Sea Lions and Tiger Sharks and Bears, oh my!

[Edward50]

Even as a young sailor I would spend a fair amount of my free time gazing at the ocean. In addition to the relaxing feeling I have always been amazed at the large variety of mammals, crustaceans, sharks and other fish that you see. Sometimes you have to have patients but they are out there.

 

Schools of dolphins, breaching whales, rays, enormous numbers of jelly fish and do not get me started on flying fish! And yes, even bears off the coast of British Columbia.

 

And not just living creatures but an incredible variety of other stuff floats by. As a child I saw an empty case of Sifto salt float by. To this day I am convinced this is why the ocean tastes the way it does.

 

I am certainly not alone in this relaxing past-time. On my last Trans-Atlantic cruise I noticed that a large number of young and old seem to be giving more than just a passing glance to the sea.

 

I have read a few threads where people are worried about keeping busy at sea and wondering what to do. For me the answer has always been an easy one. There is a whole ocean of entertainment out there.

 

Hopefully a few of you will share with us what you have spotted at sea and where you saw it.

 

Cheers

[birdylady]

What a great thought. On our very first cruise. We were on our balcony looking over the railing and I saw a 'small' shark 'swim' by (more like pushed by the ship, lol). My hubby still laughs to this day since we were on deck 8 and asks if I know how BIG that small shark REALLY was. LOL So I know whenever I'm a ship now, I keep an eye out for any small critters swimming or flying by.

 

Erika

[BroncosFan2010]

Watching dolphins as we cruised out of port in St. Lucia, dining in Portofino, and seeing all the amazing scenery was one of the highlights of my last cruise. Hoping to see something similar next time.

[BroncosFan2010]

What a great thought. On our very first cruise. We were on our balcony looking over the railing and I saw a 'small' shark 'swim' by (more like pushed by the ship, lol). My hubby still laughs to this day since we were on deck 8 and asks if I know how BIG that small shark REALLY was. LOL So I know whenever I'm a ship now, I keep an eye out for any small critters swimming or flying by.

 

Erika

 

 

WOW! That would have been great to see. What part of the world was your cruise in when you saw the shark?

[birdylady]

That was on Mariner sailing out of Port Canaveral, FL. I haven't seen any other 'sea' creatures from the ship since. But I hope that changes with our Alaska cruise in 2 months. :)

 

Erika

[Edward50]

That was on Mariner sailing out of Port Canaveral, FL. I haven't seen any other 'sea' creatures from the ship since. But I hope that changes with our Alaska cruise in 2 months. :)

 

Erika

 

You will certainly see killer whales and humpback whales. But I imagine with the nom de plum "birdylady" you will also be interested in seeing some of the incredible spring bird migrations. Watching the huge albatross take off will be worth the price of admission. You should be there for all sorts of interesting sea birds. Enjoy.

[Aquahound]

If you look closely, you can almost always see flying fish. Also, Atlantic bottlenose dolphin are very plentiful in Florida and the Caribbean.

[VTHokie7]

You will certainly see killer whales and humpback whales. But I imagine with the nom de plum "birdylady" you will also be interested in seeing some of the incredible spring bird migrations. Watching the huge albatross take off will be worth the price of admission. You should be there for all sorts of interesting sea birds. Enjoy.

 

I took an Alaskan Cruise in 2008 and didn't see a single whale from the ship. I did overhear a group say that they did see a few humpbacks one night thought.

 

Also, I wouldn't be so certain about seeing killer whales. We took a whale watching excursion in Juneau and the guides said only about 1 out of every 10 people who come on the tour get to see a orca. Thankfully we were one of the lucky ones, definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

[jetlady]

The first time I saw the flying fish, my husband told me I was crazy until he came out on the balcony and seen them too. I enjoy sitting on the balcony, looking out and not seeing anything or anybody. My own deserted island aaaahhhhh. No balcony on this weekend's cruise, but I am sure I can capture the same feeling sitting somewhere on the ship

[kirbmeister]

The first time I saw the flying fish, my husband told me I was crazy until he came out on the balcony and seen them too. I enjoy sitting on the balcony, looking out and not seeing anything or anybody. My own deserted island aaaahhhhh. No balcony on this weekend's cruise, but I am sure I can capture the same feeling sitting somewhere on the ship

 

Until someone pointed the flying fish out to me, I didn't notice them. Once pointed out they are hard to miss.

[tropicbird]

I'm a birder, so when we are at sea I spend a fair amount of time looking for sea birds. As one might imagine, if looking for birds, you're also likely to see other stuff as well. In general the Caribbean (and most of the tropical waters really) are relatively barren compared to the colder northern waters, but even still there are things out there to see! Here's a sampling of some of the wildlife spotted on Caribbean cruises:

 

Whales and Dolphins

Cuvier's Beaked Whales (off GA coast, near Bermuda, 1/2 between VA and Bermuda)

Sperm Whales (off Cuba near Gitmo)

Pilot Whales (off Cuba near Gitmo)

large baleen whales (probably Humpback) (Bahamas)

Atlantic Spotted Dolphins (near Aruba)

Bottlenosed Dolphins (near shore in most areas)

 

Birds

White-tailed Tropicbirds

Red-billed Tropicbirds

Black-capped Petrels

Wilson's Storm-Petrels

Masked Boobies

Brown Boobies

Red-footed Boobies

Brown Noddies

Audubon's Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

Cory's Shearwater

Peregrine Falcon

Sora

...and a couple dozen types of the little guys

 

Fish

Spotted Eagles Rays

billfish

trunkfish

flying fish

 

Cruises off the eastern coast of Canada, Alaska, or the west coast of the U.S. are in much more productive waters and you can likely see even more!

 

Steve in Raleigh

[BroncosFan2010]

We almost always see flying fish. My favorite place is right up on the bow of the ship, you can have your "Titanic moment" and look over the edge and seem them jumping out in front of the ship.

[Edward50]

Until someone pointed the flying fish out to me, I didn't notice them. Once pointed out they are hard to miss.

 

I find that the best time to spot them is on a sunny day with very little whitecaps. The sun makes them sparkle over the ocean. Sometimes you will see a few but at times they can be in very large schools.

 

What I find fascinating is the distance that they can fly. I suppose this is not surprising when you figure that to them the ship is a 150,000 ton whale looking for dinner.

[suamom]

On our New England trip in October 2008 on the JOS, we saw about 15 small black whale near our ship. They seemed to be playing and following the ship. It was a completely unexpected and an absolutely amazing thing to see. We were headed towards the WJ on the pool deck late afternoon and happened to glance out and see these beautiful animals. The captain made an announcement that he thought they were pilot whales. Whatever they were, it was a delightful sight and will always be a wonderful memory from that cruise. (which has been our absolute fav cruise ever)

 

We also see flying fish a lot. My 11 yr old DD loves to watch for them as we are leaving port.

[Gingee]

We saw seals coming out of one of the ports in Alaska. The captain shut down the ship and we watched them all up on a cliff. There were hundreds of them. They stunk and were noisy.

 

Then one of our ports on our cruise ship last year my husband saw dolphins by the side of the ship. By the time I got out of the room and looked, they were gone.

[Pitbull1130]

That's is my wife's (Jeannette) favorite thing to do, watch the ocean.

[cyscopup]

During our Panama Canal cruise my wife and I spotted a crocodile while we were going through the Canal. I got an outstanding picture of it going into the water, the picture hangs in my office. It's a great conversation starter.:D