Whale Tale . . . Revived!
Adoption Note: This fine MnCo cache was taken over by SawaSawa on 30/10/19 when it had 116 Finds and 41 DNFs in its 9.5 year life - quite a tricky find - but no finds since September 2015! The replacement, which should be a little easier proposition, is hidden close to the original location at a great viewpoint overlooking Glencairn Beach and the tidal pool, and has impressive views across the bay and of the nearby mountains. The original wording has been has been retained as below.
Early in April 2010, a strange yet all too familiar sight appeared in the waters off Glencairn. The sight baffled many people, because it was a bit early in the year for
such things. But still the people stopped and watched, as they often do, and after some time they began to ask questions among themselves... Is it a Whale?... Is it a Dolphin?... Why is it not coming up for air?!?
But appearances can be deceiving, and this new 'visitor' to our shore is in actual fact... a buoy!
The buoy was conceived and commissioned by a local establishment, so they could brag, 'You can see a whale from our deck, all year round'. It is permanently moored about 200m off Glencairn and will be used by the False Bay Yacht Club as a marker for their regattas.
The Southern Right Whale is a familiar visitor to False Bay, which they use as calving and nursery grounds before heading off to their feeding grounds in the Antarctic. They can start arriving as early as the end of May, and remain as late as the end of November, but peak season is August to October.
While it is prohibited for boats to be within 300m of a whale, there are many land-based vantage points which provide excellent views of the whales, as they regularly come very close in shore, well within the limit for boats. I guess someone forgot to tell the whales they were not suppose to get within 300m of the humans. Or maybe they just like to live on the wild side.
To reach the cache, you can either take a nice stroll along the beach from the car park @ S34 09.572 E18 25.886 or park on the road and enter through the subway @ S34 09.702 E018 25.857.
The cache, a camo-taped preform tube, is hidden on the edge of the tidal zone and although the location is away from the tidal pool, stealth may be required as this is a popular spot on nice sunny days.
***This can be a high muggle area, so please employ suitable stealth tactics and ensure the cache is replaced correctly in its spot, properly concealed, to avoid it being found by accident and muggled - Thanks!***
See here for a drone video of Glencairn Beach which passes directly over GZ.
Update on the Tail: The 'Whale Tail' has not been seen for several years . . . because it sank. Apparently there were plans to recover the buoy, repair and replace it, but no one seems to know when it might reappear - if ever?! So it may have to remain as a historical tale . . .