THE BAG IS BACK: HELDERBERG’S MOST FAMOUS MARINE MAMMAL RETURNS FOR SECOND SEASON
Shopping Bag Spotted Again Off Gordon’s Bay — Agent Secured, Merchandise in Development
THE HELDERBURGER | WILDLIFE, COMMERCE & CETACEAN MISIDENTIFICATION
It has been six weeks since the Helderberg’s most unexpectedly celebrated marine resident made its debut on the local whale watching circuit, and in that time the large white Pick n Pay bag — last seen moving through moderate swell with what one skipper described as an unhurried dignity consistent with feeding behaviour, possibly — has not been retrieved, has not degraded, and has, if anything, grown in stature.
The bag is, to use the correct scientific terminology, still out there.
And this week, in a development that has divided the local maritime community along lines nobody anticipated, it was spotted again.
THE RETURN
The sighting occurred on Tuesday morning, approximately 1.8 nautical miles off the Gordon’s Bay coastline, during a routine whale watching excursion carrying eleven passengers — eight tourists from the Free State, two from Pretoria, and one gentleman from Gordon’s Bay itself who was on his fourth trip this season and who, it is worth noting, was the first to spot it.
“I knew immediately,” said Gavin Scheepers, 44, a retired logistics manager who has become what fellow passengers describe as “extremely enthusiastic” about local marine life since his retirement eighteen months ago. “The movement. The colour. The way it just sort of… floated with intention. I said to the skipper, I said: that’s him.”
The skipper — not the same skipper as the original incident, though fully briefed on it — confirmed that the object was, on closer inspection, a large white plastic bag of supermarket origin, still bearing faint traces of the distinctive blue Pick n Pay typography, and moving in a south-southwesterly direction at a pace he estimated at “unhurried.”
The skipper turned the vessel toward the actual whales without further ceremony. Gavin watched the bag until it disappeared from view.
“He’s doing well,” Gavin said quietly. “You can just tell.”
THE MERCHANDISING OPPORTUNITY
It was perhaps inevitable that where nature provides an icon, commerce would follow.
The Helderburger can exclusively reveal that at least two separate Gordon’s Bay entrepreneurs have independently identified what one of them, Brendan Fortuin, 38, described as “an absolutely untapped brand opportunity sitting right there in the water, literally.”
Brendan, who operates a small gift shop near the harbour and whose existing inventory leans heavily on fridge magnets and hand-painted pelican figurines, has already commissioned a prototype.
“It’s a plush toy,” he explained, producing from beneath his counter a small, white, vaguely rectangular soft item that bore a passing resemblance to both a whale and a shopping bag, which is, under the circumstances, entirely appropriate. Embroidered on the side, in blue thread: Whaleby. Gordon’s Bay’s Most Iconic Resident.
Brendan has named the bag Whaleby. He did not consult anyone before doing this. He does not feel he needed to.
“Whaleby plush, Whaleby fridge magnet, Whaleby tote bag — which I acknowledge is ironic but I think it works in our favour — and I’m in talks about a Whaleby children’s book,” Brendan confirmed. “The story basically writes itself. A bag that everyone thinks is a whale. Finds its place in the ocean. Learns about the environment.” He paused. “There’s a message in there.”
The message, one suspects, is primarily financial, but the ecological angle is not nothing.
THE TOURISM ANGLE
The town’s informal tourism network — again, primarily a WhatsApp group, though a better-managed one than the Strand sand committee — has been alive with debate about whether Whaleby represents a reputational liability or an asset.
The liability camp argues that a coastal town whose signature wildlife attraction accidentally includes a plastic bag sends the wrong message to the discerning eco-tourist market.
The asset camp, which is louder and has better memes, argues the opposite.
“Hermanus has the whale crier,” pointed out local guesthouse owner Sandra Lategaan, 52, with the confidence of someone who has been waiting some time to deploy this observation. “We could have Whaleby. One blows a horn and points at actual whales. The other IS the whale. I know which one I find more interesting.”
Sandra has already updated her guesthouse’s welcome pamphlet to include a section titled Local Wildlife: What To Look For, which now lists southern right whales, African penguins, the occasional seal, and, in smaller print at the bottom, Whaleby (seasonal, elusive, not technically alive).
THE ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTNOTE
The Helderburger feels, in good conscience, obliged to note at this juncture that the continued presence of a large plastic bag in the marine environment is, setting aside all commercial and comedic considerations, not ideal.
Marine conservation organisations contacted for this article were admirably restrained in their responses, though one spokesperson did observe that “the fact that a piece of single-use plastic has been in the water long enough to develop a local fan base and a merchandise range is perhaps the most uniquely South African environmental awareness campaign we’ve ever encountered, and we did not design it.”
She confirmed they were considering leaning into it.
“If Whaleby gets people talking about plastic in the ocean,” she said, “then Whaleby is doing more than most billboards.”
The original skipper — the thirty-one year veteran of the first incident — was reached for comment and was, as before, a man of few and carefully chosen words.
“I should have picked it up,” he said. “I said that already.”
He has, however, been spotted on three subsequent outings with a long-handled net mounted on the port rail, scanning the water with an expression that those who know him describe as “personal.”
The bag has not been within range.
PICK n PAY RESPONDS
The Helderburger contacted Pick n Pay’s media office to establish whether the retailer wished to comment on the fact that one of their bags had become the Helderberg’s most discussed marine personality since the 2019 humpback that briefly investigated the Gordon’s Bay slipway.
After four days, a representative responded with a statement confirming that Pick n Pay “supports responsible disposal of all packaging” and “encourages customers to make use of our reusable bag range.”
When asked if they had any interest in sponsoring the Whaleby merchandise line, the representative said they would “escalate the query internally.”
Brendan, for his part, has already sketched out a co-branded concept.
“Blue and white. Their colours. My bag. It’s seamless,” he said, smoothing out the prototype Whaleby plush on the counter with the satisfaction of a man whose synergies are aligning. “I’m giving them first right of refusal but I’m not waiting forever.”
WHERE IS WHALEBY NOW?
As of Thursday morning, the bag’s precise location is unknown. The ocean is large. The bag is, relative to the ocean, small — though relative to the whale watching industry’s current public relations situation, it is enormous.
Gavin Scheepers has been out twice this week on his own, in a hired kayak, looking.
“I just want to make sure he’s alright,” Gavin said, adjusting his life jacket with the purposeful air of a man on a mission. “The currents have been unpredictable. I’ve been worried.”
He paddled out toward the headland and did not look back.
The sea, as always, kept its own counsel.
The Helderburger reminds all readers that single-use plastic bags remain a significant threat to marine ecosystems. Please dispose of yours responsibly — or at minimum, do not allow it to become so beloved that nobody can bring themselves to remove it from the water.
Whaleby plush toys are available from Brendan’s shop near the Gordon’s Bay harbour. R85 each. Cash only. No bag provided — for obvious reasons.
Senior Correspondent | Maritime Affairs, Wildlife & Emerging Brand Partnerships
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