Numbers from the first Southern Right Whale count of 2024 are in!

Every year, between June and December, southern right whales make their way to Cape Town to give birth or find a mate.

The UP MAMMAL Research Institute Whale Unit has just completed their first aerial survey of the season to document the numbers of the #southern right whales between Hermanus and Witsand.

During the flight they counted 265 whales and their calves ( 530 right whales). Of these 131 were in front of Marine Protected area of De Hoop.

Dr Els Vermeulen of the Whale Unit of the Mammal Research Institute (MRI) at the University of Pretoria says the 2024 numbers are very similar to 2022, indicating that it takes whales longer to produce a healthy baby, which could be attributed to a drop in food availability.

‘Given the trend we’ve had recently, 2024 is not a bad year,’ according to Dr Vermeulen.

‘In 2018 and 2023 we had records for the number of calves and these are a bit higher than I would expect as normal. What we’re counting this year is very similar to what we had in 2022.’

‘These trends are very clearly showing the cycles, going from a very high presence of calves to a lower presence of calves and that relates to the productive cycles of the females.’