Media and Press

Southern Right Whales Return to Cape Town

Every year in June, the ocean is a-buzz with activity. The Gentle Giants of the ocean return to our shores once again. These colossal sea creatures have spent the summer feeding in the icy waters near the Antarctic and return to our shores every winter to mate and breed.

Whale-watching season starts as early as May in False Bay outside Cape Town. Some whales remain all year in Hermanus, a destination well worth a day trip from the Mother City.

Cape Town is one of the most beautiful and popular tourist destinations in the world.

At first glance, the city appears to have plenty of water, surrounded as it is by oceans and featuring beautiful rivers running through it. Not long ago, however, Cape Town nearly ran out of water!

The Cape Town water crisis in South Africa lasted about 5 long years, from 2015 to 2020. Water shortages in the Western Cape region affected the City of Cape Town extremely badly. Dam water levels began decreasing in 2015 and the Cape Town water crisis peaked during mid-2017 to mid-2018 when water levels hovered between 14 and 29 per cent of total dam capacity.

In late 2017, there was talk of "Day Zero", a catchy term for the day when the water level of the major dams supplying the City could fall below 13.5 per cent. The Gods were watching and it began to rain!

To this day, Cape Town is a water-saving city and we urge our visitors to play the game.