Thar she blows! Nature lovers armed with cameras are searching the seven seas for the ultimate photograph of earth’s largest mammals.
After being hunted to the brink of extinction, some whale populations almost have their head above water. “The blue whale numbers off California have increased dramatically,” says Bernardo Alps, trips coordinator for the American Cetacean Society. “Humpback and southern right whales populations have gone up too.” Though he cautions that of these three, southern right whales are the only one to attain a conservation status above threatened.
It seems everyone with a boat and a pair of binoculars is offering whale-watching tours. Some operators, like many in Canada’s Bay of Fundy, go so far as to guarantee sightings or you ride for free another day. With passenger expectations heightened by the Discovery Channel, many guests want more than just a glimpse of a far off dorsal fin.
How close were you? What did they do? What species were they? These are three questions often asked of whale watching customers. Put simply, cetaceans fall into two main categories: toothed whales (like orcas who prey on big game), and baleen whales (who gobble massive amounts of small fish or crustaceans). When it comes to tourism, size and showmanship are all important, and basically that means humpbacks. “They’re very gregarious and have quite predictable behavior,” says Regina Asmutis-Silvia, senior biologist with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society “They have shorter dive times. They’re also extremely curious animals who will investigate their surroundings. Occasionally they’ll even come over and check out a whale-watching boat”.
Much of the industry is built around migration patterns of these 80,000-pound entertainers and, while not all whales migrate, the ones that do put on show stopping performances every season. Picking the perfect whale-watching vacation essentially means choosing between watching breeding or feeding. Migratory whales like humpbacks, minke and grey whales gorge themselves in abundantly rich waters near the south and north poles then head to the equator to mate while living off their fat reserves (for baleen whales, the tropics offer virtually nothing to eat). Cold polar waters are a different story altogether. “If the food is near the surface you can see amazing open mouth feeding, kick feeding and fish corralling,” says Asmutis-Silvia. “In the tropics there is great visibility in the clear water but the whales are often less active. Because they’re not eating they tend to spend a little more time at the surface.”
In terms of behavior, it’s the airborne antics like fluking (lifting the tail to dive) and breaching (jumping clean out of the water) that make for the perfect photograph. “Humpbacks are more likely to breach and tend to fluke when they dive,” says Asmutis-Silvia. “They are a fairly bulky shape so we think humpbacks need that extra push to get down into the water because, at the equator, after they’ve lost all that weight in the breeding grounds, they no longer fluke. Look at the more hydrodynamic whales like fin whales or minke whales — they just arch their tails and sink.”
According to Alps, big size doesn’t equal a big personality either. “The largest of the cetaceans like blue whales and fin whales don’t exhibit as many surface behaviors. They approach boats but they tend to just swim towards it and dive under,” he says. (Maybe it’s not such a bad thing when you consider how much water a 200 ton blue whale would displace on re-entry.) “But when the conditions are right you can still see them lunge feeding,” says Alps.
If the prospect of being drenched by an overweight whale seems a little daunting, there are plenty of land based vantage points. You’re also guaranteed to not suffer seasickness. In our list of remarkable whale watching destinations we included the best of both worlds: short boat rides for seafaring folk and deep coastal waters for landlubbers. To observe natural behavior Asmutis-Silvia prefers to keep her feet on solid ground. “Land based viewing is less intrusive so what you’re witnessing is a completely natural behavior. With boats they sometimes get stressed out and stop behaving normally,” she says.
Compiling our list of greatest whale watching destinations wasn’t easy. “It’s very difficult to narrow it down to ten,” says Alps. “Is Baja just one destination? For the grey whale, the Sea of Cortez is just as amazing as the west coast.” We consulted experts from the World Wildlife Fund, American Cetacean Society, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and whale watching captains from as far away as Iceland and Australia. We focused on migratory whales for their showmanship. Some experiences like watching nursing grey whales are gentle and awe inspiring, while others, like seeing orcas take down sealions, are raw and terrifying. All offer photo-opps worthy of any Oscar winning wildlife documentary.
By trading harpoons for Hassleblads, maybe one day whale numbers will return to normal levels – though it’s hard to image the novelty of seeing them ever wearing off.
