We’re just back from another Silver Bank trip!
Straight from the log of Captain Gene:
Hello Fellow Whale Lovers!
We know you’re back again to hear all about the goings-on out in the Silver Bank this past week and we are delighted to tell you more about it.
But before we get to that, a quick alert to a very special event coming up on this Tuesday evening, Feb 27: Capt Gene will be participating in a presentation for the Bermuda Zoological Society. Gene will be reporting live from the Silver Bank and you are invited to join him! See the event flyer and read all about it at the bottom of this Cruise Report!
After that teaser, back to this past week’s action…
It was a great week and we were happy to welcome back eight returning whaleswimming-friends, some back after just one year or a few years, another for her 44th (!) cruise. Did we mention, swimming with whales can be habit-forming? We had guests from the US, Canada, Bermuda, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the UK. Welcome one and all!
Not just this week, but this season, it feels like the whales have been getting more curious than usual, and in the best way. Our guests are getting spoiled by close passes and friendly escorts and brave little calves, and this week was no exception ().
On our very first day on the water – our very first hour, even – the fun had already begun. Not too far away from our home away from home, the M/V Sea Hunter, we spotted a mum, calf and escort who were 
slowly cruising along the reef. The calf was breaching from time to time which, as you know by now, means no swimming just yet. But the calf’s excitement to jump into the sky was highly contagious and so naturally we followed along to enjoy the show. After an hour of jumping and slapping and overall adorableness (yes an hour!), we were starting to think about leaving (shocking!) to find something we could swim with – and it was like mum heard us. ‘Don’t worry, friends’ she practically said ‘we’ll go to sleep for you right here’. And just like that, they were snoozing.
As you know, sometimes the escort might not want any company. But not today! This escort was perfectly content for us to admire his lady and her little one – long enough to call our second whaleboatload of guests over to take turns swimming. The calf kept gaining in curiosity and coming closer and closer while mum relaxed at depth. The visibility was lovely and we had a beautiful setup amongst the coral to watch them. Swim with whales we did!
Even when we got back to the Sea Hunterfor lunch, the action didn’t stop there. Two friendly whales mugged the boat for everyone to see, and later in the week a rowdy group swung right by us on their adventures through the Silver Bank. Our mooring seems to have become a popular traffic lane this year as a lot of whales are passing through!
Of course, we couldn’t go a whole trip report without mentioning the patient resting whales we found who gave us another 
several hours of great showings and nearly had us skipping lunch to enjoy them. They were a sleepy male and female who didn’t mind in the slightest if we just floated around. They were on about a 25 minute breath cycle, which meant nearly half an hour at a time letting us log some quality whale time. It is safe to say we depleted the whaleboat’s hot chocolate supply that day!
For all the above action, as fun as it was, there was really only one interaction that took an unexpected turn. This was an interaction with another mum, calf and escort who were very comfortably sleeping in front of our swimmers. Maybe the calf was a little too sleepy-headed when it surfaced to breath, circled around and dove down to nestle – under the escort!Now, remember, the escort is not the father, not a caregiver, probably not related at all (I suppose there is a chance). He’s just a guy hoping mum will fancy him for some romance a little later. So, when this child whale cuddled up under his tummy, it got a reaction! First, the escort kinda flinched as if to say, hey, kid, uh, maybe you’re making a bit of a mistake here!? Then mum woke with a start wondering where her calf was? She was not too happy! Mum turned, hard, perpendicular to the 
escort, surfaced sharply and charged right over the top of his head while trumpeting forcefully, as if giving him a smack upside the head with the back of her hand (pec?) and hollering at him, just what is going on here? I bet he ended up with some new scratches for that! () Then off they swam and you could almost hear the escort saying …but I was just napping there just minding my own business when this little reef-rat of yours… as they faded into the distance. That was not an interaction you see every day! (Light apologies for anthropomorphizing but, hey, that’s how it went down – we saw the whole thing).
Overall, it was an amazing week on the Silver Bank. We faced some rain and wind and we basked in sunshine and calm waters, and we reveled in the fact that the whales were as varied in their behaviors as the weather was this week.
Tune in this time next week for our most recent exploits from the fifth week of our 2024 Silver Bank humpback whale season! See you then!
Cat “Catsharks” Cushenan