There she blows!

Every year between June and November I spend a goodly part of the day standing on the veranda and staring at the sea until the little squiggles start to dance in front of my eyes and everything looks green when I go back inside! The reason? Whales! The Southern Right to be precise, so called because they were the 'right' whale to hunt. They have a lot of blubber, they float when they are killed and they swim close to the shore, 'good' reasons to hunt this noble mammal almost to the point of extinction. When whaling began five centuries ago, there were an estimated 300 000 Southern Rights and by the end of the 19th Century, 99% had been killed. In 1940 they were finally given protection and today there are 10%-15% of that number. Although they are increasing at around 7% per year, they still face dangers like collisions with ships, entanglement in fishing nets, pollution and starving to death due to over fishing in the Atlantic.

A mother and calf