Welcoming the Whales 2023

Image: Baby humpback whale Maputo National Park

Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique - To Celebrate the majestic, mighty and great humpback whale and their smaller cousins the dolphins, Ponta do Ouro saw three events take place in the later part of August. The Welcoming the Whales and the Southern Hemisphere Humpback Whale Migration Route Tour visited our shores on the 20th August. The gathering, hosted at the Melting Pot, was the second of its kind in the Maputo National Park that this year found some 50 participants (yes, we included the barmen, he he) participate.

The afternoon started off with a very interesting and insightful presentation by Dr Deborah Robertson-Andersson who shared her extensive knowledge on whales and whaling that took place on the East African seaboard before the hunting ban was put in place.

Dr Diana Rocha, who has been recently completed her Phd finished off the day with an insightful presentation on the impact of marine based tourism on the resident bottlenose dolphins in the Maputo National Park.

Image: Organisers, Presenters and Host of the Welcoming the Whales Event 2023.

The following day was synchronised whale watching day and what a day it was with our team spending most of the morning and early afternoon at sea - collecting data and counting whales. The day saw operators from Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya take part for the 15th year running. Some 564 whales were counted in Mozambique with most sightings coming out of Inhambane, followed by Zavora and then Ponta do Ouro. A great effort put in by all participants.

Skippers, dive masters and dolphin swim facilitators who were unable to attend Saturday presentations due to work commitments were offered the opportunity to participate in a second session given by Dr Diana on the 28th August. We would like to take this opportunity to give out heartfelt thanks to community members, Blowing Bubbles, Back to Basics and the commercial Dolphin Centre for your attendance and participation in this very important presentation.

Image: Organisers, Dr Diana Rocha presenting to operators and community members..

With the success of of this special week, we look forward to Welcoming the Whales in 2024.