About the Southern Right Whale
The Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) is a baleen whale that lives in the Southern Hemisphere. Roughly 10,000 individuals remain, after near-extinction from commercial whaling in the 19th and 20th centuries. They were called the "right" whale to hunt because they are slow, float when killed, and yield a great deal of oil and baleen. Today, fully protected, their population is slowly recovering.
Size and appearance
Adult females reach up to 15 metres in length and 47 tonnes — about the weight of 10 elephants. The largest recorded was almost 18 metres and 80 tonnes. They are easily identified by their callosities (white patches of roughened skin on the head), broad back without a dorsal fin, and V-shaped blow.
Why they come to Hermanus
Each year between June and December, Southern Right Whales migrate from Antarctic feeding grounds to the sheltered, shallow bays of South Africa to mate and calve. Walker Bay's protected waters are ideal for newborn calves, which stay close to their mothers for the first months of life. Calving females are known to return to their place of birth every three years.
Behaviours you might see
- Breaching — launching the body out of the water and crashing back down.
- Lobtailing — slapping the tail flukes on the surface.
- Spy-hopping — raising the head vertically out of the water to look around.
- Sailing — holding the tail vertically into the wind, often for hours.
Want to see them yourself? Book a boat-based whale watching trip in Hermanus.
Southern Right Whales in Walker Bay
Photos from our Hermanus whale watching boat trips.
Southern Right Whale breaching Surfacing in Walker Bay Tail flukes above the surface A pair showing their callosities Callosities up close Humpback Whale breaching