This entry was posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 8:09 pm and is filed under About, Adventure Cruises, History, Information, Migration, Sites, Snorkeling, Snuba, Watching, Whales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Researchers call them ‘friendlies’. When humpback whales approach you within 100 yards it is also called a ‘mugging’. Today we had both. This sub-adult was about 30 feet in length and appeared to be a male, the best we could tell.
When we first arrived to the area there were several groups of surface active animals. Closer to us was a small competitive group with a mother and calf. That was the direction we headed when this animal showed up off our starboard side and headed toward us. Our captain shut down our engines and we waited, drifting in the 20 mph winds. This animal approached us and dove. As the amazed passengers, crew and captain watched this whale he turned and slowly rose, so slowly at times it created suspense. I caught myself holding my breath as my camera was clutched tightly in one hand, the microphone in the other. The excitement was electric. When the wind had moved us to nearly 50 yards away, the whale would take an explosive breath and approach us again. This happened five times before the whale dove and disappeared, much to our great disappointment. What spoiled people we were today!
Whale watching is something that brings together people from all walks of life, young and old, first timers and experienced. We will not forget what we were given today: the gift of a curious whale.