SLIDE SHOW
1. Massachusetts (April - September)
“We’re very lucky,” says Steve Miliken, whose family-owned Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch has been plying the waters of Cape Cod since 1975. “North Atlantic right whales work Herring Cove and Grace Point. There are only 350 left and you can see them from shore.” Most boats visit the Stellwagen National Marine Sanctuary, a shallow bank located seven miles offshore that concentrates krill and sand eels into a delectable marine smorgasbord. “When the whales are 100 feet away we put the boat in neutral and often get a close approach, especially by a humpback called Colt,” says Miliken.
2. Hawaii (December – April)
“The Hawaiian population of humpbacks has grown exponentially in recent years,” says Asmutis-Silvia. Many gather near Maui and the Big Island’s western shore and in the Lanaai whale reserve. They come to breed and raise young calves and, according to Alps, “sometimes when you’re in the water you can hear them offshore. They use sonar which can be focused like a beam of light”.
3. Gulf of Saint Lawrence (June – November)
“For the most part minke whales are rather boring. They just swim under the boat,” says Alps, “But sit on the rocks around Tadoussac in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and 80 feet away, a feeding minke whale will throw half its body out of the water,” he says. Kerry Zobor, Vice President of consumer media for the World Wildlife Fund, advises heading to Cape Breton, Bay of Fundy and Digby, Nova Scotia to see over seventeen resident whale species including the rare and unusual beluga.
www.novascotiawhalewatching.ca
4. Iceland (May – September)
The fastest growing whale-watching destination on earth is Iceland. The green ethos and nearby feeding grounds make for massive populations of blue, fin, humpback and sei whales. Vignir Sigursveinsson, captain of whale watching vessel the Elding, offers an especially whale-friendly experience. When he cuts the engine the boat is totally silent, its auxiliary power provided by a revolutionary hydrogen fuel cell. It’s far less intrusive to the whales’ sensitive ears (they come closer to the boat as a result) and less damaging to the environment.
5. Dominican Republic/Puerto Rico (December – April)
Zobor recommends the Silver and Natividad Banks and the waters of Samana Bay. The gin clear sea makes for easy sightings of humpback, sperm, pygmy whales and orcas. “The male humpbacks form rutting groups and fight for dominance. They‘ll breach out of the water and land on each other,” says Asmutis-Silvia. Keep an ear out while swimming for impromptu arias: mating season is the season for males to sing.
6. Patagonia (July – October)
About two hours flight south of Buenos Aires is Chubut Province and Peninsula Valdes, one of the best shorelines to see southern right whales mate, calve and raise their young. In addition, Peninsula Valdez also attracts a group of killer whales that Alps says will “beach themselves to chase after sea-lions.”
7. Monterey and Orca’s Island (April – September)
“There’s one pod of killer whales off California nicknamed Starfin, who will always approach a boat, even if they’re making a kill. They’ll even bring their kill over to the boat,” says Alps. They hunt from Baja to British Columbia and use the waters around Monterey Bay to ambush migrating grey whales during April and May. “If you go out three days in a row you’re pretty much guaranteed of seeing killer whales in some kind of hunting behavior,” says Alps.
8. Great Barrier Reef (May - August)
The remote cliffs of the Great Australian Bight are the perfect place to watch pods of up to a hundred southern right whales. But for the intimate adventure head to the Great Barrier Reef. “Around Ribbon Reefs there is a four to six week window in May and June where hundreds of minke whales pass by. Operators tether divers to a rope and the whales are so curious, they’ll come up and approach a person at very close range,” says Alps.
9. Baja/Sea of Cortez (December - April)
“In the breeding lagoons in Baja, you go out in a small 18 foot skiff and a 40 foot grey whale mother will rub against the boat for an hour, or a whale will lift its head out of the water for you to touch them,” says Alps. This close contact is a strictly regulated experience. The animals are not trained — it turns out they’re just bored and curious. “Grey whales are intelligent creatures. It’s something for them to do to pass the time before heading back to the feeding grounds,” says Alps.
10. Alaska (June – September)
Richard Hocking, curator of the Alaska Sea Life Center has seen almost every variety of whale on earth. The deep glacial fjords make for spectacular viewing against iconic Alaskan backdrop of calving glaciers. He recommends heading to Kenai Fjords National Park or Glacier National Park for minke, orcas and humpbacks and the Bering Sea for beluga, grey, sperm and bow head whales.
Words by Adam McCulloch. This article originally appeared in Forbes Traveler. Teh format has been adjusted to suit Tumblr.
