Plettenberg Bay has been named the 7th Whale Wonder of the World and is now a Whale Heritage Site. The Bluff and Algoa Bay in South Africa are also Whale Heritage Sites.
Plettenberg Bay is situated on the Garden Route between two Marine Protected Areas (Tsitsikamma and Robberg) and supports a wide diversity of ocean wildlife, including iconic species like Humpback Whales, Southern Right Whales, Bryde’s Whales, Killer Whales (Orcas) and Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins.
Whale Heritage Sites are a global network of outstanding places where local communities celebrate, respect, and protect cetaceans and their habitats.
WHS status is granted to places where people are able to work collaboratively within their communities to make and enforce decisions that will benefit cetaceans and their habitats in the long term.
“Whale Heritage Sites are becoming the gold standard for responsible whale watching destinations worldwide. But they also have so much more to offer. By interweaving natural and cultural elements and placing communities at their very heart, these sites will become places where people respect, celebrate and protect cetaceans and their habitats long into the future.”
Jean-Michel Cousteau – Honorary President, World Cetacean Alliance & Founder, Ocean Futures Society
For more information visit https://www.plett-tourism.co.za/plettenberg-bay-awarded-whale-heritage-site-status/ and https://whaleheritagesites.org
