00:00In South Africa's coastal town of Hermannis, a marine spectacle takes place every year
00:06between the months of June and November.
00:08Hundreds of southern right whales migrate from Antarctica to the South African coast.
00:13In the shelter of Walker Bay, where there are few natural predators, the animals can
00:17give birth safely and raise their young.
00:19The phenomenon is a boost for local tourism.
00:22To make sure visitors don't miss their chance to spot one of these creatures, the town enlists
00:27the help of a whale cry.
00:28This year I've been really great, we've been sporting a lot of whales and I could spend
00:34almost the whole day sporting the whales, even if I see them 20 times a day, it's been really
00:41amazing.
00:43Last year I could walk on the cliff path and then sometimes I don't see anything, like it
00:48was really quiet.
00:50But this year we've been sporting a lot of whales and I remember the other day I saw almost
00:5725 whales in one day and I'm not even sure which one I must take pictures because they
01:02were all jumping.
01:03It was really amazing.
01:05And I also heard from the whale unit that the population has actually increased by 6-7%
01:11which is really great that we're still going to see a lot of whales.
01:15Even though these giants of the sea are close to land, they can be hard to spot.
01:21Silesikuku walks the stretch of cliffs looking for whales and when he sees one, he blows a
01:25massive horn.
01:28I have this kelp horn with me which is made out of kelp.
01:33My job as the whale cry of Armanas is to walk along the cliff path which is a 12-kilometre
01:39stretch starting from the New Harbour stretching all the way from Pizzabos.
01:43Along the way there are spots where you can do whale watching.
01:46My job is to walk along the path.
01:47When I see the whale is close to the shore, it's visible to the people, then I blow the
01:53kelp horn to alert everyone that there's a whale being spotted.
01:57Hermonis is a popular day trip for Cape Town residents wanting a break from the city.
02:02It's always cool being in nature and seeing a whale breach or just being in this environment
02:08and it's nice to celebrate South African culture and meet other people, foreigners, locals.
02:15The population of southern right whales was depleted by commercial whaling but the species
02:20has been protected from hunting for decades.
02:23For a few months every year that recovery is on display in Hermonis.
