Dominica Sperm Whale Videos and my favorite photos November 25 - 26, 2019

This blog has links to a selection of GoPro videos I shot during the wonderful week of snorkeling with Sperm Whales and also a link to my favorite photos from the week. We had a great group of six, Tom Campbell and Beth Davidow, Russ and Barbs van Aardt, Jerry Wyss, and I.   The trip was permitted with Indigo Safaris' Chris Bartlett, https://www.indigosafaris.com/dominica-sperm-whales.html.

10194
https://youtu.be/9rgwl2HNLbM

10195 Sperm Whale with her jaw open gives us a pass.
https://youtu.be/4Cpx2caLWAQ

     Russ getting a tail shot of a passing sperm whale with her impressive jaw open.  Sure was glad that it wasn't a threat display!

    Say AWWWW!  Awesome, that is.


10197
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxgaFLNkizM

10198
https://youtu.be/i2iCDzQcuZ8

10204   If you listen, you can hear the sperm whale clicking.
https://youtu.be/xKjLZKNpaXA

10205 - Encounter with dive at end.
https://youtu.be/OIWx2CgBbe4

10206
https://youtu.be/UK_-3dlt6y0

                                Closing fast!

                                         Shallow dive, no turn, does she see us?

     Below is the link to the video of this encounter.
10220 We had one very close encounter with sperm whale that didn't turn!
https://youtu.be/FpSd5umuVNw

10222
https://youtu.be/p83C-vKoypU

10223 Listen for sperm whale clicks
https://youtu.be/kaaPHYyNYLo


10224 - In this video, I caught a sperm whale pooing as it began its 40 to 60 minute dive down to about half a mile deep to hunt squid.
https://youtu.be/IV8TEy6yE4A

Sperm Whale Photo Edit 1
https://youtu.be/v-RwOREnKhc

30224 - - In this video, if you are curious, I accidentally left the GoPro running- love its interface-not, and filmed using the submersible hydrophone to listen for hunting sperm whale's clicks.
https://youtu.be/zIR_b7dHEZY


40225 - In this video, if you are curious, I accidentally videoed (I lack a high opinion of the GoPro inerface) a ride on the swim platform of our boat as my team was about to be dropped in front of a pair of sperm whales.
https://youtu.be/1ob1IivSvjg






Below are some more of my favorite photos from this fantastic six days with the sperm whales of Dominica.  Here's a link to all my favorite Sperm Whale Photos from this trip:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mbuAn1fgGf3ZRHVCA

She's nick named "Can Opener" for the white scar you can see here, halfway between the front of her head and her eye.

    A trio.

     Mother and calf.  The calf is probably 25 ft long.

    Another fast approach with her jaw open.

    I thought she was turning but she was instead rotating onto her left side.

    Still closing fast, now she's on her side.

    Now she bends her body as if diving but since she's on her side, she's changing course to go past me.

    She righted herself to continue.

What an incredible, unforgettable experience this trip was!!!  What a way to cap off diving for 2019 since conditions did not cooperate with me squeezing in any local Monterey/Carmel dives in December.

Sperm Whales, Day VI November 30,2019

Our sixth and final day with the sperm whales was also wonderful.  But first I'll start with a couple surface photos.

     Another beautiful day on the water.  We lucked out on both the weather and on sperm whales.

                                Guadalupe Island off to our north.

                                Jerry and Beth ready to slip in when the captain gives the word.

                                            Tom and Izzy ready to slip in when the captain says "go, go, go!"

Below are some pictures from our sixth, and final, day snorkeling with sperm whales off Dominica, to see more, please go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Sf1rvmsy4UAyvWrW9

     Russ in position as she closes with us.

    Here she comes, fast.  I like the vortices generated on the top of her head, funny, didn't note them at the time!  My mental collision alarm klaxons were going off at this point, she's really close and closing really fast.  Russ was off to my right, Barbs and Chris to my left where was she going to go?

                         She made a shallow dive.  Good view of her single blow hole.

  Then she came back up and hooked a little to my right and came right through us.  Very very exciting.  I was truly awestruck, happily, not actually struck!

    She continued on, I love the large vortex spinning off of her.

    Here's another excellent encounter.

     Tried to keep up but couldn't match her speed.  Look how calm it is with her reflection on the surface.

    A third excellent encounter.

    On this shot you can tell from the particles in the water showing as streaks, that I was kicking hard to keep up with the whale.

                    Didn't get as close on this one and I was shooting into the sun so lots of backscatter.

 Three guesses what the dark patch behind her is as she starts a deep dive to hunt more squid, the second and third guesses don't count.

 Here Izzy is showing us squid beaks he just recovered from some sperm whale poo on his latest whale encounter.

         Squid beaks from Sperm Whale poo.

Our next surprise for the day is when Captain Frances took us over to meet up with our sister Sperm Whale snorkeling boat, Southern Cross.

When we pulled alongside, we realized that one of folks on the boat had a wreath of Giant Squid around her neck and draped over her shoulders.

 Here they've stretched out the tentacle, this piece was at least 20 ft long, so the Giant Squid that had just become lunch for the sperm whale was at least 30 ft long.  They explained that the whale had the tentacle trailing from its mouth, then dropped it and circled back and swam a giant vertical circle with it while beneath them before dropping it at the surface again for them to recover.  Fyi, squid have two long tentacles to first grasp prey and eight heavier, shorter, arms to pull the prey into its beak.

Here are shots of the sixth of us on this wonderful adventure:

                                Tom and Beth

                                Russ and Barbs

                                          Jerry

                                          Dig my dark shades!

                                 The Seaworld Guest House where we stayed.

    The waxing moon and Venus from the third floor of Seaworld Guest House.  We frequently ate takeout or food we'd bought at a supermarket for dinner.  Evening walks to nearby restaurants could be hazardous due to crowded driving on the left with very limited sidewalks..

This was a fantastic, unforgettable trip!