Silver Bank | Mar 7-14 & 14-21, 2026 | Sea Hunter Cruise Report

Another trip report from the log of Silver Bank’sCaptain Gene:

Hi, Hello!

Greetings from the Silver Bank and sorry I’m late! Sometimes it gets to a certain point in the season where time really gets away from you and, living in the moment, it is easy to lose track of time and fall behind on things. That’s what happened to me for the Week 7 Cruise Report and so, realizing I was a bit too far behind, I decided to play some catch-up. So here is a condensed and combined Cruise Report for Week 7, March 7-14, and Week 8, March 14-21. My apologies for keeping you waiting! (As always, click images for an larger view)

By this point in the season you have probably noticed a pattern: each week is a combination of whales, weather and wonderful people, each contributing to the experience in their own way. They are the characters of our Silver Bank stories. Of course the biggest stars of our stories here are the humpback whales, with the rest of us in supporting roles.

For our Week 7 guests, throughout the week we had a fulfilling assortment of humpback behaviors above and below the water’s surface.

Up above the topside shows this week – and all season long, really – were just fantastic. On more than one occasion we had the usual displays with pec-slapping and lob-tailing and breaching. One of the most interesting happened early in the week and included a whale that we also saw Week 6, kicking up a fuss then, too. These whales did all the big behaviors but the highlight of that show was when two whales did alternating chin breaches, one after the other, coming straight at our skiff and then passing on by. It is not often we get a view like that!

On another day we had a mother and calf and accompanied by a frisky escort. Mom seemed indifferent about this guy, swimming very slowly or drifting lazily while he tried to impress her, pec-slapping and rolling around nearby. But his most exciting trick was when he would come up beside or in front of her and perform some of the sky-highest spyhops I’ve seen. He’d do a few pec-slaps, swish and roll or a few minutes, then, getting no response, he’d spyhop on up as if saying “hey, look at me!”. Even with this best effort, though, mom did not seem impressed. But we were!

One afternoon we took advantage of nice conditions and took a swim around the wreck of the Polyxeni, the remains of a 240’ freighter that ran up on the reef in the 1970s. It used to be the most prominent (only) landmark on the Silver Bank, stuck on top of the rocks, but time has taken its toll and now all the scenery is below. It is a popular little side-trip whenever conditions allow.

Later in the week we had our best swim with a mother and calf, a classic interaction with mom resting below, her tired calf nestled beside her, coming up to take a lazy few breaths every five minutes or so. It is hard to put into words the feeling of tranquility that emanates from these intimate interludes, like a mother and baby at peace in their living room.

Take these interactions and throw in a particularly high-energy rowdy group, plus a green flash at sunset one evening, too, and Week 7 was a fine time.

But every week is different so now we move onto Week 8.

First, our guests. This week we had an especially international assortment with folks coming from the US, Canada, Spain, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and even Beijing, China. But my two favorites were my family, Cloe & Lucaya, coming again to the Silver Bank from our home in Gainesville, FL. No matter what else happens, whatever week my family is aboard is automatically my favorite week of the season. Who can blame me? And, as luck would have it, we had two other new guests from G’ville, too! A happy coincidence!

In the water, one of our best swims was our very first, short but very sweet. There was a resting mother, calf and escort and everything looked lazy and nice. And it was – until mom came up for her breath cycle. She rose slowly and passed nearby the swimmers giving us all a good look at her. Initially it looked like she would just slowly swim downwind and out of sight. But something about us piqued her curiosity because she then surprised us all by making a tight u-turn, circling back so she could take a much closer look at us! As she passed this second time we could easily see her big eye, wide open and rolling around as she looked us over. What did she see, what was she thinking? Imagine if this was your first-ever swim with a whale! It was an unforgettable first impression.

Unfortunately, that one character in our story, the weather, stepped up to play the role of the bad guy in this week’s story. It’s been a windier than usual season overall, but the intensity was taken up a notch this week and it was a challenge at times. We had a couple days where conditions exceeded sanctuary operational thresholds which prohibited us from undertaking our skiff excursions as scheduled. We filled free time with additional presentations and videos, some swimming around the M/V Sea Hunter, whale watching from deck, games and folks getting to know each other better. And for me, a chance to visit with my family, too.

The onboard guest experience is one of the hardest parts of the adventure to describe. Sure, there are the rooms, the generous delicious meals, the services and amenities. But what can’t be promoted on a website, or adequately described here, is what happens when you put twenty like-minded whale-lovers from all over the world on a big boat and take them to the Silver Bank together for a week. The differences fade, the common bonds come forth, the conversations and stories flow and a group dynamic develops that is hard to describe. Many a friendship has started on the Silver Bank.  I call it the United Nations of Cetaceans!  So, while the weather crimped some time in the water with the whales, it did not prevent folks from having a good time.

But not all was lost – far from it. As with Week 7 and others, the displays of topside behavior were continually exciting and dynamic, and sometimes so close! Lots of great things to see. One of my favorite sights was in a rowdy group, when the escort repeatedly blew some very impressive bubble trails and bubble blasts. These are a threat display, a way for the escort to try to intimidate his challengers as he fights to maintain his position at the female’s side.