legs. They can be found on rocks and beaches along most of the coast line. Despite their name they mainly feed on mussels, limpets and mussels worms READ MORE
There are a few different species of seals that can be found along the South African coastline. Most commonly seen is the Cape fur seal , but Sub Antarctic fur seals , Leopard seals and Southern Elephant seals are also spotted. There are two types of elephant seals, the Northern (Mirounga angustirostris) and Southern (Mirounga READ MORE
On a typical boat trip with Ocean Blue, we will visit the Cape Fur Seal colony that is located on the northern side of the Robberg Peninsula. Here guests can view the seals sunning themselves on the rocks, as well as socialising through play in the shallow waters – an experience that is sure to READ MORE
Cape fur seals belong to the eared seal family (Otariidae) and are a sub species of the Afro-Australian Fur seal. Sub species are genetically similar species that are separated geographically (living in different parts of the world) or ecologically (same area, different prey or habitat preferences). The Cape fur seal and Australian fur seal are READ MORE
When walking on the beach in Plettenberg Bay different kinds of shells from marine animals can be found like Cuttlefish bones, mussels, clams and the most attractive of all, the pansy shell (Echinodiscus bisperforatus). The pansy shell is an icon for Plettenberg Bay and is the symbol for the Bitou Municipality. Even though they are READ MORE
Off Southern Africa two species of common dolphin can be found, long-beaked (Delphinus capensis) and short-beaked (Delphinus delphis). Until fairly recently, both were considered to be the same species with great variation in appearance, but due to many years of research, are now treated as separate species. The home ranges of the two species over-lap, READ MORE
There are three dolphin species seen in Plettenberg Bay on a regular basis. They are Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus), Humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) and Common dolphins (Delphinus sp). The species seen most frequently is the Bottlenose dolphin. Bottlenose dolphins got the name from their short beak and can grow up to 2.5m in length and READ MORE