Sperm Whale Watching 15-22 January 202
Why this trip?
Mark Carwardine, a British zoologist leads groups to watch wildlife, whales and birds. I first met him on the Wrangle Island expedition in 2019 and joined his grey whale watching expedition in Baja, Mexico in 2020. I am curious about sperm whales and decide to join his sperm whale trip in Dominica which is my favourite island in the Caribbean, which I have visited twice on sailing boats.
Sperm Whale Watching on board Passion
Mark organises sperm whale watching trips in January for a group of eight participants each time. The group stays at the Picard Beach Cottages right by the sea and sets off on board the Passion, a catamaran before 8 am each morning. Andrew, the local guide, is supported by a crew of three – Omaya, Dini and Wendall.
Sperm Whale Watching 16-22 January
We had seven days out at sea and I had five swims with eight sperm whales including a mom and calf, two female whales twice (Pitch and Finger) and two juveniles. It’s magical and everything happened so fast. I tried to capture the highlights of the day in a few collages each day.
Dominica, an island of 47km long and a maximum breath of 26km with a population of 63000, is magical and a gem in the Caribbean. It is mountainous, lush green with hot springs and tropical rainforests. Morne Trois Pitons National Park is a World Heritage Site. Whale watching of sperm and humpback whales are popular. Rainbows are daily occurrence and the amazing lights.
Highlight No 1 Sperm Whale– I saw and swam with eight sperm whales on five occasions. Each encounter was brief lasting for a few minutes at the most. I saw them swimming below, beside and above me. On the first two occasions, I saw them turning sideway to look at me and stood upright next to me before swimming away. It is magical.
Highlight No 2 : Spectacular Topography and Rainbows
Highlight No 3 Dolphins – We saw thousands of Pantropical spotted dolphins on several occasions and lucky to see hundreds of Fraser’s dolphins on January 21. Finally on January 22, we were lucky to watch some 20 Melon-headed whales (which are from the dolphin family). I didn’t get a good photo of these whales as they were too far away for my phone to capture well.
Highlight No 4 Pilot Whales : It was the first time for me to watch hundreds of killer whales swimming close to the boat
Remarks
I had a most wonderful time in Dominica. I have met wonderful people during my stay on the island. As I have a hip problem, Dini and Wendall have helped me moving around the boat safely. Without Dini’s pull, I would not have swam fast enough to catch a good glimpse of the whales on my first two swims. I appreciate Andrew’s help when I saw Pitch and Finger twice in one day. I was lucky to have Julie as my roommate: she is kind and gentle. Kate and Gary have been my wonderful drinking buddies at dinners: I only spent USD70 and had nice beer and red wine every night. Mark is always a gentleman with incredible knowledge about whales, dolphins, birds (actually all categories of wildlife) and photography. It is a pleasure to travel with him. I am impressed by the passion of Isa, Karin and David from Germany and Vicki from Australia for whales.
I have also been lucky to meet three nice French ladies: one kindly drove me to Trafalgar Falls and two at a guesthouse in Bataka. After spending 11 days on the island, I am overwhelmed by its spectacular topography, hot springs, friendly locals, amazing flora and fauna, beautiful coastline, and rich marine life with whales and dolphins. I shall return for the fourth time one day.