Where the whales are?

As a worthy tourist destination Hermanus offers many choices to visitors. One of these is to

The Windsor Hotel Hermanus points tourists in the right direction

choose between going to see some whales and checking into your hotel. Not a difficult decision.

The whales of the Walker Bay have their own dedicated whale crier. Eric is part of a tradition of whale crying that started in Hermanus in 1991. With a prolonged blow on a kelp horn Eric announces the location from where whales can be sighted. During whale season Eric could be mistaken for the Pied Piper as he has a string of tourists following him for whale facts or a photo with the world’s only whale crier. Eric also has to point out to disappointed visitors that the whales do not respond to his call and he has no influence over the whales’ appearances.

With the year running out and December school holidays approaching the whales are departing south in search for better food supplies. The end of November sees only a few whales remaining and yesterday, 23 November 2014, the whale watching boats spotted only 6 whales. As long as the whale watching boats leave Hermanus harbour we know there is still a whale around waiting to be photographed and admired.

Eric, the world's only whale crier. — Eric, the world’s only whale crier.

Tourists asked the following questions during the time I spent with Eric.

Where are the whales?
Where can we swim?
Where do we buy fish & chips?
How do we get to Cape Agulhas?
Where can we camp?

Sunday will be Eric’s last day as Whale Crier for this season. While the whales are not visiting the Hermanus shores Eric is busy with other tourism activities in the Hermanus Tourism office. Eric has kept up with social media and you can get latest whale news on @whalecrier.