Hello Again and Greetings from the Silver Bank,

Welcome to our Week 6 Cruise Report for Feb. 28 – Mar. 6, where our 2026 humpback whale season is now passing the halfway point. We are over the hump, now (see what I did there?). It was another week of whales and weather and wonderful people (as always, click images for a larger view and don’t forget the bonus photos at the bottom).

In these Cruise Reports, as you know, I can’t relate everything and every interaction that happens. It would be a bit too much! But because every week is different in its own way, I do like to try to share the most special or noteworthy episodes. At the start of each week, I never know what I’m going to be writing about here. That is half the fun for me and I hope you enjoy the anticipation, too.

On the weather front, we are happy that there was nothing to keep us from our scheduled program. It’s been a kinda breezy season. But that’s okay, not too breezy this week, and we know how to work with this so off we went!

Week 6 got off to a solid start on our first Sunday afternoon excursion. When this group of folks had their first whale swim of the week, it was with a singer! That doesn’t happen often but it sure is exciting when it does. Can you imagine: the very first time you are swimming with a whale, it is a whale singing so loudly it literally shakes your bones? Well, that is what happened here because everything lined up perfectly and this big guy was really belting it out, a powerful welcome to the Silver Bank.

But the whales were not done with us that afternoon although they kept us in suspense until the last hour. That’s when Cat’s boat found a mother, calf and escort sheltering behind the reef. This was a wonderful trio of whales because mom was very chill, totally at ease with our being there. The escort, he was a cool guy, too, patrolling around and below, slowly gliding around with effortless ease. Sometimes he was barely visible in the background and other times right in front, but he was never far away. And then, the calf. This little whale was happy to come right on over, eyes wide open, and have a good look at the swimmers before diving back to mom with a twist and a roll on its way down. We would have loved to stay longer but the day was wearing on, the sun getting low and it we had to say goodbye so we could safely make our way through the reef back to the M/V Sea Hunter. What a fine day!

Monday was a dynamic day, too, and if I had to use one word to describe it, it would be: rowdy!

For those unfamiliar with the term, what we call a “Rowdy Group” is a competitive group, part of the breeding cycle, where three or more males are fighting for the escort position alongside an available female, with the hope that they will eventually mate. Any number less than three males is “just” an escort and challenger and doesn’t count as a rowdy group, three males is the minimum to qualify in my mind. But after that there is no upper limit. We’ve seen rowdy groups with over two dozen combatants! But today’s groups were more in line with the average 4-8 participants.

We’ve had a lot of exciting rowdy-group behavior this entire season but today took it to a new level. It wasn’t the size of the groups but the number. Our skiffs each tracked rowdy groups both morning and afternoon, and not just us. Some of our fellow operators had the same and at times it felt like our part of the Silver Bank was a big brawl in the parking lot. And rowdy groups can carry on for hours. The group we tracked in the morning we followed for over eight miles and at one point they charged right through the anchorage, zigging and zagging closely past all three big boats on their moorings. They were really mixing it up! It was a heck of a lot of fun.

It may be a battle of the titans, but when there is a rowdy group, it is the female that sets the speed and direction. Sometimes they zig-zag all over, like this morning. Sometimes they are moving so fast we can’t even keep up, especially when they are charging upwind. Other times it is easier and – sometimes – they… stop.

This afternoon we tracked an average-sized rowdy group of whales but after a bit of time most of the competitors dropped out and the group slimmed down to just the female with her escort and one challenger. And after a little while longer she decided to… take a nap. So, what at one point had been a rowdy group changed into three whales resting, with the female and escort close together and the challenger nearby. We were able to get in and swim with them and see all three arranged below 2+1 but the escort was still on task and would come up every few minutes, just in front of us, to take just one breath before returning to her side. It was a very interesting evolution of behaviors.

We had a good time this week but not all the fun happened with the whales. As it so happens, this cruise we had eighteen guests aboard, hailing from the USA, Germany and Mexico, a nice international mix. But among the lot were seven returning guests, whaleswimmers who have been to the Silver Bank with Conscious Breath Adventures before. But not just once before. We had folks who had been to the Silver Bank 3, 5, 6, 10 and 50+ times! It was an incredible and unplanned superpod gathering of Silver Bank experience.