Hermanus
Southern Right Whale

In Hermanus Southern Right whales really do rule!

The town is dotted with whale-themed shops, hotels and guesthouses all indicating how the modern 'whale trade' is as essential to the local population's wellbeing as were the whalers of old.

Here’s a Hermanus Southern Right fact sheet to give you some background knowledge about the fascinating local Denizens of the Deep.

Callosities
(white, tough skin on Southern Right whales' heads)
are unique and a means of identification
Photo courtesy of Miriam63 0n Flickr

Length: 16 – 18 m

Weight: Average 49 tonnes

Feeds on: Plankton

Scientific name: Eubalaena Australis

Habitat: Cold waters of the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, breeding season in warm waters off SA, stays near to continental land masses

Breeding: Single calf, gestation period 1 year, nursing period 4-6 months. Calves weighing 1000-1500 kg at birth and are five to six meters long. They grow at a rate of 3 cm per day!

Dumpy 'triangular' halves to the tail fluke
are another trademark of the Southern Right
Photo courtesy of Monica Sana 0n Flickr

Identification:

• dark coloured all over with white ‘barnacle-like’ callosities on head, each whale’s white patterns are unique
• Southern Rights have large, ’dumpy’ bodies and relatively short tails
• Southern Rights have short flippers in relation to their body size and the edges of the flippers are smooth.
• Southern Rights’ tail flukes are approximately triangular
• Southern Rights have no striations on their bellies, and no white streaks on the undersides of their flippers and tail flukes.

Spatulate 'triangular' fins --
also a Hermanus southern right species trademark
Photo courtesy of Karen Mulders 0n Flickr

In comparison, Humpback whales (the next most common species in SA waters)

• have a more streamlined body shape.
• have longer, more elegant flippers with knobbly edges!
• humpbacks’ tail flukes are more rectangular – longer and narrower.
• have distinctively striated chests and white streaks on the underside of flippers and tail flukes.

A fantastic place to watch humpback whales in South Africa is from Cape Vidal near Saint Lucia on the northern Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Origin of the name “Southern Right”

In the days of commercial whaling, the type of whale to be hunted was very important. Killing whales from a small rowing boat was a hazardous pastime and as always businessmen wanted maximum profit for minimum effort!

The ‘ideal’ whale

• was relatively large to yield plenty of meat, baleen and whale oil from blubber
• was relatively slow swimming so it was easy to harpoon
• floated after death to make for easy recovery

In the Southern hemisphere, Eubalaena Australis was the best option for whalers and so became known as the ‘Right’ whale to hunt.

(There is also a Northern Right whale, named for the same reasons and found in the Northern hemisphere. Unfortunately it is all but extinct.)