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Whale Watching
Whale Watching:
Baja, Mexico: Grey Whale Watching |
Grey Whale Watching & Camping
Sea of Cortez Wildlife Voyage | Whales and Wildlife Cruise | Magdalena Bay
Isla Mujeres: Whale Shark Tours
Silver Bank, Dominican Republic: Encounter the Humpback Whales of the Silver Bank
Whales of the Silver Bank Expedition |
Whale Weeks - Snorkel Adventures
Tahiti: Humpback Whales Migration Tonga: Whales of Tonga (Humpback Whales)
Whale Watching
Humpback Whales. Photo courtesy of Nautilus Explorer and Photographer: Jeff Bozanic.
Gray Whales
Whale Watching: Baja Mexico - Magdalena Bay, San Ignacio Bay
These Gray Whales travel the farthest of any whale,
5000 miles from their feeding grounds in the high Arctic. Magdelena
Bay is home to the thousands of whales from end of January through
February. Here you will observe the sights of baby whales at play,
or the resounding splash of single males and females in their dramatic
display called breaching.
Humpback Whales
Whale Watching: Tonga
Each
winter nature calls the magnificent humpback whales to return to
the pristine waters of Vava'u (part of the Kingdom of Tonga) to
frolic, mate and breed. Humpback Whale season is late July through
October. We have liveaboard, land-based or kayak whale watching trips available
to help you spend time in the water photographing the humpback whales, watching
or just reveling in the awesome grandeur that will stay with you
for the rest of your life. From the sight of the first breach at
day break to the silhouette of whales resting at sundown will surely
fill you with unbridled emotion and wonder at the magic our oceans
hold for us.
The Vava'u group comprises over 60 picturesque little
islands, palm trees and white sand beaches. Just up the harbor a
few minutes away lies a magnificent wreck dive the "Clan McWillian"
with decks and that are covered in these wonderful flower like clumps
of soft coral. Impressive cave dives, wonderful valleys of gorgonian
fans, swim throughs, pristine hard coral reefs of all varieties,
drift diving on walls and reefs, colorful soft corals, outcrops
and a myriad of fish.
Whale Watching: Rurutu, Tahiti
Rurutu is the most northerly of the Austral Islands,
located 355 miles southwest of Tahiti. A very pretty and hilly
island with a circumference of 20 miles. Rurutu's main village
is called Moerai, and home to the islands 2000 inhabitants.
Rurutu does not have the wide lagoons found in the
Society Islands. Limestone grottoes with stalactites and stalagmites
invoice explorers. This is great for snorkeling, diving and watching whales.
The most special attraction and most important to
divers are the arrival of the HUMPBACK whales from July through
October! Here you are able to get very close on snorkel. This is
a very remote place and the accommodation is very basic. Who cares
when you have the whales to yourself!
Minke Whales
Whale Watching: Great Barrier Reef, Australia
"Minkes" are baleen whales; they
have no teeth but rather a series of horny plates hanging from the
roof of the mouth, enabling them to engulf masses of water containing
schools of small fish or krill. As the throat contracts, water is
forced between the baleen plates and out of the mouth, but the fishes
and krill are trapped on a meshwork formed by fine bristles on the
inside of the baleen plates. The throat of minke whales can expand
enormously, like a pelican's pouch, engulfing masses of water containing
schools of fishes or krill.
On the northern Great Barrier Reef the whales
arrive in June through July. They usually stay around visiting
snorkelers for up to an hour or more in small pods. These whales
are very friendly and often times are curious about us, enabling
U/W photographers a great opportunity for great shots.
The Great Barrier Reef is about the only
place noted on earth where the dwarf minke whales regularly
approach boats and divers. It is thus especially important that
encounters with whales be managed carefully. With such care, it
should be possible for divers to continue to have what is one of
the ultimate wildlife experiences, diving with whales!
Whale Article: Whales ... We owe them an apology
By Philip Hoare
Article URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2246776/
Philip Hoare is the author of The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea.
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