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".