Whale Watching early Dec 05 Dominica or St Lucia??

[SqueakyDust]

We'll be in Dominica and St Lucia during the first week of December 2005, and our ship offers whale watching tours at both these islands.

 

The kids would love to do this, but is it the correct time of year or would we be wasting our money?

 

Anyone done the tour privately, and if so with whom?

 

TIA

[whale-watcher]

We did the Princess-sponsered ship tour in Dominica this January this year and it was great! This is an area where sperm whales breed, and the females and young stay fairly close to shore along the western coast of Dominica -- especially during the winter months. They are less reliable during the summer, but apparently the success rate is good during the winter.

We saw a total of 8 sperm whales, inculding a family group of females, babies and young adults that was lounging at the surface for well over an hour. The captain turned off the engines and drifet quietly, and the whales actually swam closer and were playing and spyhopping right by the boat. I was able to take amazing pictures and video with my little pocket digital camera, and people with larger cameras needed to take off their long lenses, as the whales were so close. Also, the water is so clear that we could easily see them underwater as well.

My kids enjoyed whale watching here more than they did in Alaska.

[SqueakyDust]

Thanks Whale-watcher for your reply.

 

I just wonder if early December is going to be a little on the early side.

 

There must be a site somewhere where whales are tracked so I can check if it's worth doing the trip before we go, but I can't find it:confused:

[whale-watcher]

The whale watching tour was run by the Anchorage Hotel and Dive center. Here are some links to their websites; perhaps they would be able to give you some idea about early December sightings in previous years. The sperm whales are present year round (unlike humpbacks, which migrate south just for a few months), but for some reason the sightings are more reliable in the winter.

http://www.anchoragehotel.dm/

 

http://www.delphis.dm/crystal_blue/whale.htm

 

here is a quote from the second link:

"Our experience shows that Sperm whales are present in the general area all year round. This is based on the fact that our trips whether whale watching or sport fishing and reports from yachts and commercial fishermen has seen whales even during the summer months. However, it must be stressed that success rates on whale watch trips are much higher during the winter months from the end of November to March."

[SqueakyDust]

Thanks again!

 

I checked out both sites and Castle Comfort Dive Lodge looks best for us (Anchorage only do their trips on set days and arrive back at sunset - bit late for catching the ship :eek: )

 

Castle Comfort are cheaper because they only charge half price for under 10 years old :D , so I've sent them a query mail.

 

Oooh, the kids will be soo excited if we get this booked (erm,.... so will I LOL)

[whale-watcher]

I would suggest checking to see if they use hydrophones (underwater microphones) to help locate the sperm whales -- unlike humpbacks, which surface every few minutes, sperm whales can spend 30+ minutes underwater, so are apparently best located by voice. The good news is that once they do surface, they spend 10-15 minutes just floating like logs, allowing great looks. Also, the young whales spend a much longer time at the surface than they do underwater. When we were in port, the Anchorage dive shop actually ran the ship-sponsered excursion, but I know there were other boats out as well (they were in radio contact), and everybody was seeing whales -- hope you have a great trip!

[SqueakyDust]

Castle Comfort Dive centre have replied already, but sadly they are contracted to the ship as well:(

 

Looks like we'll have to pay the ships' inflated price:mad:

 

Thanks again for all your help.:D