Extraordinary whale tale prompts big splash for Algoa Bay

The wonders of Algoa Bay were splashed on Spanish national news recently when Rainer Schimpf received an award for his marine conservation and education work at the Arona Son Atlantico festival.

The award at the sustainability celebration event on the Spanish island of Tenerife was the culmination of a whirlwind period for Schimpf, who has criss-crossed Europe in the last six months giving talks about his “Jonah and the whale” experience off the Port Elizabeth coast earlier in 2019.

One of two accredited boat-based whale-watching experts operating in Algoa Bay, Schimpf said he was in the water in his scuba diving gear on March 9, 25km southeast of the Port Elizabeth Harbour on the edge of the Rye Banks reef filming a bait ball, when a 15-ton Bryde’s whale mistook him for a sardine and nearly swallowed him whole.

Photographer Heinz Toperczer reportedly photographed Schimpf with his head and torso inside the whale’s mouth and just his legs and flippers protruding.

The photographs went around the world, prompting invitations to various marine conservation platforms both locally and overseas, including in Germany, Norway, Iceland and Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands situated off West Africa.

Presenting him with the 2019 Arona Son Atlantico Award, the tail of a whale on a wooden plaque, the organisers of the festival highlighted the sardine run.

It is one of the world’s greatest wildlife migration events, that passes along the SA coast and through Algoa Bay — and which formed the backdrop to the whale incident.

Marine predators including penguins, dolphins, sharks and whales herd the little fish together for a feeding frenzy.

According to an October 24 Spanish news report, the award was aimed at honouring Schimpf’s 20 years of experience in the field working primarily in Algoa Bay, his part in milestone marine wildlife video productions including on the hunting technique of orcas, and his work in eco-education and conservation awareness.