Dominica Sperm Whales, Day 3 November 27,2019

Our third day of snorkeling with Sperm Whales continued our good fortune.  The day was calm and sunny but the whales seemed perhaps more skittish and they seemed to spend last time at the surface so they were probably hunting squid down thousands of feet.  Several times when our group got dropped in front of an approaching whale it turned aside so that we didn't get close enough for great pictures.  We also had a brief encounter with a huge pod of spotted dolphins, they enjoyed riding our bow wave.  These dolphins are shy so we didn't attempt to swim with them.

Below are some pictures from today, a few more may be found at:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4HzgyzDXUue5SwsJA

I shot this while perched on the boat's dive platform ready to slip in but when the whale goes fluke up you can bet it is a deep dive and the whale will be down for the better part of an hour before surfacing, and it may surface a mile or so away.

First whale of the day.  She surprised us by zigging instead of zagging, I didn't see her until she was 20 ft away or less, coming fast, just behind my left shoulder, masks give you tunnel vision! You can see the Caribbean Sea's surface is really calm by looking at the whale's reflection on the surface.

There goes the second whale I got dropped with, diving deep before I got close enough to shoot.

Coming fast with her calf just beyond.  Sperm whales nurse their calves for six years and nursing duties are shared with the other aunties in the pod.  The calves are also, it is thought, getting fed squid and learning to hunt.  Calves can dive deep with their moms once they are several months old.  Female calves remain with their mom creating a closely related family pod.

These gals are huge!  She more than fills my 10 mm wide angle lens from maybe 8-10 ft away.  I was really kicking like crazy to make the encounter last.  You can see the tip of the calve's head beneath her.

    The calf peeking below.

 The next good encounter approaches.

    Actually, two whales!

                                I was totally winded at this point.

                                       

                                          Bye bye.

                              A freighter came through the area where we were waiting for Sperm whales as it made its way into port in Roseau.

Every day there's been another cruise ship docking for the day in Roseau.  This means we have to share the limited number of whales with whale watcher boats.

    There is a limited amount to see when watching Sperm  whales from the boat, they don't tend to do many of the antics you see with Humpbacks like pectoral slaps, tail throws, and breaches.  I have seen two calf breaches on this trip so far.

Sperm whale spouts are very different from two other whale spouts I'm familiar with, Humpbacks and Blue Whales.  Sperm whale spouts are projected at an angle forward from the tip of the head or, as Izzy says "their going where their blowing".

Dominica Sperm Whales, Day Two November 26,2019

Our second day out started off very slow, no Sperm whales in sight and none to be heard on the hydrophone.  On top of that it was breezy with lots of clouds and rain on the island.  We gradually worked our way north to within four miles of the north end of the island, then, suddenly, the whales arrived.

Below are some pictures from this wonderful day with Sperm whales, to see more, please go to:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/d3YVpderSovcYsWp7

Mother and calf, no adult males are here this time of year.

The encounter only lasted about 3 minutes, two in range for decent photos (20 ft or less).  I'm shooting a 10-17mm Tokina wide angle fish eye.  I'm swimming flat out to try to keep from being left behind.  After a couple of minutes full out I get winded and start to run out of gas.  As our guide Izzy describes, it's like chasing a Ferrari with a donkey cart.

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    About a half hour later I was in the water with another large female approaches, since we were dropped in her path..I'm glad that an open jaw is not a threat display!

    This is from about ten feet away.  She is really impressive!

 Starting a shallow dive.  They put up their flukes when headed deep to hunt squid.

    As I run out of gas, and I worked hard to get in shape for this trip, she passes me.  That's our guide Izzy getting a shot once I'm out of the way.  A whale sized whale, I'd say.

An hour later, it's my team of three's turn again and here comes our next encounter, closing fast.  You lie flat in the water to be as innocuous as possible so you can get a close inspection.  She's just noticed me in this shot.

 She surprises me by rolling onto her left side as she closes fast.

    Fortunately, rolling on her side made it easy for her to make a sharp turn to my left side with the same motion she uses to smoothly dive.

She's turned and it's time for me to put my donkey into a gallop to try to keep up with this Ferrari.

I love the lighting on this.  Sunny conditions with the sun at my back.  I got some excellent coaching for shooting Sperm whales from Izzy and Chris and applied them.  Shot Tv, shutter priority,  ISO 800, 1/200 sec, gave me f10, so excellent depth of field with my 10 mm lens setting.

As she continues her turn, here's a shot with Izzy getting a shot.  At this point I went into my top speed as was able to keep pace with her for 3 minutes before I was totally winded and legs exhausted.  I shot 40 frames but I'll only put a couple more here.

     Kicking hard, I'm just pointing and shooting and breathing as fast, hard, and deep as I am capable of.

    In the frame!  Completely winded, I had to stop and make my way back to Jerry and Izzy for pickup.  I slept really well last night.  This encounter was unforgettable.  What an incredible, lucky day!!

Dominica Sperm Whales November 25, 2019

I'm just back ashore from a thrilling day of snorkeling with sperm whales off Dominica.  The trip was organized by Tom Campbell and Beth Davidow and run by Chris of Indigo Safaris.  I was glad to reconnect with Russ, Barb, and Jerry from previous trips I've been on with Tom and Beth.  We had calm sea conditions with some showers coming offshore from the mountains now and again.  The sperm whales were truly awesome.

Below are some photos from today, for more, please go to:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/MvdxcrvXgADrBhm17

My first ever Sperm Whale.  I've snorkeled with Humpbacks three times, on the Silver Banks off the Dominican Republic with the Turks and Caicos Aggressor in 2000 and 2002 and in Tonga last August.  Whales are truly awesome.  Snorkeling with Sperm Whales is a bit of a fire drill, the three tourists and guide get on the boat's deck while underway as we get ahead of the whale, then, a quiet splash free as possible slide into the water and a hard kick to get in front of the whale.  Great fun, very exciting.  After the whale passes you regroup in order to get picked up and back on the boat ASAP so the next team of four gets a shot.   The whales spend a limited time at the surface while feeding.  When the Sperm Whale puts its massive fluke up it means the whale is diving deep - like half a mile deep- to hunt squid and won't surface again for 40 to 50 minutes.  In the meantime the boat puts in a directional hydrophone to listen to the Sperm whales clicks and hopefully soon find another to snorkel with.  When the sperm whales start heading west, offshore, the boats don't follow in order to give the whales relief...

About to put her fluke up and dive deep.

Down she goes.   Mature males are solitary, we're snorkeling with moms and their calves of various ages.  Note that you can see the white outline of her jaw.  In this orientation she has a binocular vision of me.  When looking ahead they can only see out one side or the other with their big bulging melon head blocking the view close in front of them.

 Another whale.  Their open jaw is not a threat display!  Their teeth are in their lower jaw, around 6 inches long, and fit into sockets in the upper jaw.

    Two moms and a calf.

All these shots are "drive throughs" so I'm kicking as hard as I can an breathing as hard and fast as I am able in order to come close to keeping up.  Our guide, Izzy, describes it as chasing Feraris with a donkey cart.

Here comes perhaps the same trio on another drop.  The lead female is turning left, the calf, still the size of a small bus is still headed directly for me.

    The calf doesn't look that close in my wide angle but we were about 2 seconds or less from collision, I was pretty sure the calf would manage to miss but it didn't have room to its left because of its mom and it would have had to turn away completely to go around to the right..

The calf dived and went directly under me, I was too awestruck to take that picture!

What an incredible first day of snorkeling with Sperm Whales!!!