Along the South African coast we where accompanied by 2 Minke Whales. They surfaced every now and then and at sunset they gave a little show. The wales where very close to shore and early in the year as the sardine run normaly starts a lot later. The Sardine run attracts a lot of other wild life as well.
The Minke whale is one of the smaller whales, but for us it was a big pleasure to see them. Wikipedia says the following about the Minke Whale:
The minke whales are the second smallest baleen whale; only the pygmy right whale is smaller. Upon reaching sexual maturity (6–8 years of age), males measure an average of 6.9 m (23 ft) and females 7.4 m (24 ft) in length, respectively.
The whale breathes three to five times at short intervals before ‘deep-diving’ for two to 20 minutes. Deep dives are preceded by a pronounced arching of the back. The maximum swimming speed of minkes has been estimated at 38 km/h (24 mph).
Along the South African coast we where accompanied by 2 Minke Whales. They surfaced every now and then and at sunset they gave a little show. The wales where very close to shore and early in the year as the sardine run normaly starts a lot later. The Sardine run attracts a lot of other wild life as well.
The Minke whale is one of the smaller whales, but for us it was a big pleasure to see them. Wikipedia says the following about the Minke Whale:
The minke whales are the second smallest baleen whale; only the pygmy right whale is smaller. Upon reaching sexual maturity (6–8 years of age), males measure an average of 6.9 m (23 ft) and females 7.4 m (24 ft) in length, respectively.
The whale breathes three to five times at short intervals before ‘deep-diving’ for two to 20 minutes. Deep dives are preceded by a pronounced arching of the back. The maximum swimming speed of minkes has been estimated at 38 km/h (24 mph).
Previous Post