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Home >> Guadeloupe >> Read about >> Moby Dick in the Caribbean: Dominica and Guadeloupe are the best places for sperm whale sightings
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Moby Dick in the Caribbean: Dominica and Guadeloupe are the best places for sperm whale sightings
“These coastal waters hold a true treasure trove”, raves Andrea Steffen. She and her husband Wilfried are the authors of a book about Moby Dick’s brothers and sisters - sperm whales. Several families of the mighty marine mammals have taken up permanent residency in the warm waters around Dominica and Guadeloupe. A real sensation for experts…
By Bernhard Grdseloff
By Bernhard Grdseloff
Sperm whale: has the largest brain of all animals in earth
Authors Andrea and Wilfried Steffen: sponsor a whale
Whale watching in bathing trunks and bikinis
“You’ll hardly find them this close to the shore anywhere else in the world”, Steffen assures us. Six groups with a total of 30 sperm whales live off Dominica. Off Guadeloupe the research team Evasion Tropicale has even identified 173 specimens. “50 of them can be seen all the time”, says co-worker Caroline Rinaldi.
The steep ocean drop offers ideal conditions for the up to 18 metre long mammals. “The sea can be up to 3,000 metres deep three miles off the coast”, knows Derryk Perryman, who offers whale watching trips. “That’s where the sperm whales hunt for Giant Octopuses - their main source of food.” So there’s no reason for these clever animals – blessed with the largest brain of all creatures – to leave the Caribbean. Only adult bulls feel drawn out to the seas of the world. However, in the mating season from November to April they, too, return.
Irrespective of the time of the year, there’s a 60% chance of seeing sperm whales during a 3 - 4 hour boat trip off Guadeloupe or Dominica. You’ll almost always see dolphins, sometimes even pygmy killer whales and humpback whales. “To find the sperm whales we use underwater microphones and listen for the clicking sounds they make to locate each other”, Perryman reveals.
Expert Steffen welcomes the growing whale tourism: “If the people on the islands can benefit from the living whales, they’ll also protect them.” You can sponsor a whale if you want to make an active contribution to the preservation of this treasure off Dominica’s coastline. Info at: www.pottwale.de.
Whale safaris in your swim gear
Bathing trunks and bikini instead of jackets and jumpers: unlike in Norway or Alaska, whale watching in Dominica and Guadeloupe is a sunny event. Trips offered by:
The steep ocean drop offers ideal conditions for the up to 18 metre long mammals. “The sea can be up to 3,000 metres deep three miles off the coast”, knows Derryk Perryman, who offers whale watching trips. “That’s where the sperm whales hunt for Giant Octopuses - their main source of food.” So there’s no reason for these clever animals – blessed with the largest brain of all creatures – to leave the Caribbean. Only adult bulls feel drawn out to the seas of the world. However, in the mating season from November to April they, too, return.
Irrespective of the time of the year, there’s a 60% chance of seeing sperm whales during a 3 - 4 hour boat trip off Guadeloupe or Dominica. You’ll almost always see dolphins, sometimes even pygmy killer whales and humpback whales. “To find the sperm whales we use underwater microphones and listen for the clicking sounds they make to locate each other”, Perryman reveals.
Expert Steffen welcomes the growing whale tourism: “If the people on the islands can benefit from the living whales, they’ll also protect them.” You can sponsor a whale if you want to make an active contribution to the preservation of this treasure off Dominica’s coastline. Info at: www.pottwale.de.
Whale safaris in your swim gear
Bathing trunks and bikini instead of jackets and jumpers: unlike in Norway or Alaska, whale watching in Dominica and Guadeloupe is a sunny event. Trips offered by:
- Anchorage, Dominica: by motor catamaran, USD 57.50 for 3 - 4 hours, Monday + Thursday, 02.00 PM from Roseau, Tel. 448 2639.
- Dive Dominica:by motor catamaran, USD 57.50 for 3 - 4 hours, Thursday + Sunday, 02.00 PM from Roseau, Tel. 448 2188.
- Evasion Tropicale, Guadeloupe: with a team of researcehrs on a sailing yacht, daily 8 AM fom Plage de Malendure, Tel. 0590 92 74 24.
- Les Heures Saines, Guadeloupe: by motor catamaran, € 53 for 3-4 hours., Wedneday + Saturday 01.15 PM from Plage de Malendure, Tel. 0590 98 86 63.
- Sunset Bay Club, Dominica: with small motor boats, by appointment with a minimum of 4 partipants; from the hotel, USD 57,50 for 3-4 hours, Tel. 446 6522.