Tailor-made safaris and travel to Southern Africa

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SOUTHERN AFRICA'S SPECTACULAR MARINE LIFE

Apart from the region's famous whales, Southern Africa's coastal waters are also home to a spectacular array of other marine life.

Five species of penguin visit the Cape of Good hope. Of these, only the Jackass (or African Black-Footed) Penguin (left) is a permanent resident, being endemic to South Africa's west coast. They waddle around like gentlemen in tuxedos on many of Cape Town's favorite beaches. Four species of dolphin also play along the shoreline of Southern Africa. Few are as playful or attention-seeking as the beautiful Bottle-Nose Dolphin (above), which appears to delight in performing for human audiences.

The comical antics of Cape Fur Seals (right) provide another highlight for the traveller to Southern Africa's coast. Huge colonies of these delightful marine mammals, often numbering tens of thousands, inhabit the cold waters of the western coast.

South Africa's east coast is also one of the last remaining breeding grounds for four of the world's seven species of sea turtles, which come to Kwazulu-Natal's beaches every year to lay their eggs.

The largest and one of the most endangered species of turtle, the giant Leatherback Turtle (right) is unique in not having a shell. Instead, this enormous animal (which weighs up to 800 pounds) is covered by a carapace made up of hundreds of irregular bony plates, covered with a leathery skin. They visit South Africa's eastern coast to lay eggs between November and March, returning to the same protected beaches year after year.

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