Shockingly low whale numbers in Cape Town waters

News of the disappearance of great white sharks from False Bay in Cape Town has prompted many questions which remain unanswered. The sharks, however, are not the only marine animals missing from the bay.

A survey conducted by the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit revealed a dramatic decline in the number of whales in the Cape’s waters.

The survey was conducted between 30 September and 5 October 2019. Researchers used a helicopter to count the number of whales in a stretch of water in False Bay. This year’s numbers came in at 200 whales, whereas 1,000 whales were counted last year.

The unit’s research manager, Dr Els Vermeulen, said that the survey was carried out between Nature’s Valley and Muizenberg, using an Airbus EC120B helicopter under charter from Silvercross Helicopters. “All encountered whale and dolphin species were recorded, with a special focus on southern right whales,” he said.

The Unit speculated that the effects of global warming may be the reason for why the numbers are so low, as the ocean’s climate is changing at a rapid rate.

“We believe the whales are not finding enough food, due to changes in the climate conditions of the Southern Ocean, possibly related to climate change. Right whales eat krill and copepods and [without] enough food they cannot store enough energy to complete the costly migration and reproduction. This has implications for population recovery.”

“These numbers mark the second-lowest number of right whales along our shores in October since 1995, after the extreme low numbers of 2016 – 55 pairs. This is a huge decrease from last year’s all-time record of 536 cow-calf pairs in the same stretch of coastline,” Vermeulen added.