Every year large numbers of Southern Right Whales travel from the Antarctic to the warmer Walker Bay off the coast of South Africa to calve and mate. Located about an hour and a half out of Cape Town, Hermanus is one of the best whale watching spots in the world, welcoming dozens of these gentle ocean creatures each year.
As a drone pilot and videographer, the thought of capturing whales from the sky was just too good not to act on, so my girlfriend and I drove up to Hermanus for a few days hoping that we’d be lucky enough to find what we were looking for. On our first afternoon there, we headed straight to a lookout point and launched the DJI drone – within minutes we located a pod of about six or seven whales twirling, splashing and frolicking in the ocean. The drone gave us a whole new perspective on what we could see from the shore, allowing me to capture some of the beauty, elegance and mammoth size of these spring-time visitors on video.
Amazing 4K aerial video with Southern Right Whales
This is what quadcopter drones were made to do – capture shots that you cannot capture any other way. Over the short time we were there, we were completely mesmerised by the Southern Right Whales and by the opportunity to view them from such a unique angle. These gigantic beauties will still be spouting all over the Hermanus coastline for the next few weeks so head over there and see them for yourself!
Author: Luke Maximo Bell