We’re just back from another Silver Bank trip!

Straight from the log of Captain Gene:

Greetings from the Dominican Republic!

We’ve only two weeks left out here in the Silver Bank, and we can’t believe how quickly the time has gone. They say time flies when one is having fun and that is certainly the case here. Although, who isn’t having fun looking for humpback whales? (Click images for a larger view and don’t forget the bonus images at the bottom!)

This week we are pretty sure we may have beaten our record for mum and calves sighted amongst the coral reef. At one point, Gene and Cat’s boats were both following two different sets of whales who came so close together that they all got jumbled up and it took a bit to sort out whose whales were whose! But both sets were played a hard game, sneaking off and hiding again amongst the corals. That’s how you know these whales are going to be good mothers- they know how to take care of their little ones! But in whaleswimming, patience is rewarded.

One of our favorite swims was a mum, calf and escort who we nearly missed. We were watching a surface show from a different mum and calf (we’re serious, we think we hit a record) and we were slowly following them along as the calf was flopping and lobbing and playing. Two of our guests this week had booked two weeks in a row and also spend a lot of time with orcas out near Friday Harbour, San Juan Island, Washington. So they are expert-level whale spotters – and Smith really outdid himself on this one! He spotted a mum, calf and escort just slowly drifting downwind together at the surface – very slowly for whale pace. Sometimes in these situations we are able to get in and quietly swim alongside until the whales slowly fly by, and that is what we tried with this trio. Except they did NOT fly by. Instead, a soon as we got in the water, they decided to just stop and park it right there. We got a few lovely looks at the calf and when they surfaced altogether, even mum came over super close to the boat for a look of her own. We were all squeaking delightedly!

But the day that really stole the show was our last day, Thursday. For starters we spent part of the morning swimming with dolphins that were absolutely mind blowing. While out on patrol looking for whales Cat’s boat found a pod of around 20-25 dolphin cruising along. Most looked like pantropical spotted dolphin, which are the most adorable little dolphin, less than 2m (6’) long. The calves are tiny! But it sure looked like there may have even been a few Atlantic spotted dolphin in the mix, too. The dolphin really went for it, leaping and zooming in to bow ride our whaleboats while everyone hurried to get ready to join them in the water. And then in we went!

We had a few freedivers in our group and whenever they dove down, the dolphins would come over and swoop and swirl around them in circles. They were so sweet and watching them jump around from in the water was incredible. Usually these dolphin interactions are super zippy and super quick, the dolphin dashing off almost as quickly as they appeared. But not this lot. After the excitement of the bow riding bow riding they stayed to play with the swimmers for nearly 15 minutes. It was a workout, indeed, but also one of the best dolphin swims we’ve had in years!

But that’s not the only thing that made Thursday special. As yo may know, when our guests board the M/V Sea Hunter on Saturday we like to go round and ask everyone what they are most hoping to see throughout the week. Usually, nobody quite minds what they see as long as there are whales involved! But on this week, five people out of twenty said they would like to swim with and hear a singer under the water. We tried extra hard all week with the hydrophones, and got very close once, but to no avail. On our last hour of the  last day of the whole week, Gene and Cat’s groups split up with Gene going to look for a singer, and Cat to follow a mum and calf that she’d just spotted. However, when Cat’s group arrived to the footprint of their mum and calf and were waiting patiently, they suddenly realized… they could HEAR a whale singing right through the hull of the boat! Just to double check, they dropped in the hydrophone, and just on volume ONE (our hydrophones’ amps go up to eleven), it was the loudest singing you could imagine! They called Gene’s group over immediately and both groups had two incredible swims with one of the loudest singers of the season as the final swim of the week. It really was meant to be!

And in case that’s not enough, we also filled the space between swimming with dolphins and being serenaded by a whale with an INCREDIBLE surface show by a mum and calf who simply would not stop breaching. The big calf was doing some really impressive breaches, suggesting it is a little older as they improve with age. We wonder if that means they will be headed North soon! Though we are secretly hoping to see them again next week.

Thanks for joining the adventure by reading our Whale eMail Cruise Reports and stay tuned for next week’s edition. What’s going to happen then?

Until then, we hope you have a great week.

Cheers!