New born seal pups at the marine sanctuary Robberg Peninsula, Plett Bay South Africa

It's winter here on the sunny south coast of Africa and this season's batch of new seal pups have just been born. I'm at the marine sanctuary and reserve on Robberg Peninsula, in the most beautiful bay on the entire south coast of Africa.

The name Robberg comes from the Dutch and Afrikaans word for seal, here in the local dialect. This is a home and breeding ground for a large permanent seal colony.

The pups have just been born and are frolicking in the nursery, close to the shore in the most sheltered cove of the Robberg beach.

I was lucky to spot them this year at this window of opportunity. I don't see them every year. And they're very close to the shore now. It's a beautiful sight to see them jumping right out of the water or surfing the waves just underneath the surface.

If you're lucky you can see three of them side by side surfing the same wave, like choreographed dancers. My photos don't capture as much as the eye since I'm using a humble mobile phone camera. Still, if you look closely at the photos you can see the little seals in the water, like black dots floating about.

Soon we will also see the whales who come here to give birth in this sheltered Bay beside the out-jutting Peninsula. They stay for a few months over the winter before migrating to other parts of the vast ocean.

It's possible to spot them from the shore every year, and tourists come especially to get a sighting from the shore or even to take a boat out to view them more close up.

The feeling of having this kind of wildlife so close by, including the largest mammals on the planet, is very rewarding. That's one of the free treasures of life on the south coast of Africa.

I can see elephants and whales in the same morning over winter season, since both are in their natural habitat here, in this region called the Garden Route. The elephants are in a wilderness forest park nearby and the whales will be in the bay frolicking just like the seal pups soon.

Of course, you can see elephants throughout India and Asia in general, but they're different from the African elephant in some details, like size, ears, etc. The whales on the other hand are global citizens, without borders. What a free range they have.

Photos my own. Written and published via my mobile device and published onto the Hive blockchain from the beach.