Watching Whales & Dolphins in Southern Africa, by Noel Ashton and Belinda Ashton

Watching Whales & Dolphins in Southern Africa, by Noel Ashton and Belinda Ashton. ISBN 9781770079571 / ISBN 978-1-77007-957-1

Noel and Belinda Ashton's guide 'Watching Whales & Dolphins in Southern Africa' is essential for watching the region’s 12 more common species.

Belinda Ashton  Noel Ashton  

Foreword: There aren't many places in the world where it is possible to watch whales from the comfort of your hotel bed. But that's exactly how I saw my first southern right whale, back in 1991, while sitting propped against the pillow, sipping tea, in a seafront hotel in Hermanus, in the Western Cape. The experience kick-started a lifelong passion that has taken me around the world, studying, photographing and filming whales. And I still return to Hermanus as often as I can to watch southern right whales from a motley collection of boats, planes, cafes, restaurants... and beds. Even after all these years, it remains one of my favourite places for whale watching anywhere in the world. But while Hermanus is well and truly on the international whale-watching map, and the Western Cape has a reputation for some of the best land-based whale watching in the world, there are many other fabulous opportunities for seeing whales and dolphins around the coasts of southern Africa.There are acrobatic humpback whales, elusive Bryde's whales, surfing bottlenose dolphins, rare and exceptionally beautiful Heaviside's dolphins, and much, much more. Who better to introduce this surfeit of cetaceans than Noel and Belinda Ashton? I have known the Ashtons for many years and have always admired their intimate knowledge of the region, their passion for its wonderful whales and dolphins, and their remarkable efforts to drum up urgently needed support for conservation efforts to look after them. In a world where there are threats around every corner - from entanglement in fishing nets to noise pollution - whales and dolphins really do need all the help they can get. If you're a keen whale watcher already, this fabulous book will provide all the information you'll need to enjoy some of the most extraordinary creatures on the planet. And if you haven't seen a whale before, I hope it will encourage you to get out there and see one; I guarantee life will never be quite the same again.

This is an excerpt from the guide: Watching Whales & Dolphins in Southern Africa, by Noel Ashton and Belinda Ashton.

Book title: Watching Whales & Dolphins in Southern Africa
Authors: Noel Ashton; Belinda Ashton
Imprint: Nature
Publisher: Randomhouse Struik
Cape Town, South Africa 2012
ISBN 9781770079571 / ISBN 978-1-77007-957-1
Softcover, 15x21 cm, 120 pages, throughout colour photos