On Friday morning I had an invite to go out with Steve Benjamin from Animal Ocean. The sea was flat calm, the weather perfect and the visibility was as brown as a brown bear's bottom, which in case you are wondering is very brown indeed! We travelled along the coast from Kommetjie to Table Bay and found only filthy water, filled with hundreds of playful common dolphins. Frustration levels running high, we pulled into the lee of Duiker Island and found a small pocket of cleaner water. It was bluish and had lots of suspended particles but it was better than no dive at all.
The seals are in the midst of their mating season and are at their most playful. Usually the bulk of the seals are basking on the rocks while a few hardy souls brave the freezing Atlantic waters, but this morning there were literally hundreds of animals in the water. The youngsters are hilarious with their threat displays. Swimming up at high speed they bark, blow bubbles, gape and give a small bite to anything sticking out, including dome ports, strobes, fins etc. It was a magical morning out, soon to be repeated in clean water, I hope!
Regards
Jean.
