MARINE MAMMALS

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Marine Mammals that may be seen off the Southern Cape Coast:

Bottlenosed Dolphin

Bottlenosed dolphins get their name from their snouts that are short and stout. They have a thin, pale line running from the eye to the flipper and a darker grey “cape” on the upper back. The belly is off-white and often speckled with grey spots. They often join bathers and come to the aid of newborn or injured dolphins

Pods of 20-50 dolphins feed on fish and squid, which they hunt by driving their prey into a ‘spearhead’ formation, before encircling them. Sadly, they often become entangled in shark-nets. Concerns exists that some populations may be declining, due to the high toxin levels in polluted seawater (toxins are offloaded to young through milk).

Common Dolphin

The common dolphin has a longer, narrower and pointed beak which distinguish them from the bottlenosed dolphin. They have a ‘criss-cross / hourglass’ pattern on the sides of the body. A cream coloured patch is noticeable from the eye to dorsal fin and a grey patch behind the tail.

There is a dark stripe from the flipper to the lower jaw. It is one of the most common warm-temperate and tropical species, most abundant near the coast. They are highly gregarious forming hugh pods of 20 - 1000s individuals. They usually feed in deeper water, on fish, squid and cuttlefish. Common dolphins often follow ships for miles, swimming up to 20 knots.

Cape Fur Seal

Adult cape fur seals have thick coats, chocolate-brown to golden in colour whilst pups have black coats. These superb swimmers spend most of their life at sea, feeding mainly on fish, squid and octopus. On land, they are also quite skilled climbers.

In October adult bulls establish territories on islands and mainland. These then defend continuously until the females join them in November. Dominant bulls have harems of up to 50 cows. They mate after the females have given birth in November. Implantation of the embryo in the uterus is delayed for 4 months so that the 8 month development leads to birth one year later.