Some 37 whale and dolphin species and around 100 different types of shark occur in Southern African waters. Only a small number come in close to the coast however. Of the dolphins, bottlenose common and Heaviside’s are the most prolific, while common predatory sharks include the great white, tiger, ragged-tooth, oceanic white tip, bull, and mako.

A large portion of the world’s 4,000-6,000 southern right whales migrates north annually, with numbers increasing by seven percent every year. They leave their sub Antarctic feeding grounds form June onwards to mate and calve in the warmer waters of the protected rocky bays and inlets that occur along the South African coastline.