Hermanus Whale Crier, Hermanus, South Africa

Mon, Jul 14th 2008, 00:00

The whale watching capital of South Africa, Hermanus, also boasts a world first: a whale crier. Nowhere else on earth enjoys the services of this dedicated individual whose job is to keep the people of Hermanus up to date on where a whale is spotted.

Armed with a horn made of kelp, the whale crier wanders round the shoreline watching for whales. He blows his kelp horn when whales are spotted, using a series of notes to signal where you should look. The whale crier wears a sandwich board around his neck with a guide to his blowing signals. By listening to the horn blows you can work out whether a Southern Right, Humpback or Bryde’s whale has been spotted, what part of the coastline they can be found and how many are there.

The whale crier’s horn has been heard around Hermanus since 1992. Highlight of the first whale crier, Pieter Claasen’s career was when he was invited to be a guest of honour at an annual Town Crier’s competition in the UK. He opened the festivities with a blow from his unique kelp horn. It is quite an art to get a note out of the horn and Pieter’s successors have spent many long hours mastering the blowing technique and the whale crier’s signals. The horn has been fashioned out of the thick kelp that lies in forests in the oceans around the southern coast of South Africa.

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