The dolphins were in the bay today and they always love to play in a good wave. Notice the calf under the female on the right side of the pic.

RESEARCH & MONITORING Bumper breeding season for Robberg seals? Between January-March volunteers assisted biologists with six boat-based counts of Cape fur seals that haul out on Robberg Peninsula. Apart from routine counts of adult seals, which have levelled off since 2012 despite seasonal fluctuations in their numbers, our biologists were surprised by the large increase […] Continue Reading...
Education- Siyakula Pre-School Education Once a week, volunteers visit young children at the local crèche to give a lesson on basic English words based on the theme of the week. All teaching is done in English (translated by the teachers into their mother tongue of isiXhosa) so that kids can learn a second language. It […] Continue Reading...
Conservation- Beach Clean-Ups We regularly hike along Plettenberg Bay’s beaches to remove marine debris. Unfortunately we live in a world where people still expose of their rubbish from vessels, in rivers or on beaches. This often causes deadly entanglement in marine animals. Tiny plastic particles (micro-plastics) are also known to end up in the ocean […] Continue Reading...
RESEARCH Overview The ORCA Foundation offers a unique learning experience for volunteers who are passionate about the marine environment. It will allow you to make valuable contributions to increased knowledge, awareness and conservation efforts while supporting applied marine research. As part of our comprehensive volunteer programme, you will regularly receive the opportunity to assist our […] Continue Reading...
The origins of marine mammals Although all marine mammals evolved from land mammals, it may surprise some that each group of marine mammals has its own unique ancestry. There are three groups of marine mammals: the cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), the pinnipeds (fur seals, sea lions, walruses and seals) and the sirenians (dugongs and […] Continue Reading...
The dolphins were in the bay today and they always love to play in a good wave. Notice the calf under the female on the right side of the pic.
Volunteering with ORCA has got to be one of the best things I have done in my life so far. And I’m not exaggerating. Plettenberg Bay and the surrounding area is truly spectacular, definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I volunteered for 8 weeks and ended up staying in Plett […]
This small group of dolphins were playing with the seals today at the seal colony. The young seals were in the water and all were having a good time.
Many marine mammals spend their life at sea like dolphins and whales, others often come to land like seals and penguins. When they do come to land, with all the best of intentions, we want to help. Often, we don’t know what to do. Here are a few hints to help along the way, it […]
One of my favorite moments during the program was watching both the humpback dolphins and bottle nose dolphins swimming together and playing in the surf. In this picture you can see the bottle nose dolphins swimming along the back of the waves. After going out several times before on the boat and not seeing anything, […]
We were out on the boat, skimming across an emerald green sea along a beautiful coastline of wide, yellow beaches at the foot of dark green hills. All of a sudden someone cried out and we looked to where the extended arm was pointing – it was dolphins! Humpback dolphins, three of them, making their […]